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Odds & Ends - Atlanta
August 31, 2010
By VI News
VegasInsider.com
Atlanta Motor Speedway
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:
Bill Elliott
Tim Flock
Jack Smith
Fonty Flock
Bob Flock
Frank Mundy
Gober Sosebee
Harold Kite
Sam McQuagg
Jody Ridley
Reed Sorenson
Buckshot Jones
David Ragan
Ronald Cooper
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.
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