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The haulers are headed to the heart of Dixie for the continuation of the NASCAR championship battle. Four of the 12 playoff teams still have the crown in plain sight, but the chance for a championship this year might be over for the other eight drivers in the Chase for the Cup when their haulers leave Atlanta.

The top-two positions have belonged to Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson since the beginning of the ten-race championship challenge and it continues to look like the 24 and 48 teams have the best odds of winning the big prize. Johnson trails his teammate and car-owner, Jeff Gordon, by 53 points.

Clint Bowyer hopes his consistency of good finishes in the Chase races will continue. Bowyer is still ranked third and is 115 points behind Gordon in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Tony Stewart is still holding on at the bottom of the top-tier contenders left with a chance of emerging as number one. Stewart trails leader Jeff Gordon by 249 points and his chance of claiming a second championship this year could slip away if he doesn’t have a stellar performance this weekend at AMS.

Sunday’s win at Martinsville was the seventh victory by Johnson this season. His teammate Jeff Gordon has six wins. Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards have three wins each. Kurt Busch is the only other driver with more than a single trip to Victory Lane this year. Busch has scored two wins this season.

Bobby Labonte wears the crown as the new King of Atlanta Motor Speedway. Labonte has a half-dozen wins he has gathered since 1996. His last AMS win was in 2003. Dale Earnhardt (9) and Cale Yarborough (7) are the only drivers in AMS history to register more wins than Labonte.

Bill Elliott and Jeff Gordon are the next names on the Atlanta winner’s list among the drivers entered to run Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500. Elliott has claimed five wins at his home track, but his last trip to the AMS Victory Lane was in 1992 when he swept both events.

Gordon’s four wins at AMS were in 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2003. He will serve as grand marshal for Sunday’s race to commemorate his first Winston/Nextel Cup start in 1992. That race was also Richard Petty’s last NASCAR event as a driver and “The King” will be waving the green flag to start the race this weekend.

The two-time winners at Atlanta include Jimmie Johnson (2007 and 2004), Tony Stewart (2006 and 2002), Carl Edwards (both 2005 races) and Mark Martin (1991 and 1994).

Kasey Kahne (2006), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2004), Kurt Busch (2002), Kevin Harvick (2001), Dale Jarrett (1997), Ken Schrader (1991) and Ricky Rudd (1987) are the active drivers with a single win at AMS.

The top-five finishers of the March Kobalt Tools 500 were Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton and Juan Pablo Montoya. Johnson started from the third position and led 135 of the 325 laps. He collected the bonus points for leading the most laps in March.

Thirteen drivers traded the lead 31 times during the March race.

The only other drivers leading more than five laps were Tony Stewart (121), Jeff Gordon (30), Kurt Busch (14) and Matt Kenseth (11).

There were six caution flag incidents and the race took just over three hours and 16 minutes to complete.

Ryan Newman claimed the pole position for the Kobalt Tools 500 clocking in at 193.124 miles-an-hour during time trials.

Seven of the 12 championship chasers registered top-ten finishes in the March Atlanta race. Johnson, Stewart, Kenseth and Burton were in the top-five.

Clint Bowyer finished sixth, Carl Edwards seventh and Martin Truex Jr. eighth in the March race.

Kurt Busch (11th) and Jeff Gordon (12th) finished just outside the top-ten. Denny Hamlin collected 19th-place pay.

Kevin Harvick was one lap behind the leaders when the checkered flag flew and finished 25th.

Kyle Busch has the worst results among the Chase drivers in March at AMS. He finished 32nd and was scored three laps down.

AMS President Ed Clark boasts frequently about the level of competition at his facility. The speedway holds claim to two of the five closest finishes in NASCAR history since the race organization started using electronic timing.

The fifth-closest finish was the 2000 battle of Dale Earnhardt and Bobby Labonte. Earnhardt hit the finish line .010 seconds in front of Labonte.

The third-closest contest was the next year when one of the most emotional moments in NASCAR history was played out at the AMS finish line. Kevin Harvick was just .006 seconds ahead of Jeff Gordon when he captured his first Winston/Nextel Cup win as the driver of the car Dale Earnhardt had planned to drive at AMS.

Earnhardt had died in a crash during the Daytona 500 just a few weeks before and Harvick was chosen by Richard Childress to assume the driving duties of the seven-time champion.

Double Duty: Four drivers will be making the commute between Memphis, Tennessee and Atlanta this weekend. Drivers signed up to race in both the Busch race at Memphis and the Nextel Cup in Atlanta are David Ragan, Carl Edwards, J.J. Yeley and David Reutimann.

The Busch drivers run their race at 3:00 p.m. Saturday. Happy Hour practice for the Nextel Cup drivers in Atlanta will end at 12:20 p.m. Saturday.

Georgia Boys: The Martinsville race proved to be a rough ride for the Georgia drivers in the contest. The highest-finishing contestant from the Peach State was David Ragan. Ragan started 41st and finished 26th in the Nextel Cup event at the Virginia track. The Unadilla native fell to 22nd place in the Nextel Cup points.

Bill Elliott had engine trouble in the No. 21 Ford he was driving in Martinsville. Elliott, who is driving a partial schedule for the Woods Brothers this year, was only able to complete 483 laps and finished 34th.

Reed Sorenson had a little mechanical malfunction as well after some metal crunching on the Martinsville short track. Reed, of Peachtree City, finished 41st and is ranked 23rd in the Nextel Cup points.

Ragan, Sorenson and Elliott are all listed as contestants in the Pep Boys 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Fayette County’s Joey Clanton was the only Georgia driver in the Craftsman Truck race at Martinsville. Clanton started sixth and finished 28th after a late-race crash in his No. 09.

Clanton and Shane Sieg, of Tucker, are the only Georgia drivers entered for Saturday’s Easy Care 200 truck race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sieg is listed as driver for the Cherokee County-based Billy Ballew Motorsport’s No. 15 in the race.

A name familiar to Atlanta Legend’s Series fans took the top honor in the NASCAR’s Grand National Showdown race in California. Joey Logano, who called home Alpharetta while racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway, started on the front row and led the last 86 laps of the 250-lap championship battle.

The 17-year-old has been part of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver development program this year.

High Speed TV:

Thursday October 25
6:00 p.m. NASCAR Now—ESPN2
8:00 p.m. The Chase Is On—Speed
8:30 p.m. Survival of the Fastest—Speed

Friday October 26
1:30 p.m. NASCAR Live—Speed
2:00 p.m. Atlanta Craftsman Truck Practice—Speed
3:30 p.m. NASCAR Live—Speed
6:00 p.m. NASCAR Now—ESPN2
6:00 p.m. Trackside at Atlanta—Speed
7:00 p.m. Atlanta Nextel Cup Qualifying—Speed

Saturday October 27
9:00 a.m. NASCAR Live—Speed
9:30 a.m. Atlanta Craftsman Truck Qualifying—Speed
12:00 p.m. NASCAR Live—Speed
12:30 p.m. Atlanta Craftsman Truck Easy Care 200—Speed
3:00 p.m. Busch Series Memphis 250—ESPN2
6:00 p.m. Atlanta Nextel Cup Happy Hour (tape delayed)—ESPN2
7:00 p.m. Tradin’ Paint—Speed
7:30 p.m. NASCAR Performance—Speed

Sunday October 28
10:00 a.m. NASCAR Now—ESPN2
12:00 p.m. NASCAR Raceday—Speed
1:00 p.m. Atlanta Pre-race Coverage—ABC (ch.2)
2:00 p.m. Atlanta Nextel Cup Pep Boys 500—ABC (ch.2)
7:00 p.m. The Speed Report—Speed
8:00 p.m. NASCAR Victory Lane—Speed
9:00 p.m. Wind Tunnel—Speed Channel

Tune into Newstalk 750 WSB Radio for special live programs from Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s air times are noon until 12:30 p.m. and following the Georgia Bulldogs football game until 11:00 p.m. WSB’s pre-race coverage on Sunday will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Newstalk 750 WSB Radio and www.wsbradio.com. For more race information visit our Fastcar Newsdesk at www.captainherb.net.

Newstalk 750 WSB Radio Atlanta Motor Speedway Broadcasts:

Saturday 10/27 — noon until 12:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. until 11 p.m.
Sunday 10/28 –9 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. and noon until 1 p.m.

Atlanta Motor Speedway Weekend Schedule

Friday, October 26th

12:00pm Gates Open
12:00pm- 1:15pm Craftsman Truck Series Practice
1:30pm- 2:00pm Craftsman Truck Series Rookie Practice
2:20pm- 3:20pm Craftsman Truck Series Final Practice
3:30pm- 5:00pm Nextel Cup Series Practice
7:10pm Nextel Cup Georgia-Pacific Qualifying (2 laps, all Positions)
9:00pm Castrol GTX Friday Night Drag Series Championship Event

Saturday, October 27th

8:00am- 8:35am TV Exhibition Run
8:30am Gates Open
8:45am- 9:30am Nextel Cup Series Practice
9:45am Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying (2 laps, all Positions) Impound
11:20am- 12:20pm Nextel Cup Series Happy Hour Final Practice
12:30pm Craftsman Truck Series Driver Introductions
1:00pm Craftsman Truck Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 (130 laps)
3:30pm- 5:45pm Legends Races
6:00pm- 7:00pm Speedway Children’s Charities Track Walk

Sunday, October 28th

9:00am Gates Open
11:30am Track Services Meeting
12:00pm Nextel Cup Drivers & Crew Chief Meeting (Media Center)
1:30pm Nextel Cup Driver Introductions
2:00pm Nextel Cup Pep Boys Auto 500 (325 laps)