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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Atlanta Equals Speed
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be fast and competitive...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted March 07, 2010   Hampton, GA

Jeff Burton, driver of the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, in the garage after qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 500. (Photo: Getty Images)

It is unlikely that NASCAR drivers will return to the wild-and-free days of 1997 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a time when Geoffrey Bodine spun a qualifying lap at the remarkable speed of 197.478 mph, a number that rattled the ground south of Atlanta.

During the summer of that year, the track, which opened in 1960, was “flipped,” reconfigured and repaved. The frontstretch became the backstretch, and the new frontstretch was re-engineered into a quad-oval shape. The resulting new pavement invited drivers to run like the wind when they returned for the fall race, and they did.

NASCAR clamped down to keep speeds from approaching 200 mph at one of the circuit’s intermediate tracks, and Bodine’s fast lap is likely to remain the qualifying standard at AMS for the foreseeable future.

Speed, however tempered, still will be very much in evidence Sunday at the circuit’s fastest non-restrictor plate track. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the pole Friday with an eye-opening speed of 192.761 as more than half the field crossed the 190 barrier. The slowest qualifier was Boris Said, who ran 182.916. Still fast, unless you ask Kyle Busch, who clearly thinks Said is in the way.

In race trim in Saturday’s final practice, speeds were more subdued. Mark Martin led the way at 185.524.

Sometimes at Atlanta, the differences in team performance create gaps on the track and turn fast racing into less-than-stellar competition. But recent races here have been quite entertaining, and it’s logical to expect that Sunday’s race will be not only fast but also competitive.

Some of that equation will depend on the long-term performance of a new tire compound Goodyear developed for the track.

“This has been a really, really slick racetrack for a long time,” said Jeff Burton. “Goodyear has brought a new tire. I think that’s the big question for everybody. Is this tire going to be as much of an improvement as we had in Vegas and California? I think that’s the big question.

“We really can’t answer that until we get out there. That’s the competition thing that’s looming – how much more grip, if more grip, and what’s the durability going to be like because this track has really gotten tough.”

To date, the season has been remarkably calm for Goodyear and its engineers and troubleshooters. Tires have not been a problem.

The day’s other big story – beyond speed levels – lands on Earnhardt Jr., who generated some hope in the Earnhardt Nation Friday with his pole run. He hasn’t won a race in 60 visits to starting grids, and there is a realistic hope among the faithful that today could end that string.

If not Junior, the Hendrick Motorsports armada should be well represented among the challengers. Martin will start fourth, Jeff Gordon fifth and Jimmie Johnson 16th. Johnson’s starting position should fool no one. He has won two of the first three races of the season and will be among the favorites at a track where he’s won three times.

Best bet to be the first non-Chevrolet race winner of the season? That would be Kyle Busch, who qualified second in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and also was strong in practice.

Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart are expected to start at the rear of the field after deciding on engine changes Sunday morning.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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