Stewart Smoked Up Atlanta/Top Ten Chase Spots Clinched

After several rough restarts and being shuffled back into the field, Tony Stewart was able to rally back during the last restart to capture the checkered flag for the Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. "I didn't hit a restart all night until right there at the end," Stewart said. "I've never been so happy with a win in my life."

The Chevy Office Depot #14 Pit Crew provided an awesome pit stop that allowed Stewart to leave pit road right behind Carl Edwards which placed him back up front for the contention to win. As a result along with pure determination, Smoke was able to celebrate his first victory of the 2010 season.

It is hard to believe that it has taken this long for Stewart to win one race considering that last season he went to victory lane four times (for points races) - Pocono, Daytona, Watkins Glen and Kansas - plus won the All Star Race as a new driver/owner. This was definitely refreshing to watch because he is one of the most talented drivers in the series.

Additionally, the top ten spots for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase have been clinched:

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Kyle Busch
4. Carl Edwards
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Tony Stewart
7. Jeff Burton
8. Matt Kenseth
9. Jimmie Johnson
10. Kurt Busch

It will be interesting to see how these drivers will race next week in Richmond. Will they go all out for the win? Are they going to try some new set ups? Do you think some of them will play it safe?

Until next time...Gear Up, Strap In For A Thrillin' Ride

*The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer*

PHOTO FROM www.zimbio.com

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NNS Race Recap: McMurray Holds Off Kyle Busch for NASCAR Nationwide Series Win

McMurray Holds Off Kyle Busch for NASCAR Nationwide Series Win

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(September 4, 2010)

HAMPTON, Ga.—Jamie McMurray held off Kyle Busch and stopped Busch one spot short of a historic win Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Driving JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet, McMurray asserted his superiority over the final 40 of 195 laps to win the Nationwide Series Great Clips 300 at the 1.54-mile racetrack. The victory, the eighth of McMurray’s Nationwide career, was his first since November 2004 at Darlington.

Busch is tied with Sam Ard for the series’ single-season wins record with 10.

Carl Edwards ran third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. Joey Logano, Jason Leffler, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top 10. Series points leader Brad Keselowski finished 12th and saw his advantage over second-place Edwards trimmed to 332 points.

“We unloaded today and had pretty much the fastest car off the truck,” McMurray said. “It was just pretty loose, and we just did a really good job of adjusting on it.”

The good adjustments continued late into the race, McMurray said.


“At the end, Pops (crew chief Tony Eury Sr.) adjusted on it, and it was pretty fast, even on the short runs.”

McMurray led 43 of the final 47 laps, including the last 23.

“It’s the same thing every week,” McMurray said. “The car out front—the clean air’s huge.”

McMurray’s short-run speed proved decisive in a race that took a series of intriguing turns, including one sequence where only one car was scored on the lead lap.

Harvick took four tires under caution on Lap 62, while Busch and most other contenders chose to restart on old rubber when the field came to green on Lap 65. After restarting 12th, Harvick passed McMurray for the lead on Lap 70.

By Lap 112, he had the rest of the field at least one lap down, after Busch and other drivers on old tires came to the pits under green. Harvick gave up the lead to Busch when he made a green-flag stop for tires and fuel on Lap 120.

Harvick left the pits eight seconds behind Busch but cut that margin in half before Ryan Newman spun Trevor Bayne on the backstretch to cause the third caution of the race and bunch the field. McMurray was first out of the pits under caution and led the field to a restart on Lap 153.

McMurray stayed out front until contact from Stenhouse sent Reed Sorenson’s Toyota hard into the outside wall on Lap 168. Keselowski and 11th-place finisher Josh Wise stayed on the track under the caution, but they quickly surrendered the top two spots when the field restarted.

McMurray surged to the front with Busch in pursuit, but Busch was unable to make up significant ground in the closing laps and finished .286 seconds back.

“We just didn’t quite have enough there on short runs to keep up with them,” Busch said. “Once we got about 25 or 30 laps on (the tires), we could really start reeling them in and pass them. Typically, it’s always a long-run car that wins here—Harvick beat me last year with a long-run car—but that wasn’t the case tonight.”

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Will Kasey Kahne win at Atlanta this weekend?

Kasey Kahne during Michigan
qualifying in August. (Jeff Zelevansky/
Getty Images for NASCAR)

NASCAR visits Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend for a series of night races.

Kasey Kahne will return to the Atlanta Emory Healthcare 500 as a defending winner in his #9 Budweiser/Valvoline Ford. In his past 13 starts at the track, Kahne has secured 2 wins, one pole award, six top 5s, eight top-10 finishes and has led a total of 297 laps.

It’s probably safe to say, AMS is Kahne’s track. Will he make it to victory lane in Atlanta this weekend?

To date, Kahne sits in 16th position, putting him -737 points behind the leader, Kevin Harvick and 136 points out of 12th position. Is there a chance for him to catch up and secure a spot in the Chase in the next two races?

There’s been a lot of media around Kahne these past few months; this is his final year with Richard Petty Motorsports, with Budweiser and possibly the #9. He signed a contract with Hendrick Motorsports to drive the #5 car in 2012 and has announced he’ll be driving the Red Bull car in 2011, number to be announced later. There’s no set crew chief at this time. Marcos Ambrose is set to replace him at RPM and Budweiser will move to Richard Childress Racing's #29, which is driven by Kevin Harvick.

Kahne told reporters Tuesday in a teleconference that he believes he has a shot of winning the next two races. He plans to make the best of his final days at RPM and plans to contend in each race, whether he makes the Chase or not.

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