NASCAR Atlanta 500 Predictions

NASCAR Emory Healthcare 500 Preview

It is crunch time as there are only two more races for drivers to make it into the ‘Chase’ for this season’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. The ‘Chase’ pits the top 12 drivers in the point standings against one another over a 10 race schedule ending on November 21 at Homestead, Florida. The driver with the most points at the end of that race is declared this year’s champion.

This week’s race is the Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is scheduled for Sunday night, Sept. 5 starting at 7:30 p.m. The following is a look at the top seven drivers in the point standings along with their odds to win this week at Atlanta.

Kevin Harvick 8/1

Harvick continues to hold the top spot in the standings with 3,521 points. In the first race at Atlanta this season he started 35^th and finished ninth. Last year in this race he ended up second after starting 18^th which was his best finish ever. Harvick has six top 10 finishes at this track and four in his last five races here.

Jeff Gordon 12/1

With a strong second half to the season, Gordon has 3,242 points and is 279 points out of the lead. In the first race here this season he finished 18^th after starting fifth. Last year in this race he started fourth and finished eighth. Gordon has won this race twice in his career; 1998 starting 21^st and 2003 starting 19^th. Overall he has 22 top 10 finishes at Atlanta including 11 in this race.

Kyle Busch 10/1

After a dominating win two weeks ago at Bristol, Busch has 3,170 points and is 351 points out of first. Earlier this season at Atlanta, he started second and finished 25^th. Last year in this race he started fifth and finished 13^th. His best finish in this race was in 2008 when he ended up fifth after starting 12^th. Busch has raced at Atlanta 12 times in his career, but only has two top 10 finishes and only one in this race.

Carl Edwards 12/1

Edwards’ 12^th place finish at Bristol gives him 3,113 points in the standings, 408 points back. He finished 39^th in the first race here this year after starting 10^th. Last year in this race he started 14^th and finished 37^th. Edwards has been extremely successful at Atlanta over the course of his career. In only 11 races, he has three victories including two in this race (2005 and 2008). He has eight top 10 finishes with five of them in this race.

Denny Hamlin 12/1

Hamlin had a rough go of it at Bristol, but he held onto the fifth spot in the standings with 3,108 points, which leaves him 413 points in back of Harvick. In the first race here this year he started 20^th and finished 21^st. Last year in this race he started 10^th and finished sixth. His best effort in this race was in 2008 when he finished third after starting 11^th. Hamlin has three top 10 finishes in 10 career races at this track.

Tony Stewart 12/1

Continually climbing the leader board, Stewart now has 3,107 points, 414 points out of the lead. Back in the first race here this year finished 13^th after starting 15^th. Last year in this race he started 12^th and finished 11^th. He has one career victory in this race; 2006 after starting 11^th. Stewart has 13 career top 10 finishes at this track, including seven in this race.

Jeff Burton 18/1

Burton finds himself 420 points out of the lead with 3,095 total points. In the first race this year at this track, he finished 20^th after starting 22^nd. Last year in this race he started 24^th and finished 34^th. Burton’s best effort in this race was way back in 1998 when he finished fourth after starting 35^th. He does have 12 top 10 finishes at Atlantaand seven in this race.