Atlanta Motor Speedway - Emory Healthcare 500 (News & Notes)

[HacheMan]

Emory Healthcare 500
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves to the uber-fast Atlanta Motor Speedway for the 25th race of the 2010 season, the Emory Healthcare 500. NASCAR expert Brian Brown looked at past performances, season trends, and spoke to team contacts to provide the internet's most accurate projection of how the field will finish.


When: Sunday, September 5, 2010; 7:46 p.m./et


Weather: Partly cloudy with a high around 84; wind out of the NE at 4 mph. There is a zero percent chance of precipitation.


The Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway

Atlanta Motor Speedway is a very wide 1.5 mile oval. It has 24 degree banking on the corners. Due to the fast surface and steep banking it is known as the fastest track on the NASCAR circuit.


Key to Race: WILL IT BE A BUSCH SWEEP?

Kurt Busch was very dominant at Atlanta in March. He has been driving well this season and sweep at the track won't surprise us. Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch have also had recent success at the track.


Qualifying Procedures:

47 cars will attempt to qualify for 43 spots. Starting positions 1-43 will be determined by qualifying on Friday, September 4 at 4:40 pm/et. Cars in the top 35 in owner points are guaranteed a spot in the field.


Fantasy Cheat Sheet:

Top 5

No. 2 Kurt Busch: Busch dominated two of the last three races at Atlanta. It is tough to not choose him this weekend.
No. 9 Kasey Kahne: Kahne has six top five finishes in 13 career races at Atlanta, including a win at the track last September. He is a great choice.
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has visited Victory Lane in two of the past seven Atlanta races. He will be tough to beat this trip to Atlanta.
No. 99 Carl Edwards: In 11 career starts at Atlanta, Edwards has finished in the top seven an impressive nine times. He won the September 2008 race at the track and is one of our favorites to win on Sunday…if he can avoid the No. 12 car's front-bumper.
No. 24 Jeff Gordon: Gordon has four career wins in the ATL and has finished in the top 10 in 18 of the last 23 races at the track. He will be strong once again this weekend.


6 to 10

No. 17 Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has 12 top 10 finishes in 21 starts at Atlanta. The No. 17 will be very good.
No. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya: Montoya has had back-to-back third place finishes at Atlanta. He is a great choice this weekend.
No. 14 Tony Stewart: Stewart won the October 2006 race at Atlanta and has 13 top 10 finishes in 23 starts at the track. He should be in the top 10 once again.
No. 18 Kyle Busch: Busch won the March 2008 race at ATL. He will be back inside the top 10 this weekend.
No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior has 10 top 10 finishes in the last 18 races at Atlanta and has been one of the best drivers at the track the past four years. This is a rare weekend we think Junior is worth using in all leagues.


11 to 20

No. 29 Kevin Harvick: The last five races Harvick finally seemed to figure out how to drive at Atlanta. He has been awesome this season and will be very fast on Sunday.
No. 16 Greg Biffle: Biffle has been terrible in three of the last seven ATL races and great in the other four. His inconsistency at the track bumps him just outside our top 10.
No. 33 Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished sixth in four of the past seven races at Atlanta. He should have the No. 33 around the top 10 once again.
No. 11 Denny Hamlin: Hamlin has just three top 10 finishes in 11 career starts in the ATL. He should finish in the top 15, but we don't see a top 10 finish for the No. 11 team.
No. 31 Jeff Burton: Burton has driven well in almost every race at Atlanta since 2004. He should have the No. 31 car in the top 20 once again.
No. 43 A.J. Allmendinger: Allmendinger has cracked the top 20 in each of his career ATL starts. He is a nice sleeper pick this weekend.
No. 5 Mark Martin: Martin has run over 13,800 laps at Atlanta Motor Speedway in his career. The veteran will put all the experience to good use on Sunday.
No. 39 Ryan Newman: Newman is the maestro of qualifying at Atlanta. In the 17 races he has run at the speedway he has started from the pole seven times. We like him to challenge for the pole and finish inside the top 20.
No. 00 David Reutimann: Reutimann finished fourth at Atlanta last September, but blew an engine at the track this March. He has been driving great lately and shouldn't have a problem finishing inside the top 20.
No. 56 Martin Truex Jr.: Truex has a top 15 driver rating at ATL the past four years. He could be a bit of a sleeper pick on Sunday.


21 to 30

No. 98 Paul Menard: Menard was a good shoe during the March at Atlanta. He is worth using for those of you desperate for a sleeper.
No. 20 Joey Logano: Logano has struggled at Atlanta so far in his career. This is a difficult track for many drivers and we recommend avoiding "Sliced Bread" until he gets a few more laps under his belt.
No. 1 Jamie McMurray: McMurray has averaged a 21st place finish in 15 career starts at Atlanta. We see him taking the checkers around there again.
No. 12 Brad Keselowski: Keselowski was taken out by Carl Edwards at Atlanta in March. All eyes will be on the No. 12 to see if he can retaliate by putting the No. 99 into the fence.
No. 82 Scott Speed: Speed was awesome during March's Atlanta race. If you need someone to round out your roster there are much worse choices.
No. 47 Marcos Ambrose: The Tasmanian Devil will have the No. 47 back inside the top 25.
No. 19 Elliott Sadler: Sadler has never been great at Atlanta, but he will be good enough this weekend to crack the top 30.
No. 83 Reed Sorenson: Sorenson would love to have a strong finish in his home-state, but we don't see it happening. He hasn't cracked the top 25 in the ATL since 2007.
No. 6 David Ragan: The Georgia native has struggled at Atlanta. He won't notch the top 25 finish he is so desperate for at his home-track
No. 13 Casey Mears: Mears takes over the No. 13 ride this weekend. He should crack the top 30.


31 to 35

No. 77 Sam Hornish Jr.: Hornish Jr. has struggled at Atlanta. He will be doing well to crack the top 30.
No. 21 Bill Elliott: If you are looking for an extreme bargain driver this weekend Awesome Bill from Dawsonville is your man. Elliott is a five time winner at Atlanta and knows the track better than any driver in the race.
No. 7 Kevin Conway: Conway should be good enough to finish inside the top 35.
No. 78 Regan Smith: Smith has averaged a 27th place finish at ATL during his career. That isn't going to help your fantasy squad.
No. 34 Travis Kvapil: Kvapil is guaranteed a spot in Sunday's race. Not everyone can say that, now can they?


Field Fillers

No. 37 David Gilliland
No. 71 Bobby Labonte
No. 87 Joe Nemechek
No. 32 Jason Leffler
No. 36 J.J. Yeley
No. 66 Scott Riggs
No. 55 Mike Bliss
No. 26 Patrick Carpentier
No. 09 Landon Cassill
No. 38 Dave Blaney
No. 46 Michael McDowell
No. 64 Todd Bodine


Brownie's Picks

Top Four:

1. Kurt Busch
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Carl Edwards

Sleepers:

1. Paul Menard
2. Scott Speed

Bust of the Week:

Mark Martin

 

[HacheMan]

Emory Healthcare 500
Track history: Fireball Roberts earned just $10,130 for winning the 1960 Dixie 300, the first race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). The purse for all the drivers totaled $39,000. Opened in July 1960, AMS was one of the best of the new superspeedways being built all over at the time. This 1.54-mile oval is the fastest track the Cup guys compete on and is the one they fear the most. Since it is not a "restrictor plate" track and speeds top 200 mph at the end of the backstretch, drivers know if they find the wall here, they will definitely know it. The good thing about not having restrictor plates is the cars will be spread out and wrecks like the "Big One" wrecks at Daytona and Talladega aren't usually a concern at Atlanta. Bruton Smith purchased the Speedway in 1990 and has spent over $100 million improving the facility, including the nine-story structure that houses the corporate offices of AMS as well as 46 luxury condos. Recent additions also include a road course and over 53,000 more seats giving AMS a total capacity of 124,000 seats. In 1997, at a cost of $30 million, the start/finish line was moved from the south side of the track to the north side, and the configuration of the Hampton, Ga. facility changed from a 1.522- mile oval to a 1.54-mile quad-oval similar to Charlotte and Texas Motor Speedways.

July 31, 1960: Fireball Roberts started on the pole for the 1960 Dixie 300 in the John Hines owned No. 22 car. Roberts led 28 laps in the 1960 Pontiac, including the last one, to win the first Cup race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway. A 22-year old Richard Petty drove the soon-to-be famous No. 43 Petty Plymouth to a 20th place finish in that race as well.

September 6, 2009: Martin Truex Jr. paced the qualifying session with a lap of 184.149 mph in the No. 1 Guitar Hero 5 Chevrolet to start on the pole for the 2009 Pep Boys Auto 500. He led the most laps (68 of 325) but lost the handling later in the race and finished 26th. Kasey Kahne, who started on the front row in 2nd with the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge, led 60 laps and took the victory.

March 7, 2010: Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured the pole for the 2010 Kobalt Tools 500. 12-Kurt Busch passed the No. 88 at the drop of the green flag. Earnhardt never led a lap and finished 15th. This was the race where 99-Carl Edwards and 12-Brad Keselowski did battle until lap 323 when Edwards tagged the 12 and sent it into the wall. Keselowski went airborne and onto his roof ending his chance at a top 5 finish. Edwards was parked for the remainder of the race and both drivers received NASCAR probation as a result. 9-Kasey Kahne led the most laps (144 of 341) and finished 4th. The leader of the first lap, and a total of 129 laps, Kurt Busch, came away the winner. It was his second consecutive victory in the Atlanta spring races.

Your fantasy game won't allow you to pick all track favorites so Mid-Pack Attack is here to help. A mid-packer may not win the race but has as good a shot at a top 15 finish as track favorites Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart. There were 47 cars on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Cup race. Here are our picks for Sunday night's Emory Healthcare 500 in Hampton, Georgia.

Mid-Pack picks

We picked Kasey Kahne in March; he finished 4th. Why mess with success. He's the defending winner of this race. Besides that victory, Kahne won the March 2006 Atlanta race as well. In 13 AMS starts, he also has one pole, six top 5's and eight top-10 finishes. His average start is a 9.6 and his average finishing position is an even 16th place. His final season with Richard Petty Motorsports is going strong. Kahne's worst finish in the last seven Cup races was a 19th. Including three DNFs, he still averaged a 17.1 finish so far in 2010 in the No. 9 Bud car.

Kahne's RPM teammate (using the term loosely.. they've had their 'differences'), AJ Allmendinger is the next driver we're choosing. In five starts at Atlanta, he has averaged a 14.6 finish with a best of 6th this past March. With an average start of 33.6 you would guess that he's a top Closer at Atlanta. You would be right. NASCAR Media shows him 4th in that category among the driver's entered this week. Allmendinger advanced an average of 3.6 positions in the last 10 percent of his five Atlanta races. At 22nd in the point standings, he's probably a reasonable buy in most fantasy leagues and not a bad choice for the tail-end of your roster this weekend.

This is a song you've heard before. "This is a good weekend to use Dale Earnhardt Jr." A Cup race at the Atlanta track is one of the best times to use the No. 88 driver. He scored the pole here in March and, after dealing with tire or wheel issues mid-race, finished 15th. He has a win, 2 poles, and an average start of 14.4 and an average finish of 12th in 22 trips to this venue. NASCAR Media lists him 3rd in both Green Flag passes (666 times in 11 races) and running Laps in the Top 15 (74% of the time in those 11 races).

Juan Pablo Montoya's last two finishes at Atlanta were both 3rd place. He led 31 laps in this race in 2009. For drivers with over 5 starts at this track, Montoya is ranked No. 1 in NASCAR Media's 'Quality Passes' (passing while running in the top 15) category. In 7 races, he made 374 QP's. His last three finishes this season were a win at The Glen and a pair of 7's at Michigan and Bristol. Now that he's done thinking "big picture" and Chase (19th in the points), we think he'll carry that momentum into this weekend's event.