AdvoCare 500 News and Notes – Aug. 30, 2012
News, Notes and Storylines Preceding the AdvoCare 500 on Sept. 2
Race Weekend Begins in Earnest Today
With the
start of the race weekend only one day away, many fans got their start
to the biggest Labor Day party in the USA today. Infield camping opened
at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon,
allowing those fans to get their campsites set up in advance of the
on-track action tomorrow.
NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series haulers will enter the speedway this evening at 6:00
p.m., marking the beginning of a huge weekend of racing at Atlanta Motor
Speedway. On-track activity
begins early on Friday with the first practice for the NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series at 10:00 a.m.
Wild-Card Battles Come Into Focus at Atlanta
With only
two races remaining before the field for the Chase for the Sprint Cup is
set following Richmond, Atlanta will play a pivotal role in shaping the
participants in the Chase.
This year’s
wild-card battle has thrilled fans week-after-week and has made for
exciting, can’t-miss racing throughout the summer. Here’s a breakdown of
those drivers battling for
wild-card positioning, and how they shape up this weekend:
Kasey Kahne: Kahne, who
currently holds the first wild-card, is a two-time winner at AMS. Kahne
is quickly closing in on potentially moving into the top-10 in points.
Kahne has two wins in
2012 and is currently 11th in the standings.
“Atlanta is my favorite
track on the circuit,” said Kahne. “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.”
Carl Edwards: Edwards
has yet to win in 2012 but is a three-time winner at AMS. Edwards
desperately needs a win to try to work his way into the wild-card, but
likes the schedule for the next
couple of weeks. Edwards is 12th in the current points standings.
“I don’t think there
could be two better tracks coming up,” said Edwards. “Atlanta, it’s one
of my personal favorite tracks to drive on. I don’t think there’s a more
fun track on the circuit
to race on. (Crew Chief) Chad (Norris) and all the guys, we spoke a lot
about our strategy for the race. We feel like we have a car sitting
there in the hauler that can go win that race.”
Kyle Busch: With a win earlier this season at Richmond, Busch currently holds the second wild-card spot and is 13th
in points. Busch has claimed one win at Atlanta, in March of 2008.
This win was his first with new team Joe Gibbs Racing, as well as
Toyota’s first in Sprint Cup competition. Busch will run all three races
this weekend at AMS as he looks to gain some momentum into the fall.
“(To be successful at
Atlanta), it takes a lot of things,” said Busch. “You have to have a lot
of grip, you have to have a lot of downforce, you have to have tire
management, a great engine,
and fuel mileage, too. There are a lot of circumstances it can come
down to at the end and what it will boil down to.”
Jeff Gordon: A five-time
Atlanta winner, Gordon enters the event as the defending winner of the
AdvoCare 500. Gordon trails Busch by 16 points in trying to earn that
second wild-card position,
but a second 2012 win by No. 24 would immediately move him into that
spot. Gordon is currently 14th in the standings.
“I expect the track to
be a lot faster at night,” said Gordon. “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.”
Ryan Newman: Newman, who is 15th
in points, won earlier this season at Martinsville to make himself
wild-card eligible, but a wreck last week at Bristol knocked him from
the second
wild-card position. Newman has seven poles at AMS, but only a best
finish of fifth. A win at Atlanta could put him in a more secure
position to gain the second wild-card position.
“Atlanta is fast,
especially when the conditions are right,” said Newman. “You have to hit
your marks. It’s bumpy enough that those bumps can spit you right out.
Getting into turn one and the
middle of three and four, you’ve got to catch everything just right.
It’s kind of like surfing or wakeboarding, you’ve got to catch the waves
right, and obviously put the car in the right spot to do the things
with the gas and the steering wheel.”
Marcos Ambrose: Currently 16th
in points, Ambrose placed himself in the middle of wild-card
competition a few weeks back with his win at Watkins Glen. With a recent
string of three
consecutive top-five finishes, Ambrose is a threat at Atlanta. He
enters the event with one top-10 in six events. Like Newman, Ambrose
could desperately use another checkered flag to feel better about his
chances of earning the final wild-card spot.
Joey Logano: Logano won
his second-career race this summer at Pocono, and enters Atlanta hungry
for another win. Logano grew up racing on the AMS quarter-mile in the
Legends program, so a win
at Atlanta would be a “home track” type of victory. It would also be
big for sponsor The Home Depot, which is headquartered in Atlanta.
Logano is 18th in points, but a second victory would put the final wild-card squarely in his crosshairs.
Notable Cars Running in the AdvoCare 500
Several
drivers are bringing chassis to Atlanta this weekend that have been
battle tested on the track. Some of those include:
Marcos Ambrose: Chassis 784 has been on the track several times this year, competing at Fontana, Kansas and both Michigan races.
Kurt Busch: Busch brings
chassis 557 to Atlanta for its third race of 2012. This chassis ran at
Darlington and Dover earlier this year, and was a road course car prior
to 2012, but being built
with a universal clip to allow for great adjustments, Phoenix Racing
converted it to an intermediate-track car for this year.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.:
Earnhardt’s primary car for this weekend is the same car Earnhardt
piloted to a win in the Sprint All-Star Showdown in May at Charlotte.
Jimmie Johnson: Chassis
714 has competed at Texas, Charlotte and Kentucky this year, all
1.5-mile tracks, where Johnson has been his strongest this year.
Mark Martin: Chassis 729 finished third earlier this year at Texas and won the pole at Dover.
Ryan Newman: Breaking
the trend of the other drivers listed, Newman will pilot chassis 39-738
at Atlanta, a brand new car to the No. 39 team. It will turn its first
laps on the track during
Friday afternoon’s practice.
Atlanta to Show Readiness for Chase
Atlanta is
pivotal for those drivers looking to make their way into the wild-card
for the Chase standings. Those at the bottom of the top-10 are also
looking for good runs to maintain
their current positioning.
But Atlanta
is crucial even for those drivers comfortably in the Chase, as Atlanta
serves as a final benchmark for teams as the Chase nears.
With Atlanta
being a 1.5-mile quad-oval, it will feature race characteristics
similar to many of the track that make up the Chase schedule.
Chicago,
Charlotte, Kansas, Texas and Homestead all are 1.5-miles in length,
making up half of the races during the Chase. Loudon, Dover and Phoenix
are all one-mile in length,
providing some similarities to those tracks of 1.5-miles in length.
The only two
tracks during the Chase that are totally unlike any others are the
restrictor place venue of Talladega Superspeedway and short track
bullring of Martinsville Speedway.
With so many
tracks featuring characteristics, familiarities or a similar layout of
Atlanta, this weekend’s AdvoCare 500 will truly serve as a benchmarks
for teams heading into
the Chase, and could provide a preview of who will be fast in the
season’s final 10 events.
NASCAR
night racing returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway on Labor Day weekend,
Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2012. Reserve your AdvoCare 500 tickets now. For more
information, call
the Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office at (877) 9-AMS-TIX, (770)
946-4211 or visit
www.atlantamotorspeedway.com.
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