KOBALT TOOLS 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway

Track Details
Completed : 1960
Distance : 1.54 miles
Shape : Quad-oval
Banking : 24° turns,
5° straights
Frontstretch : 2,332 feet
Backstretch : 1,800 feet
Seating : 124,000
Contact Info
P.O. Box 500
Hampton, GA 30228
(770) 946-4211
Official Web site

2007 Race Results
Sprint Cup Series
Kobalt Tools 500 :: Jimmie Johnson - 03/18/07
Pep Boys Auto 500 :: Jimmie Johnson - 10/28/07

Cup Historical Race Winners

Nationwide Series
Nicorette 300 :: Jeff Burton - 03/17/07

Craftsman Truck Series
EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 :: Kyle Busch - 10/27/07
American Commercial Lines 200 :: Mike Skinner - 03/16/07

Few who saw Atlanta Motor Speedway in its infancy would recognize the track today.

Situated on 870 acres in Hampton, Ga., just 25 miles south of Atlanta, today's Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of NASCAR's most sought-after destinations.

But it's far from what Walker Jackson, Lloyd Smith, Garland Bagley, Ralph Sceiano and Ike Supporter envisioned when they planned the speedway in 1958. Before construction of the proposed superspeedway had been completed, insufficient funds forced four of the founders to abandon ship. Dr. Warren Gremmel, Bill Boyd, Jack Black and Art Lester joined Bagley in the venture and spent $1.8 million to get the facility ready.

Ready, in this case, was a relative term. Some of the seats were so low fans couldn't see over the retaining wall. The only bathroom facility in the infield was a three-hole outhouse. There was mud all over.

When the 1.5-mile track, then called Atlanta International Raceway, finally made its debut on July 31, 1960, it became the seventh superspeedway -- a paved facility of 1 mile or more -- to host a Cup race.

The track's future was hazy in the 1960s and '70s, when it suffered several financial setbacks. The track was recognized under Chapter 10 bankruptcy proceedings in the 1970s and went through several general managers before settling down with Walt Nix, who served as general manager for much of the next two decades except for a brief period when current NASCAR president Mike Helton was in charge.

Despite the great racing and national attention, Atlanta International Raceway was still a meager facility struggling to get by.

Bruton Smith changed all that when he purchased Atlanta International Raceway on Oct. 23, 1990, and renamed the facility Atlanta Motor Speedway. A year later, the addition of the East Turn Grandstand expanded the seating capacity by 25,000, and the 30 suites that rimmed the top gave the track a high-class look.

Under Smith's stewardship, Atlanta Motor Speedway has undergone massive expansion.

In 1994, Tara Place, the nine-story building that houses 46 luxury condominiums, Tara Ballroom, the speedway office complex and more luxury suites opened, as did the adjacent Tara Clubhouse. A year later, the North Turn Grandstand opened, and in 1997, the Champions Grandstand was added, and the total of luxury suites was increased to 137.

When the Champions Grandstand was built, the start/finish line was moved from the west to the east side of the track, and two doglegs were added to the frontstretch to form a 1.54-mile quad-oval, which replaced the original oval. The only reminders of the track that used to be are the suite tower and the Weaver Grandstand, which are now situated on the backstretch.

In 2005, an F2 tornado blazed through the track, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage less than four months before that year's fall race. Miraculously, the track was more than ready for that October race, and it went off without a hitch.

In 2006, more than 13,000 seats were added with the building of Winners Grandstand in Turn 1, as well as new luxury seating called Club One and the East Turn grandstand was renamed the Elliott grandstand. Additionally, more than 90 motorcoach parking spaces were added along the backstretch, strengthening the fan-centric atmosphere of AMS.




Starting Line Up
1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 185.251 29.927 Leader
2 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet AMP Energy / National Guard 184.862 29.990 -0.063
3 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 183.807 30.162 -0.235
4 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 183.297 30.246 -0.319
5 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 183.249 30.254 -0.327
6 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Snickers 182.910 30.310 -0.383
7 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet DIRECTV 182.753 30.336 -0.409
8 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 182.627 30.357 -0.430
9 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 182.344 30.404 -0.477
10 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 182.332 30.406 -0.479
11 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's / Kobalt Tools 182.207 30.427 -0.500
12 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 182.135 30.439 -0.512
13 16 Greg Biffle Ford Jackson Hewitt 181.920 30.475 -0.548
14 6 David Ragan Ford AAA 181.866 30.484 -0.557
15 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 181.824 30.491 -0.564
16 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 181.777 30.499 -0.572
17 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 181.747 30.504 -0.577
18 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Best Buy / Garmin 181.735 30.506 -0.579
19 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Wrigley's Big Red 181.515 30.543 -0.616
20 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Energizer / Menards 181.455 30.553 -0.626
21 10 Patrick Carpentier* Dodge Cintas 181.331 30.574 -0.647
22 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Ground 181.307 30.578 -0.651
23 40 Dario Franchitti* Dodge Fastenal 181.283 30.582 -0.655
24 26 Jamie McMurray Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 181.011 30.628 -0.701
25 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 180.964 30.636 -0.709
26 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Valvoline / Jim Beam 180.875 30.651 -0.724
27 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 180.592 30.699 -0.772
28 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet State Water Heaters 180.527 30.710 -0.783
29 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 180.516 30.712 -0.785
30 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 180.398 30.732 -0.805
31 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditRep
ort.com 180.363 30.738 -0.811
32 20 Tony Stewart Toyota Home Depot "10 Years Strong" 180.228 30.761 -0.834
33 77 Sam Hornish Jr.* Dodge Penske Truck Rental 180.047 30.792 -0.865
34 84 Mike Skinner Toyota Red Bull 180.047 30.792 -0.865
35 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 179.977 30.804 -0.877
36 70 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Haas Automation 179.720 30.848 -0.921
37 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota DLP HDTV 179.516 30.883 -0.956
38 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 179.359 30.910 -0.983
39 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet Kellogg's / CARQUEST 178.677 31.028 -1.101
40 45 Kyle Petty+ Dodge Paralyzed Veterans of America 178.643 31.034 -1.107
41 01 Regan Smith+* Chevrolet DEI / Principal Financial Group 177.102 31.304 -1.377
42 28 Travis Kvapil+ Ford Zaxby's 176.904 31.339 -1.412
43 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS Champion's Provisional


RESULTS OF THE KOBALT TOOLS 500 KYLE BUSCH #18 M & M's



1 6 18 Kyle Busch 195 Toyota 325 running $189,675
2 32 20 Tony Stewart 170 Toyota 325 running $162,886
3 2 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 170 Chevrolet 325 running $121,000
4 13 16 Greg Biffle 165 Ford 325 running $107,375
5 1 24 Jeff Gordon 160 Chevrolet 325 running $138,186
6 7 07 Clint Bowyer 155 Chevrolet 325 running $94,850
7 8 29 Kevin Harvick 146 Chevrolet 325 running $124,086
8 38 17 Matt Kenseth 142 Ford 325 running $124,341
9 35 83 Brian Vickers 143 Toyota 325 running $79,300
10 15 31 Jeff Burton 134 Chevrolet 325 running $123,958
11 29 2 Kurt Busch 130 Dodge 325 running $79,325
12 5 43 Bobby Labonte 132 Dodge 325 running $114,536
13 11 48 Jimmie Johnson 124 Chevrolet 325 running $127,786
14 12 12 Ryan Newman 121 Dodge 324 running $115,075
15 22 11 Denny Hamlin 118 Toyota 324 running $112,791
16 19 42 Juan Montoya 115 Dodge 324 running $104,158
17 39 5 Casey Mears 112 Chevrolet 324 running $89,850
18 28 66 Scott Riggs 109 Chevrolet 324 running $93,908
19 20 15 Paul Menard 106 Chevrolet 324 running $83,425
20 30 00 David Reutimann 103 Toyota 323 running $92,908
21 3 1 Martin Truex, Jr. 100 Chevrolet 323 running $106,233
22 10 8 Mark Martin 97 Chevrolet 323 running $108,558
23 14 6 David Ragan 94 Ford 323 running $83,950
24 26 7 Robby Gordon 91 Dodge 323 running $95,958
25 33 77 Sam Hornish Jr. 88 Dodge 323 running $117,550
26 43 44 Dale Jarrett 85 Toyota 322 running $73,825
27 34 84 Mike Skinner 82 Toyota 322 running $69,800
28 9 9 Kasey Kahne 84 Dodge 322 running $102,841
29 42 28 Travis Kvapil 76 Ford 322 running $99,789
30 27 55 Michael Waltrip 73 Toyota 321 running $81,508
31 25 41 Reed Sorenson 70 Dodge 321 running $99,489
32 31 38 David Gilliland 67 Ford 321 running $81,722
33 23 40 Dario Franchitti 64 Dodge 321 running $80,550
34 16 22 Dave Blaney 61 Toyota 321 running $69,025
35 21 10 Patrick Carpentier 58 Dodge 320 running $68,990
36 17 78 Joe Nemechek 55 Chevrolet 320 running $68,955
37 37 96 J.J. Yeley 52 Toyota 320 running $76,920
38 41 01 Regan Smith 49 Chevrolet 320 running $76,885
39 36 70 Jeremy Mayfield 46 Chevrolet 318 running $68,850
40 24 26 Jamie McMurray 43 Ford 317 running $76,810
41 40 45 Kyle Petty 40 Dodge 313 running $68,765
42 4 99 Carl Edwards 42 Ford 274 engine $116,395
43 18 19 Elliott Sadler 34 Dodge 257 accident $94,518

Shell-Pennzoil Team Posts Third Top-10 Finish of the Season at Atlanta
Kevin Harvick grabbed his best finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway since 2001 with a hard-fought seventh-place showing in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500.

The solid effort was Harvick and company’s third top-10 performance in four races of the young 2008 season. The strong result also moved the Bakersfield, Calif., native up two spots, to third, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship point standings.

In qualifying Friday evening, Harvick lapped the 1.54-mile quad-oval in 30.357 seconds (182.627 mph), posting the eighth-best time of the session.

Over the early-goings of the 325-lap event, Harvick hung in the top five while crew chief Todd Berrier formulated a plan to help alleviate the tight-handling condition of the bright yellow and red No. 29 machine.

The Shell-Pennzoil team’s first shot at relief came in the form of the event’s first caution flag on lap 37. Berrier summoned his driver to pit road two laps later, calling for four fresh tires, including air pressure adjustments and fuel. Sound work on pit road allowed Harvick to maintain his track position and when the green flag waved again on lap 42, the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS was fifth.

Over the next 42 laps, Harvick’s Chevrolet came to life as he worked his was up to the third position. However, the 11-time NASCAR Sprint Cup winner advised Berrier the car was starting to become too loose to make any progress on the two front-runners.

The yellow flag flew again on lap 84 and Berrier seized the opportunity to keep working on his car’s handling. The Shell-Pennzoil crew chief called for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment as the No. 29 team worked for their first win of the season.

Back under green in fourth, Harvick worked his way back to the third spot before the third caution of the day waved on lap 114. Harvick informed his team that the No. 29 Chevy was to his liking and he would need no adjustments during this round of pits stops. The 2007 Daytona 500 winner restarted the race third on lap 118.

Harvick’s Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet continued to improve as he passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the second spot on lap 129. Unfortunately, as the long green-flag run continued the No. 29 Chevy began to suffer from an extremely loose-handling condition. As the field began to pit under green-flag conditions on lap 163, Harvick continued to race in the third spot before he was summoned to pit road for his fourth stop of the day on lap 168. Again, Berrier called for four fresh tires, including air pressure adjustments, fuel and a chassis adjustment to help tighten up the No. 29 Chevy Impala SS.

As green-flag pit stops cycled through the field, Harvick continued to race in the top five and was fourth when the yellow flag was displayed on lap 198. After a stop on pit road for another round of chassis adjustments including the removal of a right-side spring rubber and lightning-quick service by the No. 29 crew, Harvick was back on the race track in the fourth spot for the restart on lap 204.

A loose-handling condition continued to plague the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil team over the next 22 laps. However, a caution flag for a single-car incident in turn four brought out the day’s fourth caution period and gave Berrier another chance to fix the ailing machine. Another four-tire-and-fuel stop with a major chassis adjustment was in order and Harvick restarted the race in fourth on lap 225.

Over the next 42 laps, Harvick visited pit road twice under yellow flag conditions to help ease the ill-handling machine. Finally, after the pit stop on lap 263 the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet began to come back to life. Harvick was able to work his way back into the top five and was fourth when the final caution flag flew on lap 281.

Berrier summoned Harvick to pit road on lap 285 to hopefully fine-tune the bright yellow and red machine and give Harvick a chance to compete for the win. However, a slight hiccup on pit road landed Harvick in the eighth spot for the final restart on lap 288.

Harvick was able to fight his way to the seventh spot before the field took the checkered flag on lap 325.

Kyle Busch won the event followed by Tony Stewart, Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon. Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton finished sixth and 10th, respectively.

The Shell-Pennzoil team heads to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway this weekend for the running of the Food City 500. Live coverage of the event will be televised on FOX Sunday, March 16, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will also be covered live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the fifth of 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races will be televised live on SPEED Friday, March 14 beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

KEVIN HARVICK - NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVROLET IMPALA SS
"It was a good day for us today with our Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet. We got another solid finish and had a good points day. Like everybody else, we went from tight to loose and on that last run at the end, we just got so loose and couldn't do anything with the guys in front of us."



POINT STANDINGS AS OF ATLANTA
1 -- Kyle Busch 665 Leader 4 1 1 3 3 1,123,940
2 +3 Greg Biffle 592 -73 4 0 0 2 3 764,188
3 +1 Kevin Harvick 574 -91 4 0 0 1 3 795,707
4 -2 Ryan Newman 571 -94 4 0 1 1 2 1,946,140
5 +1 Jeff Burton 555 -110 4 0 0 1 2 767,795
6 +4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 531 -134 4 0 0 2 3 1,029,250
7 -4 Kasey Kahne 528 -137 4 0 0 0 3 832,577
8 +3 Tony Stewart 525 -140 4 0 0 2 3 1,435,830
9 +4 Brian Vickers 491 -174 4 0 0 0 1 553,095
10 +2 Kurt Busch 478 -187 4 0 0 1 1 1,352,620
11 -3 Martin Truex Jr. 471 -194 4 0 0 0 1 717,545
12 +4 Matt Kenseth 470 -195 4 0 0 1 2 743,477

13 +1 Jimmie Johnson 467 -198 4 1 0 1 1 911,214
14 +1 Bobby Labonte 462 -203 4 0 0 0 0 703,739
15 +8 Jeff Gordon 444 -221 4 1 0 2 2 856,757
16 +8 Clint Bowyer 436 -229 4 0 0 0 1 626,395
17 -10 Carl Edwards 433 -232 4 0 2 2 2 1,246,090
18 -1 Mark Martin 421 -244 4 0 0 0 1 726,595
19 +1 Denny Hamlin 413 -252 4 0 0 0 1 759,839
20 -11 Elliott Sadler 402 -263 4 0 0 0 1 768,473
21 -2 David Ragan 398 -267 4 0 0 0 1 581,013
22 -4 Reed Sorenson 391 -274 4 0 0 1 1 930,001
23 +2 Juan Montoya 391 -274 4 0 0 0 0 639,502
24 -3 Robby Gordon 384 -281 4 0 0 0 1 653,517
25 +1 Paul Menard 382 -283 4 0 0 0 0 557,095
26 +3 Scott Riggs 369 -296 4 0 0 0 0 567,694
27 +4 David Reutimann 358 -307 4 0 0 0 0 566,812
28 -6 David Gilliland 352 -313 4 0 0 0 0 614,959
29 -1 Travis Kvapil 346 -319 4 0 0 0 1 639,544
30 +5 Casey Mears 331 -334 4 0 0 0 0 639,880
31 -4 Jamie McMurray 318 -347 4 0 0 0 0 580,716
32 +1 Dale Jarrett 315 -350 4 0 0 0 0 555,163
33 +1 Michael Waltrip 303 -362 4 0 0 0 0 585,723
34 -4 Jeremy Mayfield 301 -364 4 0 0 0 0 519,725
35 -3 J.J. Yeley 298 -367 4 0 0 0 0 577,365
36 +2 Sam Hornish Jr.* 280 -385 4 0 0 0 0 688,584
37 -1 Dave Blaney 273 -392 4 0 0 0 0 563,346
38 -1 Dario Franchitti* 264 -401 4 0 0 0 0 533,263
39 -- Regan Smith* 232 -433 4 0 0 0 0 525,130
40 -- Kyle Petty 217 -448 4 0 0 0 0 501,207
41 +1 Joe Nemechek 156 -509 3 0 0 0 0 408,875
42 +3 Mike Skinner 155 -510 2 0 0 0 0 152,675
43 -2 John Andretti 106 -559 2 0 0 0 0 339,838
44 +2 Patrick Carpentier* 101 -564 2 0 0 0 0 172,278
45 -2 Ken Schrader 100 -565 1 0 0 0 0 170,071
46 -2 Bill Elliott 85 -580 1 0 0 0 0 159,433
47 -- Kenny Wallace 34 -631 1 0 0 0 0 256,735
48 -- A.J. Allmendinger 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,345
49 -- Johnny Benson 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 0
50 +1 Burney Lamar 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 0
51 -2 Boris Said 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,170
52 -2 Johnny Sauter 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 0
53 -1 Eric McClure 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,988
54 -1 Sterling Marlin 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,095
55 -1 Jacques Villeneuve* 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,863
56 -1 Stanton Barrett 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,813
57 -1 Carl Long 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 21,920

ANOTHER RACE IS ON THE BOOKS AND I HAVE TO SAY I REALLY THOUGHT KEVIN WAS GOING TO PULL IT THROUGH BUT HE DID GREAT AND THAT IS A GOOD THING...BEING 3RD IN POINTS MAKES ME VERY HAPPY BECAUSE I KNOW KEVIN CAN HOLD ON TO IT...I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH KYLE BUSH AS FAR AS TRYING TO BUMP DALE JARRETT TO PASS ON THE LAST LAP...I MEAN HE HAD THE RACE WON BUT HE JUST COULDN'T RESIST TO BUMP JARRETT...PLEASE!!! WELL ON TO BRISTOL WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING RACES IN MY BOOK!!! ~TAMI-LYN~

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