Need For Speed Bristol Preview

NASCAR's back after the 1st off weekend of the season - Thunder Valley here we go!

Where we left off:

Jeff Gordon sits on top of the point standings. Kurt Busch dominated the last race 2 weeks ago @ Atlanta.

They may be the 2 to watch for in Sunday's race. Jeff Gordon & Kurt Busch each have 5 wins @ Bristol - tops among active drivers.

Gordon has posted 13 top 5's & 19 top 10's in his 32 races @ Bristol.
In Kurt's 16 races @ the track, he's posted 5 top 5's and 9 top 10's.
(However) Gordon's winless streak is up to 45 races now. Kurt's won 2 in that same time frame.

With that being said though, Bristol is a short track. And we know that short tracks equal short tempers.

Jeff Burton is the defending race winner. Qualifying last spring was cancelled due to weather. Qualifying up front is important @ Bristol. In 96 Cup Series races @ Bristol: 22 races have been won from the pole; 79 races have been won from a top 10 starting position and 51 races have been won from one of the 1st four starting spots.

Mark Martin won the pole for the Food City 500, his 2nd consecutive pole. His 43rd pole in 727 series races.

Ryan Newman qualified 2nd. Jimmie Johnson - 3rd and Greg Biffle -4th.

45 drivers showed up to qualify with only Scott Riggs & Jeremy Mayfield failing to make the field.

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NSCS - Kobalt Tools 500

The weekend belonged to the Busch brothers. Kyle won the Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday. Kurt dominated the Sprint Cup Series on Sunday.

Kurt led 234 of the 330 laps. He led more laps Sunday afternoon than he led all of last season combined (164). It was his race to lose. Kurt survived a couple of hard scrapes in the wall and a late race caution. Kurt restarted 3rd and had to pass Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards to take back the lead.
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There were 11 cautions for 54 laps and 13 lead changes among 8 drivers:

M. Martin 1-5; Kurt Busch 6-12; J. Nemechek 13; R. Newman 14-16; Kurt Busch 17-68; J. Johnson 69-79; C. Edwards 80-102; Kurt Busch 103-188; M. Truex Jr. 189; Kurt Busch 190-203; J. Gordon 204-250; Kurt Busch 251-323; C. Edwards 324-328; Kurt Busch 329-330.

It wasn't Kyle's day. He finished 18th, 3 laps down.

It wasn't the polesitter's day either. Mark Martin crashed on lap 217. He finished 31st.

It was career win #19 for Kurt Busch. His 2nd victory and 6th top 10 finish in 17 races @ AMS.

It's also the 3rd time that Kurt & Kyle have posted back-to-back victories. They won Fontana -Richmond in 2005 and at Infineon - New Hampshire last year. Kurt's last win was the New Hampshire race last year.

Jeff Gordon finished 2nd, his second runner up finish this season - followed by Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr rounding out the top 10.

Martin Truex Jr spent some time at the hospital on Saturday night. He passed a kidney stone, but was able and wanted to race on Sunday.

Jeff Gordon leads the point standings by 43 points over 2nd place, Clint Bowyer.

On Track - Friday March 6th

Mark Martin won the pole Friday night for the Kobalt Tools 500 with a lap of 29.640 seconds at 187.045 mph.

This is his 42nd pole in 726 Cup Series races. Martin’s last pole was at Richmond on May 5, 2001. Some 281 races ago. This is his first pole and third top-10 start - so far this season. This is his second pole in 47 races @ Atlanta Motor Speedway. Martin also posted the fastest lap during practice earlier on in the afternoon. It needs to mentioned again that this is Martin's first full time season after sitting in on a part-time basis over the last two seasons.

"I'm still shaking" Mark Martin said after his qualifying run. "I thought I ran out of talent in turn four. There was no possible way to hold my foot on the floor and not hit the wall, back end first, in turn four. But that was really fun. I live to scare myself like that."

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Kurt Busch qualified second after putting up a lap of 186.365. It's his third top-10 start this season and sixth in his 17 races @ AMS. Busch posted his second runner-up start in as many races. He knew he was racing for second. "When I saw that lap posted, I said, 'I can't touch that. I'm not even going to come close'. Everyone was holding their breath for 30 seconds out there."

Jamie McMurray qualified third followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Joe Nemechek, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick rounding out the top 10.

Other notables include: Tony Stewart 11th; Ryan Newman 12th; Jeff Gordon 16th; Dale Earnhardt Jr. 20th; Carl Edwards 29th and Matt Kenseth 30th.

47 drivers took part in qualifying. Those that failed to qualify: Scott Riggs, Jeremy Mayfield, Todd Bodine and Geoff Bodine.

13 of the 99 cup races @ AMS have been won from the pole. Kasey Kahne was the last driver to accomplish that feat on March 19, 2006.

The trucks were on the track for 2 practice sessions (Friday). Kyle Busch was the fastest during final practice followed by Mike Skinner, Colin Braun, Ron Hornaday Jr and Todd Bodine - in the top 5. Kyle Busch has won 3 of his 4 truck starts @ AMS.

Kyle Busch is the defending race winner. Ron Hornaday Jr was last year's pole sitter.

Qualifying begins Saturday morning at 9:35. The American Commercial Lines 200 follows at 2 on the Speed Channel.

Need For Speed Atlanta Preview

Fast-lanta is on the schedule this weekend as the tough trucks & cup series head to the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Nationwide Series will enjoy a weekend off.

Track Length: 1.54 Miles (325 laps = 500.5 miles)
Race Length: 500 Miles (1/2)
Grandstand Seating Capacity: 124,000
First Race: July 31, 1960 – Dixie 300
Banking: 24 degrees in corners, 5 degrees on straights
Frontstretch: 2,332 feet
Backstretch: 1,800 feet

The track qualifying record belongs to Geoffrey Bodine on Nov.15, 1997 - Ford, 197.478 mph (28.074 sec.). The race record belongs to Bobby Labonte on Nov. 16, 1997 - Pontiac, 159.904 mph (3:07:48).

After the first 3 races of the (Sprint Cup Series) season, Jeff Gordon is on top of the point standings. It's the first time since Oct. 28, 2007 that Gordon has been the points leader. It's the first time since his championship season of 1997 that he has been the series points leader at this point in the season after the first 3 races. He finished 13th at Daytona; 2nd at Auto Club Speedway and 6th last week at Las Vegas. Gordon has 4 wins; 13 top 5's and 21 top 10's in his 33 career starts at Atlanta; yet he must snap his 44 race winless streak. Jeff Gordon won the pole for this event last year.

In the garage on Friday @ AMS

John Harrelson/Getty Images

To say the least, Kyle Busch was estactic over his win at his hometown track (Las Vegas) last week. As they head home this weekend... a good finish is what Reed Sorenson and David Ragan are wishing for as they are natives of the Peach Tree state. Joey Logano grew up in Atlanta after moving there from Connecticut at a young age. They've all raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Legends and Bandolero divisions.

Rewind to this race a year ago, it was the first of eight series wins for Kyle Busch for the '08 season. It marked the first for Toyota in the Cup Series. Kyle will once again race in both, the Camping World Truck & Sprint Cup Series races this weekend. Kyle has won 3 out of his 4 truck races @ AMS.

Some of us might've expected this season to start out with the Jimmie Johnson & Carl Edwards show - much like it was closing out the season last year. Jimmie Johnson is currently 19th in the standings. Carl Edwards has posted just one top 10 finish this season and has led only 3 laps. It could change this weekend. Jimmie Johnson has scored 3 wins and posted 9 top 5's in his 15 starts @ AMS. Carl Edwards won the fall race @ AMS which was also his 3rd win at the track. Edwards is currently 9th in the standings. His first Sprint Cup win was at this track on March 20, 2005.

Dale Earnhardt Jr might be another one to watch this weekend. He's finished 3rd in three of his last 6 races @ AMS. He's scored one win and 10 top 10's at the track.

Signing autographs following Friday's practice session

Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR

NSCS - Shelby 427

Bigger than the Daytona 500 to Kyle Busch.

"It's bigger than winning the Daytona 500. I said it wasn't going to be, but it is" Kyle Busch said of his first win at his hometown track. Kyle's Mother and big brother Kurt were among the first to congratulate him in victory lane.

This one will take a second to sort out. It will go down in NASCAR's history book that Kyle Busch won the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from the pole, although he had to start the race at the back of the field due to an engine change. A pole sitter has never won a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway nor has a race winner come from as far back in the field to win either. It's Kyle Busch's 13th career victory in 153 Sprint Cup Series races. This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in six races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His last win came on Aug. 10, 2008 at Watkins Glen International. It's also the first Cup win for Joe Gibbs Racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Harry How/Getty Images

Matt Kenseth was unable to go 3 in a row. He barely got going. On lap 4 he had his #17 on pit road with the crew under the hood. His engine blew on lap 7. Kenseth finished last for just the 2nd time in his cup career. His Roush Fenway teammate David Ragan also experienced engine trouble. He ran 72 laps and finished 42nd.

Jimmie Johnson dominated the start of the race and led a race high 92 laps. His teammate, Jeff Gordon led for 17 laps early on. He led his 20,000th lap to rank seventh in series history. Gordon now has led 20,006 laps.

RCR's Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton finished 2-3. David Reutimann held on for a 4th place finish; a career best. Bobby Labonte finished 5th followed by Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr rounding out the top 10.

There were 16 lead changes among 12 drivers:

Kyle Busch 0; J. Johnson 1-50; C. Edwards 51-52; J. Logano # 53; Kyle Busch 54-55; R. Gordon 56; J. Johnson 57-75; K. Harvick 76-84; G. Biffle 85-124; K. Kahne 125; J. Johnson 126-148; J. Gordon 149-165; Kurt Busch 166; J. Burton 167-227; Kyle Busch 228-259; C. Bowyer 260-268; Kyle Busch 269-285.

There were 14 caution periods for 66 laps; a new record for both.

Jeff Gordon now leads the point standings by 18 points over Clint Bowyer.

On Track - Saturday Feb. 28th

Nationwide Series qualifying took place bright and early Las Vegas time. The first car hit the track for time trials at a little after 9 am.

Harry How/Getty Images
Scott Speed won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Sam's Town 300. His first Nationwide Series #1 start and in his 1st race @ Vegas with a lap of 29.597 seconds, 182.451 mph. Speed is the ninth driver to win a pole in his first Nationwide start. The last was Patrick Carpentier Aug. 4, 2007 at Circuit Gilles Villenueve in Montreal, Canada. Speed won a Camping World Truck Series pole last August at Bristol Motor Speedway. The top three qualifiers broke Brian Vickers’ existing one-lap record of 181.708 mph, 29.718 seconds set a year ago. Kevin Harvick (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2009 and his fifth in nine races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Greg Biffle (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is his third in three races this season. Justin Allgaier (11th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

According to the vegasinsider.com, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch have the best odds @ Vegas. 5/1

Jimmie Johnson was fastest in Happy Hour with a lap of 29.575 at 182.587. Jeff Gordon posted the 2nd fastest lap followed by Sam Hornish Jr., Kurt Busch and Mark Martin.

Jamie McMurray had the fastest Ford in the field. After practice, he filled everybody in on a little secret. He has the flu. McMurray went directly to the infield care center for different medication after practice had ended.

NNS - Sam's Town 300

Greg Biffle says Viva Las Vegas! Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.

Greg Biffle ended a 76 winless streak Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas. It wasn't an easy for him. On the way to the checkered flag, Biffle was caught speeding on pit road, had another bad pit stop, ran out of gas while leading and had to hold off a charge from his teammate 'Cuzin' Carl on a green white checkered finish. Edwards congratulated Biffle personally after the race in victory lane.
Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

It's Biffle's 19th career win and first since Feb. 25, 2006 at Auto Club Speedway.

Edwards finished 2nd followed by Brian Vickers, Jason Leffler and Dale Jr.

There were 17 lead changes among 12 drivers:

S. Speed 1-2; K. Harvick 3-30; K. Bires 31; M. Bliss 32-47; K. Harvick 48-55; C. Edwards 56-70; K. Harvick 71; C. Edwards 72-74; K. Harvick 75-78; C. Edwards 79-95; J. Allgaier # 96-100; G. Biffle 101-146; D. Hamlin 147-153; B. Vickers 154-164; B. Gaughan # 165-167; J. Burton 168; D. Ragan 169; G. Biffle 170-209.

Biffle led twice for the race high 86 laps.

There were 12 cautions for a record 60 laps. Denny Hamlin was involved in a fiery wreck 3 laps from the finish. He brushed the wall which led to a blown tire. Mike Bliss had no where to go but underneath Hamlin's car. Thankfully, both drivers are fine.

Carl Edwards leads the point standings by 48 over Brian Vickers.

If this race is any indication for tomorrow's, buckle yourself in! It's going to be good long ride!