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2008 NASCAR Tickets & NASCAR Schedule

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By Bill Marx, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Here’s a look at the top five in points and five drivers to watch in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. All statistical references are for Sprint Cup races at Atlanta unless otherwise indicated.

1. Kyle Busch. Atlanta is one of Busch’s weakest tracks. He has no top 10s in seven races, although he did finish 12th three consecutive races in 2005 and 2006. His driver rating reflects his lack of success: 79.3,which ranks 15th.

--(Cont'd From Front Page)-- 2. Ryan Newman. Busch is a champion compared to Newman, whose driver rating is a disappointing 65.0 (25th). Only five drivers who have started the past six races at Atlanta are lower. What makes Newman’s results all the more peculiar is that he has started from the pole seven times in 12 races, yet his 3.6 average start translates to an 18.8average finish. His last top 10 at Atlanta -- and his only top five --came in this race four years ago.

3. Kasey Kahne. Kahne has an odd record at Atlanta. He either finishes in the top 10 or in the 30s. He has five top 10s (including a win and four top fives) in eight races, but his finishes in the other three races are 35, 38 or 39. His driver rating is 87.8, 10th best.

4. Kevin Harvick. Harvick won his first race at Atlanta (2001) and finished third in his second race. Those are the highlights, folks, in his 14 starts. They also are his only top-10 finishes. In his past six races at Atlanta, on which his 68.3 driver rating is based, he has an average start of 24.2, an average mid-race position of 24.2 and an average finish of 25.5. And if that isn’t consistently mediocre enough for you, his average running position is 23.5.

5. Greg Biffle. Biffle has the third-highest driver rating with a 103.5,trailing Jimmie Johnson (118.2) and Tony Stewart (104.2). He has posted the most number of fastest laps, 201, and his laps in the top 15 are second only to Johnson. He has five top 10s in 10 races, and he won the poll in the fall race last year, one of four Cup poles he has won in 189 races.

Five to watch:

Carl Edwards, 7th. Edwards is working on a two-race winning streak but will be without his crew chief, Bob Osborne, who has been suspended for six weeks for a rules infraction. Edwards has the fourth-best driver rating, 102.8, and runs very strong at Atlanta (one win and six top 10s in seven races).

Dale Earnhardt Jr., 10th. Atlanta has been a strong track for Junior, too, with a win and nine top 10s in 17 races. It will be interesting to see how his second-place finish at Las Vegas translates to Atlanta. He is right behind Edwards with a 100.2 driver rating.

Tony Stewart, 11th. Stewart represents The Home Depot well in its hometown with 11 top 10s in 18 starts. Of his four Cup wins before the month of June, one came in this race in 2002.

Jimmie Johnson, 14th. Two of Johnson’s three wins at Atlanta came last year, and he has nine top 10s (eight top fives) in 13 starts. Not surprisingly, he is No. 1 in a bunch of loop data categories, including laps led, laps in the top 15 and percentage of quality passes. It’s hard to imagine Johnson not racing for the win Sunday.

Jeff Gordon, 23rd. Gordon -- and Stewart, for that matter -- took one of the hardest hits of his career at Las Vegas. Expect a fair amount of prerace coverage devoted to their wrecks. Gordon has four wins at Atlanta, but only one in his past 17 races at the track (2003). His driver rating, 94.7, is seventh best.

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