This Week in Auto Racing March 7 - March 9

Posted: Tue Mar 4 12:55 PM

By Steve Schwarz, Motorsports Editor

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - It's a busy week for NASCAR with the Craftsman, Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series coming to the always exciting Atlanta Motor Speedway. Expect high speeds and close finishes - the norm at the Georgia tri-oval.

NASCAR

Kobalt Tools 500 - Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA

Carl Edwards avoided a late-race penalty from NASCAR officials and went on to win his second consecutive Sprint Cup race. But he may not be as lucky after the post-race inspection where officials found "an issue."

According to NASCAR's Ramsey Poston, "the lid to the oil reservoir tank on Edwards' car was found to be 'improperly attached' during post-race inspection."

Unless Edwards is very lucky, he will incur at least a 25-point penalty that would drop him out of the championship lead. Still, you can't deny that Edwards and Roush Fenway Racing have rebounded from a disappointing 2007. Along with Edwards' quick start, Greg Biffle is sixth overall, Matt Kenseth is 16th despite his crash with Jeff Gordon at Las Vegas and youngster David Ragan is a solid 19th.

At Las Vegas, Biffle was third after a strong Sunday night run in California. Ragan finished sixth at Las Vegas, just his fourth top-10 in 41 career starts. And Kenseth was running second at the time Gordon got loose and took both drivers out of contention.

Kenseth avoided hitting anything, but Gordon was not so lucky. He slammed an inside retaining wall and his No.24 Chevrolet disintegrated. The hard it was similar to one he suffered at Pocono and at the time Gordon called that the hardest hit he ever suffered.

"I'm really disappointed right now in this speedway for not having a soft wall back there," Gordon said. "And even being able to get to that part of the wall shouldn't happen.

"Thankfully, Hendrick Motorsports...builds an unbelievable race car because that's the hardest I've ever hit."

Biffle, who was right behind Kenseth and Gordon at the time saw the whole thing up close and added, "There should be SAFER barriers all the way around the inside and the outside of these racetracks. You can't say we don't have the time or money to do it."

Now the series travels back east for dates in Atlanta and Bristol. After two weeks, qualifying will be based on 2008 statistics instead of 2007. It will be a shock to some to see who is battling for the 35th spot by that time. Currently at or near the "bubble" are Casey Mears, Dave Blaney, Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish Jr., Regan Smith and Robby Gordon.

Robby Gordon is a special case because of a debatable 100-point penalty leveled against the team in Daytona. NASCAR should return his points because of a "bad" ruling on their part (see my story "NASCAR opens Pandora's box with Edwards ruling").

Those below the "Mendoza Line" have two weeks to pull themselves up or face qualifying every week for the right to race on Sunday.

But the reason people flock to the Atlanta Motor Speedway is for the close racing and more specifically the close finishes.

Who could possibly forget the 2005 finish when Edwards edged out Jimmie Johnson on the last lap to beat him by 0.028 seconds? Or 2001 when a young Kevin Harvick barely beat Jeff Gordon in a photo finish by 0.006 seconds (fourth closest in history)? Or Dale Earnhardt's 0.010-second win over Bobby Labonte in 2000?

Last year, Johnson squeezed by Tony Stewart with two laps to go and went on to win the Kobalt Tools 500.

Johnson was more than a second behind Stewart when a debris caution with 16 laps to go set up the final run to the finish. The leaders came in for fresh rubber and a splash of fuel to guarantee they could reach the finish. Stewart won the race off pit road with Kenseth, Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya just behind.

Stewart got a great jump and left a lapped car between himself and second place. But Johnson got around both Kenseth and the lapped car and still had eight laps to run down the leader.

Johnson was driving at the bottom of the track and closing on Stewart. Six laps to go and he was just two lengths back. They were side-by-side with five to go, but Stewart fought him off. Johnson tried it again on lap 323 (of 325) and squeezed Stewart into the wall ever so slightly. Stewart regained control, but he lost all his momentum.

Johnson took off and Stewart, now with a damaged right-side fender, settled into the second spot. He had nothing for Johnson. The two-time defending series champion took the checkered flag without challenge.

Hopefully we can get another close finish to add to the AMS lore.

Nationwide

Nicorette 300 - Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA

The "Sprint Cup Lite" series continues to be dominated by "Chase for the Sprint Cup" qualifiers. The top-four in the Nationwide Series were all in last year's Sprint Cup title race - Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards. Carl Edwards.

Edwards, the 2007 Nationwide Series champion, is off to a slow start - at least compared to last year. In the first three races, Edwards has a best finish of fifth, his only top-five. Last year, Edwards began the season with three consecutive top-fives and nine top-fives in his first 10 starts. He built a lead so big that he cruised to the drivers title.

Other "Cup" regulars in the top-10 are David Ragan, Clint Bowyer, David Reutimann and Dario Franchitti.

There are only two Nationwide Series-only drivers in the top-10: Mike Wallace and youngster Brad Coleman. The 20-year-old Coleman has improved his finish in each of the first three weeks, claiming a solid ninth-place finish last week in Las Vegas.

Coleman made 17 starts in 2007 earning three top-fives and five top-10s. In June he finished second to Stephen Leicht in a battle of future "Cup" stars.

This will be Coleman's first start at Atlanta, but that doesn't mean he can't finish well. Last year in his first visit to Milwaukee he finished fourth. A fifth at Watkins Glen, an eighth at Montreal and a ninth at Talladega were all during inaugural visits.

"It's a challenge I've learned to handle well," said Coleman on his website. "You just have to go out there, be smart and find your groove. After a couple laps, you start to get comfortable and realize how things are going to run. I have always had a unique ability to pick up any type of race track quickly."

Although the list of winners at AMS is likely to continue to be a Cup driver, (the last Nationwide Series-only driver to win in Atlanta was Jamie McMurray in 2002) it will be interesting to see how Coleman competes against the veterans.

Meanwhile, Jeff Burton, the winner of the last two AMS spring events will attempt to be the first to three-peat in Atlanta. The closest anyone has gotten to a three-peat at AMS was Mark Martin, who won three of four starts between 1997-2000.

Craftsman

American Commercial Lines 200 - Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA

Winning a race in Atlanta seems to be a precursor to winning the Craftsman Truck Series championship. In two of the last four seasons, the truck series champion has won a race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

In 2004, the late Bobby Hamilton edged Mike Skinner for the win and went on to win the title. Two years later, Todd Bodine won in Atlanta and also earned his first truck series title.

Last year Mike Skinner won the race, the second of a three-race string of victories that saw Skinner get off to a big early lead in the title chase which he eventually lost to Ron Hornaday Jr. Hornaday Jr. also has a win at Atlanta (2005).

So far this season, it has been the Kyle Busch and Todd Bodine show. Each driver has a first and a second in two starts. The difference in the standings is a 25-point penalty incurred by Bodine at Daytona.

"First place one week, second the next - that's how you win championships," Bodine said, knowing that Busch will only run a part-time schedule in the series.

Busch will run this week, the only driver to compete in all three weekend events, and he has won twice in Atlanta. He won both times in the fall race (2005, 2007).

"Anytime I can race with Billy Ballew, it is a lot of fun," said Busch.

The 1.54-mile AMS track is one of the fastest the series runs on.

"Atlanta is one of those tracks that you can run wide open," said Hornaday Jr. "The turns there have almost as much banking as Daytona and Talladega and you can carry some really good speed going into the straightaways...We tested at Atlanta back in January and did really well; learned some things that I think will pay off for us when we get there for the race."

The defending series champion sits ninth in the standings (-112). The team rebounded from a 25th-place finish in Daytona with a top-five effort in California. But they still have a lot of good teams to climb over to get back into the title fight. Ahead of Hornaday Jr. are: Dennis Setzer, Chad McCumbee, rookie Phillip McGilton, Rick Crawford, David Starr and Johnny Benson.

Benson might be the man to beat this year. Normally he starts slowly and comes on as the weather heats up. But the No.23 Toyota team has begun 2008 with back-to-back third-place finishes and sits just 25 points behind the leader. That included a great run in California that saw the team qualify third quickest but start at the back of the field after discovering a broken fuel pump prior to the start of the race. His third-place finish was his highest finish at the Auto Club Speedway.

The Atlanta Motor Speedway holds the record for the closest finish on a superspeedway. Ron Hornaday Jr. edged Bobby Labonte back in 2005 by just 0.008 seconds to take the win.

Former Formula One driver, Scott Speed, is scheduled to make his debut for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in the No.46 Chevrolet.

It should be another great race.