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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Will Racing Heat Up In Hot ‘Lanta?
Hendrick Motorsports looks stout again this weekend at Atlanta...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted March 07, 2010   Hampton, GA
Hendrick Motorsports driver Mark Martin is on the Chase bubble. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Race fans should have a picture-perfect spring afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of today's Kobalt Tools 500.

As of 8 a.m., the temperature in Atlanta was just above freezing, on the way to a high of 62 degrees with only light clouds. In other words, ideal weather for NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.

When the Cup boys last raced here in Sept. 2009, they put on a tremendously entertaining show. Seven different drivers led at least 20 laps, and of those seven, Jeff Gordon was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver in the mix, leading twice for 30 laps en route to an eighth-place finish. Jimmie Johnson finished 36th in that race and neither Dale Earnhardt Jr. not Mark Martin led a lap.

This time around, the race has the makings of a Hendrick rout, with Earnhardt on the pole, Martin fourth and Gordon fifth. And, oh, yeah, Martin and Johnson have taken turns leading each of three practice sessions.

An Earnhardt victory, of course, would be huge, given that NASCAR's perennially most popular driver has gone nearly two season without finding the winner's circle. Another Johnson victory, on the other hand, would doubtless set fans moaning and groaning about the lack of exciting racing. We'll see, won't we?

Some other observations from race morning:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will take part in a fan Q&A Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

• Although Sprint Cup points leader Kevin Harvick won Saturday's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, on the Cup side he's been a non-factor all weekend. He qualified 35th and was 26th, 19th and 40th in the three practice sessions. It'll be interesting to see if he can get things turned around today after finishing second here last fall.

• This could be a big day for a handful of drivers who have gotten off to a slow start this year: Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch, David Ragan and Marcos Ambrose all have looked good in practice.

• Mark Martin's Chevrolet is being sponsored by Hendrickcars.com this weekend. What that means is that Hendrick didn't have a paying sponsor for Martin, so the team is using one of Rick Hendrick's companies on the car. That the guy who finished second in points last year and drives for the dominant team doesn't have a sponsor is mind-boggling.

• The Sprint Cup boys have had four timed sessions so far this weekend — three practices and one qualifying session. Not once in any of those four sessions has one of Jack Roush's drivers been the fastest of the Ford pilots. And the only Roush Fenway Racing Ford driver to crack the top five at all came during Happy Hour, when David Ragan was fifth. Mile-and-a-half tracks are RFR's strongpoint, but you'd never know it this weekend.

• The most shocking Silly Season move of the decade came back in mid-2005 when Kurt Busch, then reigning Sprint Cup champion, announced he would be leaving Roush Fenway Racing at the end of 2006 to join Penske Racing. Pretty much no one saw that coming, as Busch still had more than one full year left on his contract (he eventually was granted an early release).

Which brings us to Kasey Kahne, who along with Harvick are at the top of this year's Silly Season class. Kahne has been rumored to be headed to Stewart-Haas Racing next year to join good buddy Tony Stewart.

But a driver of Kahne's considerable talent and popularity would be a great fit with the Penske organization. Then again, obviously Budweiser couldn't be part of the deal and you wonder if Kahne's association with Bud would be enough that Miller Lite would tell Penske no dice. Still, Kahne has said repeatedly that he wants to go to a team that can run with Hendrick, and Busch was best in class last year. That's why they call it Silly Season, folks.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEEDtv.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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