Emory Healthcare 500 Odds & Ends: Atlanta Motor Speedway

compiled by Mike Forde

NASCAR Media Services

History

·         Originally called Atlanta International Raceway, the track was then a 1.5-mile paved speedway.

·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta was on July 31, 1960, won by Fireball Roberts from the pole.

·         The track was re-measured to 1.522 miles in the spring of 1970.

·         It was renamed Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1990.

·         The track layout was reversed and the track was re-configured to 1.54 miles between the two races in 1997.

Notebook

• There have been 102 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Atlanta Speedway, two races per year except 1961, which had three.
• Fireball Roberts won the pole and race for the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in 1960.
• 44 drivers have won a pole, led by Buddy Baker and Ryan Newman, each with seven.
• Six of Newman’s seven poles came in consecutive races between March 2003 and October 2005.
• 42 drivers have won a race; 22 have won more than once, including Kurt Busch, who won two of the last three races.
• Dale Earnhardt scored nine victories, more than any other driver. Cale Yarborough is second, with seven.
• Bobby Labonte heads the list of active drivers with six victories. Labonte is tied with Richard Petty for third on the all-time win list at Atlanta.
• The Wood Brothers have 12 victories, more than any organization. They last won there in 1993 with Morgan Shepherd.
• 14 races have been won from the pole. The last to do so was Kasey Kahne in 2006. Both races last season were won from the second starting position.
• 58 races at Atlanta have been won from the first five starting positions.
• Bobby Labonte won the 2001 fall race from the 39th starting position, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Atlanta.
• There have been seven season sweeps, most recently by Jimmie Johnson in 2007.
• Two of the last three races had a margin of victory under a half second.

NASCAR in Georgia

·         There have been 161 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Georgia.

·         169 NASCAR national series drivers all-time have their home state recorded as Georgia.

·         There have been 14 race winners from Georgia in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCWTS
Bill Elliott	44	1	0
Tim Flock	39	0	0
Jack Smith	21	0	0
Fonty Flock	19	0	0
Bob Flock	4	0	0
Frank Mundy	3	0	0
Gober Sosebee	2	0	0
Harold Kite	1	0	0
Sam McQuagg	1	0	0
Jody Ridley	1	0	0
Reed Sorenson	0	3	0
Buckshot Jones	0	2	0
David Ragan	0	2	0
Ronald Cooper	0	1	0

Atlanta Motor Speedway Data

Race # 25 of 36 (9-5-10)

Track Size: 1.54 miles

Race Length: 325 laps/500.5 miles

·     Banking/Corners: 24 degrees

·     Banking/Straights: 5 degrees

·     Frontstretch: 2,332 feet

·     Backstretch: 1,800 feet

Driver Rating at Atlanta  

Jimmie Johnson            109.5

Jeff Gordon                   101.8

Carl Edwards                99.4

Dale Earnhardt Jr.          98.7

Tony Stewart                 98.7

Kurt Busch                    97.0

Matt Kenseth                 96.5

Greg Biffle                     95.0

Denny Hamlin                94.5

Kasey Kahne                 93.3

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2010 races (11 total) at Atlanta.

Qualifying/Race Data

2010 pole winner: Martin Truex Jr. (184.149 mph, 30.106 secs.)

2010 race winner: Kasey Kahne (134.033 mph, 9-6-09)

Track qualifying record: Geoffrey Bodine (197.478 mph, 28.074 secs.,

11-15-97)

Race record: Dale Earnhardt (163.633 mph, 11-16-97)

Estimated Pit Window: Every 48-52 laps, based on fuel mileage.




LAS VEGAS HILTON SUPER BOOK ODDS TO WIN FALL ATLANTA RACE