Racing News Digest

VISIT OUR Atlanta Motor Speedway For Full Details

Coors Light Pole Winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Age: 35
Team : No. 88 – AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet
Owner: Rick Hendrick
Crew Chief: Lance McGrew

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award for the KOBALT TOOLS 500 with a lap of 28.761 seconds, 192.761 mph.

This is his ninth pole in 367 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2010. Earnhardt’s last pole came at Texas in April of 2008,

68 starts ago. Earnhardt’s pole speed set a record for fastest in the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car.

The previous fastest was Jimmie Johnson’s speed of 192.376 mph at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October of last season. This is his second pole in 22 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch (second) posted his fourth top-10 start of 2010 and his seventh in 12 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Juan Pablo Montoya (third) posted his second top-10 start at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is his fourth in four races this season.

At 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 101 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Atlanta Speedway, two races per year except 1961, which had three.
* Fireball Roberts won the pole and race for the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in 1960.
* 44 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, including Kurt Busch, who won the first race last season. In that event, Busch scored a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0.
* 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 victories, with six. Labonte is tied with Richard Petty for third on the all-time win list at Atlanta.
* The Wood Brothers are the most productive car owners with 12 victories. They last won there in 1993 with Morgan Shepherd.
* 14 races have been won from the pole. The last to do so was Kasey Kahne in 2006. Both races last season were won from the second starting position.
* 58 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.
* There have been seven season sweeps, most recently by Jimmie Johnson in 2007.

Estimated Pit Window
: Every 48-52 laps, based on fuel mileage.

WEATHER (from our track page as well)

Partly cloudy – 64 Degrees

Kobalt Tools 500 Line Up

Once again Jimmie Johnson has won this weekends Sprint Cup race. Taking the checkered flag Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Shelby American.

I am currrently on vacation so I did not see the race or have much input about it.

YOU WRESTLED IT AWAY FROM YOUR TEAMMATE JEFF GORDON WHO WAS STRONG:
“Yes, he was really, really good. I guess he got too tight there at the end. Man, I did all I could for the three runs before that and I had nothing for him. I could get close then couldn’t get the pass pulled off. It worked well there. We had a great race car all day long. I think he really showed the strength of the Hendrick cars when Jeff and I checked out from everyone. I guess the No. 14 (Tony Stewart) was back there running with us chasing everybody down. In the end, we had a car that was right on that last run.

“It is great to have this Kobalt Tools Chevrolet in victory lane. It is a big weekend for us with Lowe’s with all of their managers are here for a big meeting that we have going on Tuesday so it was cool to have them in the stands rooting for us.”

ARE YOU CONFIDENT WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THIS STRETCH OF THE SEASON WITH ALL YOUR PAST SUCCESS?
“No bones about it, I don’t feel incredibly confident with the plate racing. I know how to go fast and be in the mix, but it’s just not my specialty to look in the mirror 80 percent of the time and try to figure out how to win the race. I’m used to chasing people down. When you get on the downforce track, we get going well and I’m happy that we’re off to a quick start this year. A few years back we left this race track with our tail between our legs. But today everything went well.”

WOW, WIN NO. 49-TALK ABOUT THAT DUEL WITH JEFF GORDON THERE NEAR THE END:
“Man, that was one heck of a race all afternoon long. Jeff and I were racing each other so hard. It is so cool to be in Vegas and get this bad boy (Trophy Belt). Jeff and I were racing so hard at the end of the day. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get away from him once I got by him and I did and I was able to get out and away from him. Everything worked well. Great day in the pits. Great day on the track. We have a lot of store managers here from Lowe’s, bit sales conference going on this week, it is going to be a lot of fun. I will stick around and see them Tuesday. Just so proud of this Lowe’s race team and everything we are doing in these Chevys.”

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Visit our official results page later today.

UNOFFICIAL STANDINGS
Visit our official standings page later today.

VISIT OUR Las Vegas Motor Speedway For Full Details

Kurt Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Shelby American with a lap of 28.614 seconds, 188.725 mph. This is a track record breaking the mark of 185.995 mph set by his brother, Kyle, in 2009. Eighteen drivers qualified under the previous record.

This is his 11th pole in 331 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. His last pole came in September 2007 at Auto Club Speedway.

This is his first pole and second top-10 start in 2010.

This is his first pole in ten races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Jeff Gordon (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2010 and his fifth in 13 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Ryan Newman (third) posted his sixth top-10 start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It is his first in three races this season. Kevin Conway (39th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

****************Top Performers Track — News – Statistical Advance: Analyzing The???******

Notebook
· There have been 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
· Five drivers have participated in all 12 races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.
· Dale Jarrett won the inaugural pole.
· Eight drivers have poles, led by Dale Jarrett, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Bobby Labonte (two each).
· Eight different drivers have won, led by Jimmie Johnson (three).
· Only five of the 12 races have been won from a top-10 starting position.
· Las Vegas-native Kyle Busch became the first driver to win from the pole, last season.
· Four of the 12 races have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.
· The deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 25th, by Matt Kenseth in 2004.
· There has been one green-white-checkered finish at Las Vegas: 2006 (270/267).
· Only one driver averages a top-10 finish: Jeff Burton (9.8). Burton won consecutive races in 1999 and 2000, and has finished in the top five in the last two races (fifth in 2008, third in 2009). Burton has been running at the finish in all 12 of his events.
· In three of the last four races, the margin of victory was under one second.
· Kyle Busch made his first start and Kasey Kahne won his first pole at Las Vegas, in the same event (2004).

History
· The first NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race won by Ken Schrader on Nov. 2, 1996.
· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was held on March 1, 1998, won by Mark Martin.
· In 2006, the track was reconfigured to include progressive banking.
· There have been 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in Nevada, one at Las Vegas Park Speedway in 1955 and the rest at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1996-Present).
· 19 drivers all-time in NASCAR’s three national series have their home state as Nevada.
· There have been three race winners from Nevada in NASCAR’s three national series – Kurt Busch,Kyle Busch, Brendan Gaughan

WEATHER (from our track page as well)
53 Degrees, clear and cool.

Estimated Pit Window: Every 50-55 laps, based on fuel mileage.

DAYTONA 500 LINEUP