Racing at Atlanta under the lights was everything we'd hoped and more. NASCAR has made a very smart move in bringing the race to Atlanta for the Labor Day weekend, as instead of a snoozefest we usually got in California, we actually got to see racing. Yep, that's right, racing, a foreigh commodity in the era of the COT, it seemed for awhile.
In the Cup series race here we saw 13 different leaders in the race, unheard of in recent races. Granted, some of those were the inevitible "stayed out to lead a lap for 5 bonus points" moves, but Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Juan Pablo Montoya all looked like they were the car to beat at one point or another during the race.
In the end though, it was all about Kasey Kahne, although the other drivers who had a good night looked equally as pleased with their performances, specifically Kevin Harvick. He really wanted to win the double and seemed poised to do so when his teammate brought out the caution with only a handful of laps to go. Kevin hadn't been good on the short run, needing 12 to 14 laps for his tires to warm up and loosen his car up.
With only 15 laps to go on the restart, his crew added a full pound of air to the tires to try to give him a better short run, but when David Reutimann gave Kasey a little nudge to get him going, Kasey was able to check out. He openly thanked Reutimann in his Victory Lane interview, admitting that he hadn't been able to shift through the gears properly all night long and having that bump eased his shifts and propelled him forward. He quickly got ahead of the rest of the pack and there was simply nothing anyone else could do. Juan Pablo Montoya appeared to be strong enough to take over second from Kevin, but when his car got scarey sideways with two to go, JPM settled for third.
Although the top 12 in the Chase Race got shaken up a little, no one from outside the top 12 move in to displace those in. In fact, Matt Kenseth, who was a lap down early in the race after scrubbing the wall, managed a 12th place finish and has 20 points on Brian Vickers - not a lot, but at least he is ahead instead of behind. Vickers didn't have a horrible day, finishing in 7th and leading a couple of laps, but he needs to do better than that and have Matt fail miserably in order to get in the Chase.
Kyle Busch lead 24 laps in the race, and at one point had jumped up to 9th in the point standings, but as we all know, it's the finish that counts. Kyle's true passion for his sport showed yet again and he refused interviews after the race. Interestingly enough,he is making history, even without running for a Championship in the Cup side. if he is unable to make the Chase, I have no doubt he will still go out to win every race, and will likely also concentrate on wrapping up a Nationwide Championship.
Kasey's win jettisoned him five spots in the Chase standings, up to sixth, just behind Carl Edwards, who had a terrible night. Carl, racing with broken bones in his foot, was also racing for Cancer, in a car designed by Cancer patient Jodi Lawrence. She was interviewed prior to the race and also road around the track with Carl and Dave Burns and a camera crew. She looked as if she wished the camera crew would just go away, as she was videotaping her own little souvenir the whole time. Carl's car ended up in the garage early on, with an oil lead that was diagnosed as an oil cooler failure. Unfortunately, that oil cooler is in the radiator, and it took the crew 23 laps to get it repaired.
Jimmie Johnson had catastrophic problems fighting a loose race car all night long and finished way back with Carl Edwards, in 36th. Kurt Busch as well, had a loose car and he crashed out of the race with around 100 to go, and accompanied Carl and Jimmie in the back.
In all, JPM and Kasey were the ones who moved forward, while Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle, really not even mentioned during the race, dropped. The stories of the race, however, had to be Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. For a good portion of the latter part of the race, they were the only two non-chasers in the top ten. While Kevin's crew made a great call on the final pit stop, however, Jr's did not, and whateer tires they put on the car resulted in him going backwards, quickly. And yes, it is the finish that counts, but 17th place is a lot better than the mid 30's he was getting earlier this year.
And Kevin? Well, now that he and Richard Childress have come out publicly to deny any movement anywhere, they seem to have a new-found burn to succeed. Maybe they aren't in the Chase this year, but I do look for them to challenge next year as well.
The second story simply has to be the feel good story. Bobby Labonte, ousted from the 96 car earlier in the week in favor of Erik Darnell, jumped into the Taxslayer Chevy and pulled off a 18th place finish. Although he didn't lead a lap, he was in the top ten throughout the day.
Oh, and his "replacement"? Well, he finished in a stellar.....30th. Oh, and David Gilliland, who was displaced for Bobby, jumped into the Wood Brothers 21 when Bill Elliott was injured, and managed 19th. right behind Bobby.
With 11 races to go in the Season, there are still a ton of stories to play out. Next week it's on to Richmond for the Race to the Chase finale. Only 4 drivers are locked in, Tony, Jeff, Jimmie and Denny Hamlin. Carl isn't, surprisingly, and with only 85 points separating Carl in 5th from Matt in 12th, almost anything can happen.
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