Sunday night’s AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be an act of desperation for some; 500 miles that could make or break an entire NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Chief among the desperate is Jeff Gordon. Atlanta marks Gordon’s best chance to add another win to his season total and secure a Wild Card spot in this year’s Chase.
Gordon leads all active drivers here with five wins. He’s also the defending winner of this race having taken the victory in an event that was rescheduled to Tuesday last season due to rain. Gordon rolls in here 14th in standings with only one victory this year. He desperately needs to end up in victory lane Sunday night to have a chance to make the Chase this year. Given that the rescheduled event was in daylight last year, Gordon anticipates a different race Sunday.
“I expect the track to be a lot faster at night,” Gordon said. “But I think we will still be able to race high, low and everywhere in between. I think one of the reasons so many drivers and teams love this place is the track has a lot of grip, a lot of banking and it is a very fast race track – especially when looking at the qualifying speeds. It’s very fast during the race but it has a lot of fall off, so tire wear is significant and the balance of the car changes throughout a run.”
Tony Stewart is barely hanging on to a Chase spot only 11 points ahead of 11th. He was second here last year and won in 2010. Stewart will be looking for redemption after being knocked out early last week at Bristol. With his hold on 10th spot in the standings tenuous at best, Stewart will be another driver desperate for a win and could do so Sunday. To Stewart Atlanta is all about balance.
“When the track cools down at Atlanta, it gains a lot of grip,” Stewart said. “It’s a very temperature-sensitive racetrack. So, the biggest thing is just keeping your balance and keeping up with it as the track cools off. Normally, I can’t say that it changes a bunch balance-wise, it just changes a lot grip-wise. So, just having the car adjustable enough from the start of the race to the end of the race is important.”
The driver just behind Stewart in 11th spot in points could lock up a spot in the Chase by taking over the 10th spot or at least a Wild Card spot with win Sunday night. Kasey Kahne has two victories on the season; a third win could knock Stewart out of 10th and put Kahne into the top seeding for this year’s Chase. He won the pole last year and heads to Atlanta for the first time in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.
“Atlanta is my favorite track on the circuit,” Kahne said. “It’s wide and fast, so we can race a lot of different lines. We have a good history here, and I expect a good weekend with a Hendrick Motorsports car under me.”
Jimmie Johnson has three wins here, including a season sweep in 2007. He was second in this race last season and with the strong performances he’s been putting down lately, could easily steal the show Sunday night.
Keep an eye on: Carl Edwards has three wins here and has scored two top five finishes in the last two Atlanta races. Perhaps no one is more desperate for a win than Edwards who’s only chance to make the Chase is to score a win.
“We are headed to Atlanta this weekend knowing what we need to do as a team,” crew chief Chad Norris said. “We are focused and determined, and we refuse to give up on making the Chase. We have two races left and Atlanta has always been a great track for Carl. A win there would put us right in the thick of the battle for the two wild card spots. In the next two weeks we’ve got 725 laps to give it all we have.”
Bottom Line: 14 races have been won from the pole. The last to do so was Kasey Kahne in 2006. The last two races have been won from the fifth position. 60 of the 104 races at Atlanta have been won from the first five starting positions.
NASCAR This Weekend
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
The Race: AdvoCare 500
The Place: Atlanta Motor Speedway
The Date: Sunday, Sept. 2
The Time: 7:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN, 6:30 p.m. (ET)
Radio: PRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
Distance: 500.5 miles (325 laps)
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
The Race: NRA American Warrior 300
The Place: Atlanta Motor Speedway
The Date: Saturday, Sept. 1
The Time: 7 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN2, 6:30 p.m. (ET)
Radio: PRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
Distance: 300.3 miles (195 laps)
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
The Race: Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 200
The Place: Atlanta Motor Speedway
The Date: Friday, Aug. 31
The Time: 8 p.m. (ET)
TV: SPEED, 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
Distance: 200.2 miles (130 laps)
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