Thomas Chemris
October 27
"Garage Guru" Thomas Chemris's BJFR Top Picks Atlanta
(Thomas Chemris is an award winning writer and photographer who covers the NASCAR series for several media outlets)
Carl Edwards’s stunning victory over Jimmie Johnson in the March race at Atlanta will surely be a season highlight in 2005.
Rather or not the Roush Rookie can repeat at the track is yet to be seen, but the odds makers view as unlikely.
Active drivers who have won at the track besides Edwards include Bobby Labonte (6), Jeff Gordon (4), and Mark Martin (2) Rusty Wallace (2). Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kevin Harvick, Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, and Tony Stewart.
Atlanta is the fastest track on the circuit, and drivers who did well at Charlotte with its excessive speed will do well here.
Big Johnson Picks
Group A
Have to go with Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart. Besides the fact that both are neck and neck for the series championship, both teams are on top of there game. Give the edge to Stewart.
Group B
Elliott Sadler is due. He runs well on the mile and a half tracks and this could be just what this team needs to get ready for 2006. I am going to go out on a limb, but I think Dale Jr will have a shot at winning if not a much needed top five finish. He and Eury Jr have won here and they looked racy at Charlotte.
Group C
This is a very tough group to pick. Many of these drivers are on the silly season hit list and all are driving for the win which can spell disaster. I like Casey Mears. He has made real steady progress. He should be top ten, joining him from this group will be Bobby Labonte.
Group D
Denny Hamlin has scored two top ten finishes in the Fed Ex car in two starts. JGR has not announced a driver for Atlanta, but if it is Hamlin, go for it.
Yahoo Picks
A List
Johnson & Stewart
B List
Bobby Labonte & Kevin Harvick
C List
Casey Mears & Kyle Busch
Rich Romer's BJFR Top Picks For Atlanta
Rich Romer
October 27
Atlanta--four races to go in the Chase for the Championship. Another cookie
cutter track owned by Bruton Smith and Speedway Motorsports. The good news is that SMI has not
"levigated" this track without telling NASCAR or Goodyear.
Atlanta has always been promoted as NASCAR's fastest track with the right degree of banking and open turns which permit the drivers to hold the
throttles down going into the turns and pick them up early coming off. Goodyear knows
how to build a tire for Atlanta which will hold up to the speeds, provide adequate grip, and hold up for the full duration of a fuel run. Atlanta
used to be the venue for the last race of the season but you have to remember that
NASCAR's France family also owns International Speedway Corporation which bought a
full interest in Homestead a few years ago. Sort of like Microsoft owning the Windows operating system and computers on which it runs. Anyhow, the
Chase has now narrowed down to four drivers with any chance to win--Stewart, Johnson, Newman, and Biffle. Oh, yeah, everyone else still has a mathematical chance
to surge to the top, bu only if these four have nothing but disastrous races from here to the end. Interesting that only one of the five Roush drivers
is at the top of the heap and only two of the five are in the top five.
BIG JOHNSON
GROUP A: Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle. Tony had a near perfect race at Martinsville--pole, led most laps, finished second one position ahead of
Johnson. He is a master of cookie cutter tracks. He will race to ensure that he
finishes in front of Johnson while attempting to win. He won't have the most powerful engine but he will have one guaranteed to last the race. Bif has
to step it up this weekend to remain a contender. He is the guy Stewart called an
"idiot" so look for some interesting mano a mano racing between these two.
GROUP B: Kevin Harvick won his first Cup race at Atlanta. He has a lot to prove and really wants to be the 11th guy on the stage in New York. Even
without Todd Berrier on top of the pit box he will be strong. Go with another "outsider" as your other choice--Dale Earnhardt, Jr. This is another
place he and Crew Chief Tony Eury, Jr. can shine.
GROUP C: Kyle Busch is a great cookie cutter racer and with one win this year, he would like to show Rick Hendrick that he is the driver for the
future. Jeff Burton is another "outsider" with a strong chance at this track.
GROUP D: Of the remaining drivers in this group, go with Kyle Petty and Mike
Wallace. They are the strongest of the bunch.
YAHOO
GROUP A: Tony Stewart had a near perfect race at Martinsville--pole, led most laps, finished second one position ahead of Johnson. He is a master
of cookie cutter tracks. He will race to ensure that he finishes in front of
Johnson while attempting to win. He won't have the most powerful engine but he
will have one guaranteed to last the race.
GROUP B: Greg Biffle has to step it up this weekend to remain a contender. He
is the guy Stewart called an "idiot" so look for some interesting mano
a mano racing between these two. Kevin Harvick won his first Cup race at Atlanta.
He has a lot to prove and really wants to be the 11th guy on the stage in New York. Even without Todd Berrier on top of the pit box he will be
strong.
GROUP C: Kyle Busch is a great cookie cutter racer and with one win this year, he would like to show Rick Hendrick that he is the driver for the
future.
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