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Thirty-four points is all that separates Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth from postseason glory.Atlanta plays a new role in the championship fight
Track to host first night race with Chase battle heating up
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For five years, Atlanta Motor Speedway has helped crown a champion with its annual race in October. Now, the 1.54-mile track will play a new role in the championship -- helping determine the 12 drivers to battle for Sprint Cup Series supremacy.
Nine spots remain for this year's Chase and 11 drivers are hoping the Pep Boys Auto 500 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) will be the race to secure their postseason fate. Three drivers can clinch a Chase berth at Atlanta: Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch. For the remaining eight, it all comes down to surviving 325 laps and securing the best finish possible in the penultimate race before the Chase begins.
This will be the first night race in Atlanta Motor Speedway history, and with so much on the line in regards to the Chase, expect plenty of Labor Day fireworks in the Southeast.
DID YOU KNOW?
92Atlanta Motor Speedway has hosted 92 races at 500 miles in length, the most of any NASCAR-sanctioned track.
CHASING THE CHASE
7. Ryan NewmanNewman is amazing qualifying at Atlanta with a track-record seven poles and an average starting position of 5.6, he just doesn't turn them into strong finishes. In 15 races, Newman has just one top-five and four top-10s at AMS, all coming between 2002 and 2004. Since 2005, Newman's best finish has been 14th and he has five finishes of 20th or worse. One of those came this year in spring race where Newman finished three laps down in 22nd.
8. Greg BiffleBiffle is consistent at Atlanta with an average finish of 15.9 thanks to three top-fives and seven top-10s in 13 starts. Biffle is also winless at AMS although there have been times he's been dominant -- twice he has led more than 120 laps. This spring was not one of those times, though, as he crashed out of the race on Lap 262 and finished 34th.
9. Juan MontoyaThe stats show Montoya is horrible at Atlanta, but like most other tracks this year, we might have to disregard what we have seen in the past. Montoya has one top-five, his first race at the track in 2007. Since then it's been downhill with a 34th, 16th, 40th and 27th. Montoya has yet to lead a lap at AMS and has just one lead-lap finish. This spring, Montoya was five laps off the pace and finished 27th.
10. Mark MartinIn 47 AMS starts, Martin has two wins, 13 top-fives and 22 top-10s with an average finish of 17.2. He also has an abnormally high amount of DNFs with 14. Martin hasn't seen much success at Atlanta lately, though. His average finish the last six starts is 27.3 with three finishes 30th or worse, including this year's spring race where he started from the pole and finished 31st.
11. Kasey KahneAtlanta is one of Kahne's stronger tracks with a win, four top-fives and six top-10s in 11 starts. It's hit-or-miss, though, for Kahne at Atlanta -- when he doesn't finish in the top 10, he's mired deep in the pack. His five finishes outside the top 10 are 28th, 33rd, 35th, 38th and 39th. This spring was one of the good ones, when he came home seventh.
12. Matt KensethAmong the Chase bubble drivers, Matt Kenseth has been the best at Atlanta recently. His 599 points scored in the last four races is fourth-most and tops among Chase bubble drivers. Kenseth has five top-fives in the last eight Atlanta races and the three outside the top five were an eighth, a 12th and a 13th. Kenseth is winless at AMS but his 13.8 average finish is seventh among active drivers. This spring, Kenseth finished 12th after starting 30th.
13. Kyle BuschAside from a strong year in 2008, Busch hasn't been that spectacular at Atlanta. In 2008, he won the spring race and finished fifth in the fall -- those are his only top-10s at the track. But not all is lost for Busch. His average finish is 18.2 and in 10 starts he has only finished worse than 20th twice. This spring Busch finished three laps off the pace in 18th.
14. Brian VickersVickers is the hottest driver among the Chase Bubble drivers with seven consecutive top-15 finishes and the most points earned (908) in the last six races. That's good because he's not among the best at Atlanta. In 12 starts he has just one top-five and five top-10s with an average finish of 18.4. The good news -- that top-five came in this year's spring race thanks to a fifth-place finish. Better news -- the last four AMS events have seen Vickers finish in the top-10 three times.
NECESSITOUS NUMBERS
1Only one driver has pulled off the weekend sweep at Atlanta Motor Speedway winning both the Cup and Nationwide race in the same weekend -- Carl Edwards in 2005.
1Jimmie Johnson is the only active driver averaging a top-10 finish at Atlanta (9.1).
2Dale Earnhardt Jr. has finished in the top 10 in the last two races (Michigan and Bristol) giving him consecutive top-10s for the first time since October 2008.
4Four times in the last five years a driver has made up 34 points in the final two races to qualify for the Chase. Mark Martin and Jeremy Mayfield did it in 2004, Matt Kenseth pulled it off in 2005 and Kasey Kahne made up 90 points in 2006. Kyle Busch, currently 13th, trails 12th-place Kenseth by 34 points.
4Denny Hamlin has four consecutive top-10 finishes in the Cup Series. He won at Pocono, finished 10th at Watkins Glen and Michigan and finished fifth in Bristol.
6Bobby Labonte is the active wins leader at Atlanta with six. He will drive the No. 71 Chevrolet for TRG Motorsports.
7Number of poles Ryan Newman has at Atlanta, tied for the most all-time with Buddy Baker. Newman had a stretch of six consecutive poles from 2003-2005 and his seventh came in 2007. Unfortunately for Newman, none have led to a victory as he is winless at the track.
100Congratulations to Paul Menard and David Stremme who will be making their 100th Cup Series start Sunday at Atlanta.
Also
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Atlanta Motor Speedway
Drivers with multiple wins at track
| Driver | Starts | Wins | Top-fives | Top-10s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dale Earnhardt | 46 | 9 | 26 | 30 |
| Cale Yarborough | 47 | 7 | 23 | 29 |
| Bobby Labonte | 33 | 6 | 12 | 13 |
| Richard Petty | 65 | 6 | 22 | 33 |
| Bill Elliott | 60 | 5 | 13 | 19 |
| Bobby Allison | 48 | 5 | 17 | 27 |
| Fred Lorenzen | 19 | 4 | 8 | 10 |
| David Pearson | 39 | 4 | 17 | 18 |
| Jeff Gordon | 34 | 4 | 14 | 22 |
| Carl Edwards | 10 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 16 | 3 | 9 | 111 |
| Morgan Shepherd | 33 | 3 | 8 | 18 |
| Neil Bonnett | 28 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Darrell Waltrip | 56 | 3 | 18 | 28 |
| Marvin Panch | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Rusty Wallace | 47 | 2 | 8 | 16 |
| Mark Martin | 47 | 2 | 13 | 22 |
| Buddy Baker | 53 | 2 | 17 | 27 |
| Tony Stewart | 21 | 2 | 8 | 13 |
| LeeRoy Yarbrough | 19 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Kurt Busch | 17 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
• Bold: Active Drivers
Sprint Cup Series
Standings
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Tony Stewart | 3,564 | Leader |
| 2. | +1 | Jimmie Johnson | 3,344 | -220 |
| 3. | -1 | Jeff Gordon | 3,310 | -254 |
| 4. | +1 | Denny Hamlin | 3,141 | -423 |
| 5. | -1 | Carl Edwards | 3,110 | -454 |
| 6. | -- | Kurt Busch | 3,103 | -461 |
| 7. | +2 | Ryan Newman | 2,995 | -569 |
| 8. | +2 | Greg Biffle | 2,986 | -578 |
| 9. | -2 | Juan Montoya | 2,975 | -589 |
| 10. | +2 | Mark Martin | 2,971 | -593 |
| 11. | -3 | Kasey Kahne | 2,963 | -601 |
| 12. | -1 | Matt Kenseth | 2,945 | -619 |
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