Oral-B USA 500
Week 25
By Richard Tix
If temper's weren't high enough leaving Bristol then the remaining two races should get you going. 12 drivers are locked into the Chase, so everyone else will be fighting for the remaining 4 Chase spots at Atlanta and Richmond. Guys like Kahne, Biffle, Bowyer, McMurray, and Ambrose will all be looking to win one of the remaining two races.
5 laps left at Atlanta with guys like Kahne and Biffle up front, will one of them make a move? This is one of the parts of the new Chase that I like right when they announced it. NASCAR isn't scripting this drama, but it still happens. Also, the thought of more then 16 winners? Really? I am still on the side that 16 plus winners in the first 26 races will only happen 1 in 10 years. In that year, it will likely include 2 drivers stealing 2 of the 3 plate races and a driver stealing a road course win. Even this year we have Almirola and Allmendinger getting in off of underdog wins and we are stuck at 12 winners.
If we do hit 16 winners, more drama will come because a 17th winner means the last guy in points will miss out. In that situation you can bet the 16 guys with a win will be running for points and hoping a 17th doesn't win.
Anyways, back to the point. The next two races should bring come exciting racing and at the very least some exciting story lines heading into just one race until the Chase.
5 laps left at Atlanta with guys like Kahne and Biffle up front, will one of them make a move? This is one of the parts of the new Chase that I like right when they announced it. NASCAR isn't scripting this drama, but it still happens. Also, the thought of more then 16 winners? Really? I am still on the side that 16 plus winners in the first 26 races will only happen 1 in 10 years. In that year, it will likely include 2 drivers stealing 2 of the 3 plate races and a driver stealing a road course win. Even this year we have Almirola and Allmendinger getting in off of underdog wins and we are stuck at 12 winners.
If we do hit 16 winners, more drama will come because a 17th winner means the last guy in points will miss out. In that situation you can bet the 16 guys with a win will be running for points and hoping a 17th doesn't win.
Anyways, back to the point. The next two races should bring come exciting racing and at the very least some exciting story lines heading into just one race until the Chase.
The Good, Middle, and Bad
The Good
- Jeff Gordon- Jeff Gordon has run Atlanta a whopping 40 times in his career. He has 5 career wins, 16 career top 5's, and 26 top 10's. More impressive, he only has 1 finish outside the top 15 in his last 14 (18th) and only 3 non top 10's (18th, 13th, and 12th). With the season he is having you can almost write down the top 10 now.
- Kyle Busch- Last years Atlanta winner, Rowdy has an average finish of 8.75 in his last 4 races here. He isn't always dominate here but has shown he can win, 2 career ATL wins in 16 tries. A good ATL finish might help the team forget about there Bristol frustrations.
- Carl Edwards- He is either running up front at Atlanta or having some kind of issues (just check out his career finishes). He hasn't won at Atlanta since 2008, but he has had chances where he finised 2nd and 3rd.
The Middle
- Greg Biffle- His last three Atlanta finishes have all been top 15's, but none better then 12th. In 19 starts he has only 9 top 10's but still an average finish position of 15.9. The Biff will need a good outing at ATL to keep his Chase hopes alive heading to Richmond.
The Bad
- Aric Almirola- Its a short list to look at, so for fantasy purposes you will want to look at more tracks similar to Atlanta, but Aric's three finishes leave something to be desired (20th, 32nd, 21st).
- Joey Logano- I actually see JoLo jumping right off of this category this year (last year he finished 2nd), but other then his second last year he only has one other top 20 finish (18th in 2012). He is trending in the right direction and just won at Bristol so I expect a good finish.
- Kasey Kahne- This is all based on recent finish position. I repeat, all based on finishing position. Kahne actually is pretty good at Atlanta. He has 2 career wins and has led at least one lap in 8 of his 17 races here, but for whatever reason he has four straight bad finishes (engine and other problems are big factors). Look for him to turn it around this time.
Atlanta Articles:
- Entry List
- Power Rankings
- TV/Race Schedule from NASCAR.com this week
- Fantasy Atlanta- Sleepers and Bust- From TimerSports
Short preview this week. I didn't get up the Schedule but have included a link to NASCAR.com's Schedule. No This Week in NASCAR either. Next week NASCAR Behind the Wall will get back on track with the typical articles. Thanks for checking it out and come back to check out the weekly Power Rankings!
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