photo credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

Keselowski became the 22nd driver in the series 29-year history to win the Nationwide championship and the first Dodge driver to do so. Unbelievably, this is team owner Roger Penske’s first NASCAR championship.

“I’m proud of the effort all season long. Everyone at the shop that gets us to the races and gives us the fast race cars that we need to win races and a championship. It’s very special,” Keselowski said.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToiY9uegVwQ

Roger Penske, Penske Racing: “What a terrific season it has been for Brad and the No. 22 Discount Tire/Ruby Tuesday Dodge team in the Nationwide Series. Penske Racing is very excited to share our organization’s first NASCAR championship with our partners at Dodge. We want to thank Ralph Gilles and his team at Dodge Motorsports for their hard work and dedication and we look forward to many more celebrations in Victory Circle with both the Chargers and the Challengers in the future.”

Ralph Gilles, Dodge President and CEO: “Winning the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship is a remarkable achievement for Brad Keselowski, Penske Racing and Dodge. Brad not only won the championship, but drove the Dodge Challenger to victory in two of the four new car races. The countless hours spent maximizing the performance of the Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger for competition has produced the ultimate reward – the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship. We’re extremely proud of our partnership with the entire team at Penske Racing. The competition this year has been intense, making this championship even more satisfying. This is the perfect end to an amazing season.”

Keselowski is the fourth driver from Michigan to win a NASCAR national touring series title behind Johnny Benson, Jack Sprague and Benny Parsons.

“Congratulations to Brad, Mr. Penske and the entire Nationwide Series team for winning this year’s championship,” Michigan International Speedway track president Roger Curtis said. “It doesn’t happen that often when a Michigan native wins a NASCAR series championship so it’s with great pride as a fellow Michigander that I congratulate him. He makes our state very proud.”

photo credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

photo credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Edwards celebrated by not only giving fans his signature back flip, but grabbed the flag and ran into the grandstands. For his third win of the season, Edwards had to hold off a dominant Kyle Busch.

After leading three times for a race-high 107 laps, Busch lost the lead to Edwards on a restart with 10 to go. Kyle did get one more chance to retake the lead after Clint Bowyer’s engine blew with 3 to go setting up a green white checkered finish for the 10th time this season.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxb2ikReq8A

“It was a good day,” Busch said. “It started out really good. Our car was fast there in the beginning, but we just didn’t quite have the speed it took there toward the end of the race with the way the 22 (Brad Keselowski) and the 60 (Carl Edwards) made adjustments and got going really, really good. We just didn’t have the speed quite like they did. Through the corners it seemed like I could make up a little ground, but I couldn’t maintain it down the next straightaway. Disappointing day finishing second.”

The points leader Brad Keselowski started 16th, lead one lap and finished third which was exactly what he had to do in order to clinch the series championship with two races remaining.

“We wanted to win the race. It was a great fight there at the end,” Keselowski said. “I’m thrilled for my Ruby Tuesday/Discount Tire Dodge team. This is an awesome team that just fights real hard. We wanted to win the race; it just didn’t go in our favor. We had a strong showing, placing third. That’s what it takes to run up front and be there at the end. I’m proud of the effort all season long. Everyone at the shop that gets us to the races and gives us the fast race cars that we need to win races and a championship. It’s very special.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToiY9uegVwQ

“What a terrific season it has been for Brad and the No. 22 Discount Tire/Ruby Tuesday Dodge team in the Nationwide Series,” team owner Roger Penske said. “Penske Racing is very excited to share our organization’s first NASCAR championship with our partners at Dodge. We want to thank Ralph Gilles (Dodge President and CEO) and his team at Dodge Motorsports for their hard work and dedication and we look forward to many more celebrations in Victory Circle with both the Chargers and the Challengers in the future.”

“Winning the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship is a remarkable achievement for Brad Keselowski, Penske Racing and Dodge,” said Gilles. “Brad not only won the championship, but drove the Dodge Challenger to victory in two of the four new car races. The countless hours spent maximizing the performance of the Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger for competition has produced the ultimate reward – the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship. We’re extremely proud of our partnership with the entire team at Penske Racing. The competition this year has been intense, making this championship even more satisfying. This is the perfect end to an amazing season.”

Joey Logano finished 4th followed by Martin Truex Jr, Jason Leffler, Reed Sorenson, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard and Steve Wallace rounded out the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were 5 caution flags for 24 laps: 44-48 (#30 accident Turn 4); 82-85 (#05 accident Turn 2); 148-152 (Debris on track); 186-190 (#42 accident Turn 2); 199-203 (Fluid on track)

There were 10 lead changes among 7 drivers: J. Buescher 1-4; K. Busch 5-43; C. Edwards 44-55; R. Stenhouse Jr. 56-82; K. Busch 83-139; Brad Keselowski 140; A. Almirola 141-143; K. Busch 144-154; C. Edwards 155-186; T. Bayne 187-190; C. Edwards 191-205

Next:
Saturday, November 13th -- Phoenix International Raceway

photo credit: John Sommers II/Getty Images for NASCAR

With 10 laps remaining, Keselowski pitted for four tires while most of the field opted for two. It proved to be the winning strategy for the #22 Penske Racing team as Keselowski passed Mike Bliss coming to the white flag.

“When we had that one more lap of yellow, it went from five to four (laps left), I knew it was going to be close,” Keselowski said. “When Bliss got the lead, I thought he would be gone. He had the best short-run car out of the group. I got a little break when 32 (Reed Sorenson) got to him, got him a little loose and was able to take advantage of it, but Mike drove a great race. So did my teammate Justin Allgaier. I thought he was going to win it, I really did. Things just didn’t work out for him. I’m very happy for him and the strong run he had.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzgmPfWrsY8

Keselowski led 83 of 200 laps, second only to his Penske Racing teammate and the polesitter, Justin Allgaier. This is Keselowski’s 6th victory and 26th top-10 finish this season.

With 3 races left of the season, Keselowski boasts a 485-point lead in the standings over 2nd place driver, Carl Edwards. Keselowski has a genuine shot to clinch the championship at Texas Motor Speedway if he finishes with a 391-point lead. It will be the first championship for team owner Roger Penske in NASCAR competition.

“Thirteen months ago, when Discount Tire called me and wanted me to drive this car, I knew it was going to be something special, but I didn’t know that it was going to be this good,” Keselowski said. “Thanks to everyone at Discount Tire and Dodge. To get another win for Roger and finally get this Gateway win, the final race at this race track here in Illinois, it’s awesome.”

It was at this track in July where Keselowski dueled for the win with Carl Edwards and ended up taking a spin for a 14th place finish.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz9OXptTwVQ

“I try not to hold grudges. I try not to think of that and just focus on our next race. That was key about winning today,” Keselowski said. “You can’t panic about what happened in the last race. You have to move forward and move on with your life. Our team did that today.”

Mike Bliss led twice for 10 laps and was able to bring home a runner-up finish. “We were alright today. We weren’t as good as I expected in long runs,” Bliss said. “With taking two tires, we got a good finish out of it.”

Justin Allgaier started from the pole and was dominant from the start. Allgaier went on to lead a race-high 88 laps and score a 3rd place finish.

“I guess the fastest car doesn’t always win the race,” a disappointed Allgaier said. “The Verizon Dodge Charger was awesome today and we had the car to beat. We just made a bad pit call late and it cost us. It stinks to come to your hometown, run so good and not get the win. A great run, but it should have been a better result. These guys put a great race car underneath me today. It’s too bad.”

Allgaier will lose his ride next season due to a lack of sponsorship.

Jason Leffler finished 4th followed by Carl Edwards, Reed Sorenson, Josh Wise, Brad Coleman, Paul Menard and Jeremy Clements completed the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were 6 cautions for 26 laps: 48-51 (Debris); 76-79 (#35 accident Turn 2); 83-86 (#62 accident Turn 3); 96-100 (#88, #98 accident Turn 4); 105-108 (#40, 10, 6, 39, 62, 11, 81, 70, 7, 34, 42 accident frontstretch [Red Flag: Lap 105, 20:38]); 192-196 (#7, 66 accident Turn 1)

There were 12 lead changes among 6 drivers: J. Allgaier 1-48; M. Bliss 49-54; J. Allgaier 55-76; Brad Keselowski 77-108; M. Bliss 109-112; Brad Keselowski 113-156; R. Sorenson 157-160; J. Wise 161-163; J. Clements 164-169; Brad Keselowski 170-174; J. Allgaier 175-192; R. Sorenson 193-198; Brad Keselowski 199-200

Danica Patrick finished 22nd, 17 laps down after being involved in two accidents including a multiple car accident on lap 104.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=72fSxTLcxzc

The accident prompted a 20 minute and 38 second red flag for clean-up.

Patrick scored her best series finish last weekend at Charlotte after placing 21st.

Next:
Saturday, November 6th -- O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway
TV coverage begins at Noon on ESPN2

photo credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images

Keselowski didn’t have the most dominant car of the night but was there to take the lead with 34 laps to go and opened up a gap to score his fifth series victory.

“It was a great run,” Keselowski said. “The start of the race was pretty frustrating. We started third, had a great qualifying effort. At the start, I moved back and got kind of boxed in and got really frustrated. I stayed patient which was really hard to do. My spotter and crew chief and owner did the best that they could to be patient. It worked out great. We had some pit strategy there in the middle of the race which I thought was really going to pay off. I didn’t quite work out perfectly. I felt pretty good. And then our last adjustment was just incredible and it really got our car going. Then it was just down to having perfect restarts there at the end. I don’t know if they were perfect, but they were sure exciting.”

The margin of victory: 1.137 seconds over runner-up Martin Truex Jr.

“I have never been so disappointed to run second,” Truex said. “It looked like if those last couple cautions hadn’t come out, we were going to be in good shape. Just a little too tight after that last run there. It’s a shame because on the green flag runs we were really fast and really just called off the adjustments and then we got too tight later. These guys did a great job -- they’re a part time Camping World East team that won the championship so to run like this with them again for the second time is awesome and they do an awesome job. I can’t thank them enough. Just wish we could have done one stop better.” Truex led twice for 20 laps.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Li0YybgSZQ

Brad Keselowski has now opened up a 450 point lead in the standings over second place contender Carl Edwards with just four races remaining.

“Obviously, having been in the sport as long as we have, we’ve been close with Rusty a couple years. We were never able to complete it,” team owner Roger Penske said about the possibility of Keselowski winning the 2010 Nationwide Series championship.  “To me, this was a goal that we set together. When Brad and I sat down and Paul (Wolfe, crew chief) joined the team, we knew what we had to do and I think that we’ve never looked back. I think we’re building real chemistry within the team. I think the people that we’ve been able to attract, good driver, good crew chief; you attract a lot of good people to the team. Overall, in the engineering department…we’ve worked so hard with Dodge. They wanted to stay in and stuck with us during their bankruptcy and supported us. There are a lot of reasons. To win this championship, it’s not over yet. Hopefully, it will be successful and it will be for us a building block for us to get to the next step.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp5HEa90sDo

It was also the final race of the year featuring the new series car until its full-time debut next season.

“It’s just amazing how good these cars run and how good things are going over here in the Nationwide Series side with our cars and our team,” said Keselowski. “I’m really proud of everyone that works on these cars that make them so fast. This is really a team sport and we work together as a team and win together as a team. That’s something to be very proud of, what a great night.”

It came as no surprise that Kyle Busch had the most dominant car as he attempted to win a record-breaking thirteenth win of the season. Busch led five times for 84 of 200 laps. His #18 Toyota went backwards as the laps ticked down.

“We started good and led a lot of laps, but as the track changed and it started cooling off, we were keeping up with it decent, and then it just really got away from us in a hurry,” said the #18crew chief Jason Ratcliff. “We tried to make some adjustments and the adjustments didn’t react like we hoped they would.” Busch held on for a sixth place finish.

“It’s just part of learning this car,” Ratcliff said. “We made adjustments that we would’ve made with the other car that would’ve been the direction to go. With this car, it just wasn’t right. Either it wasn’t enough or it was the wrong adjustment — one or the other. We’re learning and I thought to start the race, it’s the best we had been with the new car. At the end of the race, we were back to where we were. It’s a building process and we’ll be better next time.”

Keselowski’s Penske Racing teammate Justin Allgaier finished third.

“The Penske Dodge Challenger was awesome,” Allgaier said. “These Verizon guys do a great job week in and week out. We don’t always get the results, but tonight they worked their tails off and we got a good finish. I’ll tell you, 72 hours ago, there was no way we were not going to have a good weekend. I hope the fans in the grandstands enjoyed it because it was a fun race.”

Joey Logano went home fourth followed by polesitter Bowyer, Busch, Reed Sorenson, Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were 8 caution flags for 36 laps: 3-5 (#26 accident turn 4); 11-15 (#15, 70, 87 accident turn 2); 65-70 (#09 accident turn 4); 73-77 (#23, 99 accident turn 2); 82-85 (Debris); 156-160 (Competition); 183-186 (#09 accident frontstretch); 189-192 (#17, 66 accident backstretch)

There were 16 lead changes among 9 drivers: C. Bowyer 1-22; K. Busch 23-54; P. Menard 55-56; A. Almirola 57; J. Buescher # 58-65; K. Busch 66-85; J. Logano 86-93; K. Busch 94-112; C. Bowyer 113-119; K. Busch 120-121; M. Truex Jr. 122-139; B. Keselowski 140-143; K. Harvick 144-145; K. Busch 146-156; B. Keselowski 157-163; M. Truex Jr. 164-165; B. Keselowski 166-200

Danica Patrick finished 21st, two laps down.

Next:
Saturday, October 23rd -- 5-Hour Energy 250 at Gateway International Raceway

Chris Trotman for NASCAR/Getty Images (Dover 9-24-10)

Patrick was on hand Friday at JR Motorsports for the official announcement and to unveil her #7 Go Daddy Chevrolet for next season. She’ll, once again, run a partial schedule in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series and compete in thirteen races including the first four:

“I know we’re all anxious to get the whole schedule put in place, but I’m extremely excited to be able to confirm our participation in the first four races of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, and also unveil another beautiful Go Daddy car,” Patrick said.  “Go Daddy has been extremely good to me in both series.  I know Bob Parsons (Go Daddy founder and CEO) is a huge fan of our racing program, and I thank him for all the support.  We’ll have four extremely challenging and unique races to start our 2011 season, and I’m anxious to return to a lot of those tracks with at least a little bit of familiarity.”

JR Motorsports general manager Kelley Earnhardt and Tony Eury Jr, Patrick’s crew chief, joined her for the press conference.

“Danica has shown immense dedication in her NASCAR endeavor,” Kelley Earnhardt said.  “She proved last week (at Auto Club Speedway) that even a little bit of experience goes a long way, as she drove an exceptional race.  Starting this weekend at Charlotte, she will compete in each of the final five races of 2010.  Add the first four Nationwide races of next season, and that’s a solid stretch of seat time she will get to continue learning the intricacies of these race cars.  She has done a commendable job so far given the limited seat time, and we appreciate her work ethic and dedication to Go Daddy and our race team.”

Patrick just finished the IndyCar season a disappointing 10th in the series standings, her worst since finishing 17th her rookie year.

“I think I knew this would be the hardest year I’ve ever had just because of all the NASCAR stuff,” Patrick said in a recent interview. “I didn’t expect IndyCar to be such a tough year, but I knew there would be a lot of humbling experiences and that has definitely happened.”

Patrick has yet to score a top-20 finish in NASCAR competition. Can we expect a better season for her in 2011?

photo credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

After leading a whopping 170 of 250 laps, Harvick had to hold off points leader Brad Keselowski in lapped traffic to secure the win in a thrilling finish.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-tNTyngo64

Harvick crossed the finish line .256 seconds ahead of Keselowski.

“We just weren’t good enough to beat Kevin legit tonight,” Keselowski said after a runner-up finish, although he increased his lead in the standings to 373 points over Carl Edwards, who finished 10th.

It was the third of four races this season to feature the new Nationwide Series car, first at Richmond and on a short track.

“This is the future of our company (Kevin Harvick Inc), so we put a lot of effort into this program, knowing that all the other cars were going to go away, and knowing that we had to be good with this car,” Harvick said.

In a quest to set a new series record for most wins in a season, Kyle Busch was a contender in his infamous pink kitty and baby seal ride until suffering a pit road penalty. During the last round of pit stops, the quick-fill nozzle from a fuel can broke off and was still lodged in the car when Busch pulled off pit road. Busch was forced to restart 21st on what would be the final restart of the night on lap 211.

“Who knows what we would have had there at the end if we wouldn’t have had the incident,” Jason Ratcliff, Busch’s crew chief, said. “It’s just unfortunate. Those things happen, you hate to see it.”

Busch finished 9th and remains tied with Sam Ard’s 1983 record for the most wins in a season at 10.

Trevor Bayne finished third followed by rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Reed Sorenson, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Busch and Edwards completed the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were 6 caution flags for 30 laps and 9 lead changes among 6 drivers: K. Harvick 1-109; E. Sadler 110-129; A. Almirola 130-132; K. Harvick 133-144; E. Sadler 145-148; K. Busch 149-162; B. Keselowski 163-197; K. Harvick 198-206; R. Newman 207-210; K. Harvick 211-250

Next:
Saturday, Sept. 25th -- Dover 200 at Dover International Speedway

photo credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

McMurray jumped out front on the final restart with 22 laps remaining and put the pedal to the floor to finish 0.286 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch.

‘We unloaded today and pretty much had the fastest car on the track,” McMurray said. “We just had a really good day. Pops (crew chief Tony Eury, Sr.) did a good job adjusting the car. I felt like at the beginning of the race I had the best car and it felt like we had a second or third place car in the middle. At the end, it just had tons of speed and certainly getting out in front on that last restart was critical. I really thought when we came to the green there, whoever got in front it was going to be hard to pass that guy. Fortunately we got a jump there and got ahead of Kyle (Busch). It’s the same thing every week — for the car out front, the clean air is huge.”

McMurray led three times for 48 of 195 laps.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqX0OKDt0O8

This is McMurray’s eighth Nationwide Series win but first since Nov. 13, 2004 at Darlington Raceway. McMurray agreed to drive the #88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports for nine races this season after the organization parted ways with driver Kelly Bires in April.

Kyle Busch led a race-high 74 laps in his quest to set a new series record for the most wins in a season. Busch is tied with Sam Ard’s 1983 record for ten race wins in a season, a feat Busch also accomplished in 2008 as well.

“Didn’t quite unfold the way we wanted it to. We came up short tonight,” Busch said. “Five laps more and I could have had him. If -- there’s always an ‘if’ in this sport I guess.”

Kevin Harvick was another strong contender for the win. He was out in front for 52 laps after taking new tires during the second caution period while the rest of the field opted not to.

“Harvick, with that little show he put on in the middle of the race, we knew tires would be big at the end,” Eury Sr. said. Harvick finished 4th.

Starting from the pole, Kasey Kahne led twice for 17 laps, but handling issues regulated him to a 19th place finish, three laps down.

“We had a really fast Great Clips Toyota and just got really loose there for a while. We kind of got that fixed and then I rubbed (Brad) Keselowski and just got too close to him and rubbed my right front,” Kahne explained his night. “Then the tire went down and that kind of ruined our race. We had a top-five car. We just didn’t finish there.”

And what about the points leader? Keselowski went home 12th.

“We probably had a fourth or fifth-place car,” Keselowski said. “We rolled the dice to win because we want to win. We know that we have a real good shot at winning the driver’s title and it’s looking really good. We’re just going for wins and doing all that we can to do that. We banked a set of tires by staying out on that last yellow. We were really prepared for another yellow to come out and we just didn’t catch it. We just didn’t catch the breaks that we needed to get a solid finish or win the race. We put ourselves in position and sometimes that’s the way it goes.”

Keselowski leads the standings by 332 points over second place driver Carl Edwards.

Edwards finished third followed by Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Jason Leffler, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were 4 caution flags for 17 laps and 9 lead changes among 5 drivers: K. Kahne 1-3; K. Busch 4-10; K. Kahne 11-24; K. Busch 25-64; J. McMurray 65-69; K. Harvick 70-121; K. Busch 122-148; J. McMurray 149-168; Brad Keselowski 169-172; J. McMurray 173-195

Next:
September 10th -- Richmond 250 at Richmond International Raceway (7 pm/ESPN2)

2009 Atlanta Motor Speedway
photo credit: Darrell Ingham/Getty Images for NASCAR

a/k/a Fastlanta

A lot of attention will be paid to the drivers looking to make it into the championship hunt. Points leader Kevin Harvick and second-place driver in the standings, Jeff Gordon have already clinched their spot in this year’s Chase. Three drivers have a realistic shot to secure their berth while three other drivers have a remote chance to seal the deal this Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Current Driver Standings – Top 12

- Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin have favorable chances of locking into the Chase after Atlanta.

After his dominant win at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch only needs to finish 40th or better without leading any laps to clinch his spot in The Chase or 42nd or better with at least one lap led or 43rd or better with the most laps led.

“We’re working really hard,” Busch said. “Bristol was a big confidence booster for this team, so were hoping it gives us some momentum that we need during the Chase.” In his 12 Atlanta races, Busch has 1 win, 2 top-5 and 2 top-10 finishes (with an average finish of 18.333).

Carl Edwards -21st or better, no laps led; 23rd or better, at least one lap led; 25th or better, most laps led

“I can’t wait to go to Atlanta,” Edwards said. “It’s multi-grooved, fast, fun and has a lot of history. I got my first win there back in 2005 and sure would like to get another one this weekend. We need a solid run to get locked into the Chase at Atlanta so we can go to Richmond next week and just focus on winning the race. We’ve got a sizeable lead on 13th place which is what we need with just two races remaining before the Chase.” In his 12 races at Atlanta, Edwards has scored 3 wins, 6 top-5 and 8 top-10 finishes (with an average finish of 15.250).

Denny Hamlin – 20th or better, no laps led; 22nd or better, at least one lap led; 23rd or better, most laps led

“We’re in the position where if we don’t win, this weekend really doesn’t mean that much to us,” Hamlin said. “Our attitude is to throw whatever we can at the car. If we feel like we’re off, we’re going to take some risks and maybe run terrible, but maybe hit that magical setup and go out there and win and get 10 more bonus points for the Chase. Right now, it’s more about building momentum than anything.” Hamlin has yet to win at Atlanta after 10 races. He has posted 1 top-5 and 3 top-10 finishes (with an average finish of 15.900).

- Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth have the potential to lock into the Chase leaving Atlanta.

Tony Stewart – 19th or better, no led; 21st or better, at least one lap led; 23rd or better, most laps led

“Everybody understands the system,” Stewart said. “We know that if the Chase were to start tomorrow, we’d start behind. So, it’s not a situation where you try to make up for it. That’s when you get yourself in trouble. It’s no different than gambling when you get off your game and you try to do something to get yourself back square, that’s when you get in trouble. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing. That’s what got us here.” Stewart has won three times at Atlanta in 23 races with 8 top-5 and 13 top-10 finishes (and an average finish of 12.043).

Jeff Burton – 17th or better, no laps led; 19th or better, at least one lap led; 21st or better, most laps led

“Well, I was hoping that we could clinch a spot way before Atlanta,” Burton said. “It would be really nice to go to Atlanta and not worry about making a mistake and costing us the chance at making the Chase. It is what it is. But, our main goal every week is to race for the win. We’re certainly going to focus on that on Sunday but, at the same time, we’ll have to race smart to get locked in (the Chase) heading to Richmond. Then, that will be our complete focus at Richmond to win.” Burton hasn’t won at Atlanta after 32 tries, but he’s scored 7 top-5 and 13 top-10 finishes (with an average finish of 17.156).

Matt Kenseth – 15th or better, no laps led; 17th or better, at least one lap led; 19th or better, most laps led

“We need to get running better and get running more consistently in the top 10 ,” Kenseth said. “I mean, we finished 10th (at Bristol) but that needs to be your worst finish if you’re gonna ever contend for a championship, so we need to keep working on it and get a little better.” Kenseth is another top-12 driver who hasn’t yet won at Atlanta, but he has posted 8 top-5 and 12 top-10 finishes in 21 races (with an average finish of 13.143).

Current Driver Standings – Outside the Top 12

Several drivers are on the directly on the outside looking in which includes this year’s Daytona 500 winner, Jamie McMurray.

“It certainly is a better position to be in right now for us because there only is one person we have to pass,” McMurray said. “When you have three or four in between you, you have to hope all of them have something bad happen to all them.” McMurray has posted four top-10 finishes in 16 races at Atlanta.

“Anything can happen,” Martin said. “Where we are now, it would be a surprise to make up that kind of ground in two races. It would come at Clint’s (Bowyer) expense for sure. But, it’s important to us to continue to work on trying to get our cars faster and get stronger and better as a team. That’s the most important thing on our agenda. If we were able to go out and win Atlanta then we might think going into Richmond that we could get back in the Chase. Realistically it seems like we’ve got some work to do before we’re going to be a contender to win races. Really, that’s more important than talking about the Chase.” At this point last year, Martin had already won four races whereas this season he remains winless. In his 49 races at Atlanta, Martin has scored 2 wins, 14 top-5 and 23 top-10 finishes.

“We know we have a lot of ground to make up, and after the last race in Bristol, it looks like we need a win to gain in points,” Newman said. “We finished sixth in Bristol and went backwards in the standings. That’s a pretty good indicator about how fierce the competition is week in and week out.” Newman leads all active drivers with seven pole awards at Atlanta, but has yet to win there. In 17 starts, Newman’s posted 1 top-5 and 5 top-10 finishes.

Jeff Gordon leads all of the top-12 drivers with four Atlanta wins while Bobby Labonte leads all active drivers with six wins at the fast 1.54-mile track. This weekend bodes well for Gordon, Chevrolet leads all other manufacturers with the most wins at Atlanta with 35.

Kurt Busch is the only repeat winner in the past five races at Atlanta. He won the past two spring races there. There have been 42 different winners in Atlanta’s 50-year history of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing. Kasey Kahne is the defending race winner.

TV coverage of the Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway starts at 7 pm this Sunday night on ESPN.

The Nationwide Series also race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. TV coverage of the Great Clips 300 begins at 7 pm on ESPN2.

The Camping World Truck Series will race at Kentucky Speedway on Friday night. TV coverage of the Built Ford Tough 225 presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers will begin at 7:30 pm on SPEED.