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Odds & Ends - Atlanta
August 28, 2012
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 104 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Atlanta Speedway, until 2010 there has been two races per year except 1961, which had three. This year marks the second season with only one event.
-- Fireball Roberts won the pole and race for the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in 1960.
-- 45 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.
-- 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 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee 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. Hendrick Motorsports has 11 wins at Atlanta and could tie the Wood Brothers this weekend.
-- 14 races have been won from the pole. The last to do so was Kasey Kahne in 2006. The last two races have been won from the fifth position.
-- 60 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.
-- Two drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at Atlanta: Carl Edwards(3/20/2005) and Kevin Harvick (3/11/2001).
-- Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Atlanta Motor Speedway winner: Kyle Busch (03/09/2008 - 22 years, 10 months, 7 days).
-- Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Atlanta Motor Speedway winner: Morgan Shepherd (03/20/1993 - 51 years, 5 months, 8 days).
Atlanta Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 25 of 36 (09-02-12)
Track Size: 1.54-miles
Banking/Corners: 24 degrees
Banking/Straights: 5 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 2,332 feet
Backstretch Length: 1,800 feet
Race Length: 325 laps / 500.5 miles
Top 12 Driver Rating at Atlanta
Jimmie Johnson 109.5
Jeff Gordon 104.1
Tony Stewart 102.3
Carl Edwards 101.8
Denny Hamlin 96.2
Matt Kenseth 96.2
Kurt Busch 96.1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 94.3
Greg Biffle 92.9
Kasey Kahne 91.0
Kyle Busch 90.6
Martin Truex Jr. 88.9
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2012 races (13 total) at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Qualifying/Race Data
2011 pole winner: Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet (186.196 mph, 29.775 sec., 09-04-11)
2011 race winner: Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet (124.623 mph, 4:00:58, 09-06-11)
Track qualifying record: Geoffrey Bodine, Ford (197.478 mph, 28.074 sec., 11-15-97)
Track race record: Bobby Labonte, Pontiac (159.904 mph, 3:07:48, 11/16/97)
NASCAR in Georgia
-- There have been 163 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Georgia.
-- 172 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:
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