Place: Atlanta Motor Speedway
Television: Fox
Date, Time: Sunday, March 8, 2009; 1:30 pm.
Weather: partly cloudy, near 70 degrees
Momentum can be measured in moments early in the Sprint Cup season. The happy story for the 2009 season was two victories in two races for Matt Kenseth, a driver who suffered a miserable year in 2008 just barely hanging on among the Chase contestants. Six laps into the Shelby 427, Matt’s early season fortune quickly evaporated when his Roush-Yates Ford engine exploded. Chevy and Toyota already suffered motor failure in the first two races. In Las Vegas, add Ford to the list with teammate, David Ragan’s power plant also going kaboom early in the race. Nerves were itching in one of the other dominant garages as Mark Martin suffered another Hendricks motor failure.
As the equipment failure played out Kyle Busch righted his season in a hurry winning the race decisively as the hometown kid. It’s been a long time since a driver with such talent prided himself for being so obnoxious but for all of us old school fellahs who love Dale Earnhardt Sr. or Darrell Waltrip, we shouldn’t forget the furor they stirred up as they became major players on the circuit. Meanwhile, who has quietly snuck into first place? A driver who is starving for a win that based on results so far this year appears to be right around the corner, Jeff Gordon, who truly is the most dominant Hendricks and Chevy driver so far. Surprises? How about the team that was the laughing stock of the sport two years ago, Michael Waltrip Racing having two top 12 teams with David Reutimann running in a strong 5th place and ol’ Mikey in 12th. Tony Stewart stands in eighth place with two top ten finishes showing his debut as owner is starting off nicely for his ride while teammate, Ryan Newman, appears snake bitten so far all the way back in 33rd spot. The sentimental favorite to do well and contend for a companionship, Mark Martin, running what is likely his last full-time season in the #5 Hendricks ride can’t buy a break languishing in 34th spot. Also, the pressure and scrutiny will only intensify if Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t get things moving especially after his embarrassing performance in Fontana. Bobby Labonte looks strong in 10th place working with champion crew chief, Todd Parrott in the revamped Hall of Fame operation now working in partnership with the Yates operation. What of last years’ big noise? Jimmy Johnson finds himself in a lackluster 19th with just a wimpy lone top 10 far. Carl Edwards stands in 9th not looking completely unchained at this early point in the season.
The NASCAR grand tour lands back in Dixie this weekend as the Camping World Truck Series and Sprint Cup racers fire ‘em up in Hampton, Georgia. Hot ‘Lanta will do much to help further clarify what the big issues for 2009 will be as Sunday’s race marks the 3rd consecutive super speedway course, the second Bruton Smith 1 ½ mile course back-to-back with Vegas. Given last year’s results, much attention will be focused on how successfully Goodyear solved last year’s tire problems. Engine failure will have teams on edge given how major operations have had their chances literally go up in smoke to start the year. Could Mark Martin’s dominating performance in the first round of practice portend Sunday’s outcome?
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