After two straight weeks at the newbie NASCAR tracks of California and Las Vegas, the Cup circuit hits the old traditional grounds of Atlanta in the deep South. No more Hollywood mega stars and the Oscars, showgirls and bright lights, its good old fashion racing in the confederation.

Atlanta will be hosting its 100th Cup race this weekend in its 50th season holding Cup races. Sitting atop the standings after three races is Jeff Gordon. The last time he led after three races into a season was his championship year of 1997. Gordon’s program is vastly improved from last season and is likely to win a race sometime soon this season, possibly even this week in Atlanta, the track he made his Cup debut at in 1992. Overall, Gordon has four career wins in Atlanta, second most among active drivers, and thirteen top-five finishes. Last season he ran very well there with two top-10 finishes, including being the pole sitter. This week looks to be a great opportunity for him to break his 44-race winless streak.

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Jimmie Johnson has run well thus far into the season, but doesn’t have much to show for it, currently sitting 19th in points. He led the most laps last week in Las Vegas and was fastest in the final practice, but in the end it just wasn’t his day. Look for Johnson to bounce back this week with strong finish in Atlanta, a place he’s won at three times including a sweep of the 2007 season.

Kyle Busch is fresh off his Las Vegas win and now goes to place where he won the first race ever for Toyota last season. It was Busch’s first of eight wins last season. The Vegas win should signal an end to his collapse that began with the Chase last season where he crumbled. It seemed like that trend was continuing with Daytona when he had the best car but was in the wrong place when Dale Earnhardt Jr. decided to wreck all the leaders. The Vegas win should be a confidence builder for the entire team and could be a prelude to what he did at the beginning of last season when he piled up all those wins.

Matt Kenseth has the dubious distinction of having either finishing first or last after three races. Early engines problems sent Kenseth packing the hauler after just a few Las Vegas laps after winning the first two races of the season. He’ll be back ready to contend again this week with his Roush equipment and attempt to win his first career Atlanta race. He has seven career top-five finishes at the track.

Bobby Labonte used some of that Roush equipment in Las Vegas to have his first top-five finish since 2006. In the old days, no one was better in Atlanta than Labonte. He is the active leader in wins there with six and will be looking to use his track knowledge along with what appears to be a pretty car and build on another good finish. Don’t know that he can actually win, but we’ll be rooting for him because he is one the better all around people in NASCAR.

Carl Edwards hasn’t come close to duplicating what he did in 2008 after three races. Last season heading to Atlanta, he had already won two races. This season he has only one top-10 finish, and is ninth in points. He won the fall race last season giving him a total of three career Atlanta wins. Like Atlanta, both California and Las Vegas were places where Edwards traditionally has run well. He’s not running well at the moment, and it’s likely that he’ll be closer to what we saw the last two weeks than the 2008 Edwards.

The Richard Childress car looked terrible in California two weeks ago and there was a feeling here that their performance in Las Vegas would resemble Cal’s. However, the team made a 180-degree turn and excelled in Vegas with Clint Bowyer grabbing second place and bringing teammate Jeff Burton in tow to third. Kevin Harvick was very good in practice and finished 12th. For Harvick, Atlanta will always remain special because it’s where he got his first career win in what was only his third-career start. That was in 2001, the year he took over the famed No. 3 car following Dale Earnhardt’s passing.

Tony Stewart has two career wins at Atlanta, and was always a threat to win there while driving for Joe Gibbs. He didn’t finish well in Las Vegas, but I must say I am very impressed with what he’s done for his car in such a short period of time. He has two top-10 finishes through three races and has put himself eighth in points. While he’s done well for his own ride, he’s kind of left his own teammate, Ryan Newman, left on the docks to rot. Newman is 33rd in points, and doesn’t look close to getting better anytime soon. That No. 39 car doesn’t even look at good as they did last year without Stewart’s influence.

Let’s go with Jimmie Johnson to right him self this week. He’s probably been the best overall in three races, but doesn’t have anything to show for it. It’s not like last season when they started slow because they didn’t have the right make up with their car, they are dialed in to make that car run well at places like Atlanta and probably better than everyone else.

TOP 5 Finish Prediction:

1) #48 Jimmie Johnson (5/1)
2) #18 Kyle Busch (5/1)
3) #24 Jeff Gordon (8/1)
4) #17 Matt Kenseth (8/1)
5) #2 Kurt Busch (18/1)