Joe Soriano
O.J. LewisNASCAR in Atlanta
March 4th 2009 09:32
If you've been paying attention to our NASCAR posts so far, you've no doubt noticed the winner of the last two races have been in our short list of guys to watch for each time. And last week, of the seven drivers we spotlighted (including Brian Vickers and both Busch brothers, even though we looked mainly at Kyle), we had the winner, the third place, 7th place and 8th place finisher. Most race teams would be thrilled with that percentage of top tens.
So now that NASCAR is going to Atlanta and getting out of the western time zones, what do we look for this week?
We start with our point leader, Gordon, who is back to doing what his team does best during his championship seasons----driving consistently. And Gordon has a good record in Atlanta...four wins in 33 races and 21 top ten finishes.
If he finishes (he has five DNFs here) look for him near the front.
One guy that has a better record here though is Bobby Labonte, who has six wins in 32 races. But he only has 13 top ten finishes. I'd like to see him win, and even though he's currently in the top 12 in points, I don't think this is a top ten finish for him.
The smart money has to be on Carl Edwards. Nine races...three wins....seven top tens and the highest driver rating among the top drivers. If he is really the main threat to win this year's championship, then it starts here.
We also like Biffle who has yet to win here, but has seven top tens in 12 races.
And finally Dale Earnhardt Jr. has to get back on the right track. After two failure, the AMP Energy team finally got a top ten last week and is hungry for another. If they are close this week, you know Junior is aggressive enough to go for, and claim, the checkered flag.
This week's wild card is Joey Logano. He won't win it, but now with three (or really just two full) races under his belt, the kid showed he belonged here last week with a 13th place finish. If he keeps learning and racing like he has, this could be the first of many top tens for him in the Home Depot Chevy.
So now that NASCAR is going to Atlanta and getting out of the western time zones, what do we look for this week?
We start with our point leader, Gordon, who is back to doing what his team does best during his championship seasons----driving consistently. And Gordon has a good record in Atlanta...four wins in 33 races and 21 top ten finishes.
Bobby Labonte has more wins in Atlanta than any other current driver
One guy that has a better record here though is Bobby Labonte, who has six wins in 32 races. But he only has 13 top ten finishes. I'd like to see him win, and even though he's currently in the top 12 in points, I don't think this is a top ten finish for him.
The smart money has to be on Carl Edwards. Nine races...three wins....seven top tens and the highest driver rating among the top drivers. If he is really the main threat to win this year's championship, then it starts here.
We also like Biffle who has yet to win here, but has seven top tens in 12 races.
And finally Dale Earnhardt Jr. has to get back on the right track. After two failure, the AMP Energy team finally got a top ten last week and is hungry for another. If they are close this week, you know Junior is aggressive enough to go for, and claim, the checkered flag.
Joey Logano will try to follow up his 13th place finish last week with a top ten this week.
This week's wild card is Joey Logano. He won't win it, but now with three (or really just two full) races under his belt, the kid showed he belonged here last week with a 13th place finish. If he keeps learning and racing like he has, this could be the first of many top tens for him in the Home Depot Chevy.
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