NASCAR Golden Corral 500 Early Stats

This week the Nextel Cup travels to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Golden Corral 500. As with the past two races, Atlanta is considered an Intermediate Track. Again the top five drivers on the Intermediate Tracks over the past 3 years are Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray, and Mark Martin. Johnson's position at the top of this list certainly wasn't hurt by his victory in Las Vegas last week.

Since the Atlanta Motor Speedway opened in 1990, there have been 29 Nextel / Winston Cup races. Bobby Labonte leads all drivers with 6 victories during that period, Jeff Gordon comes in second with 4. Of the 29 races, 17 have been won by top ten starters, 7 from starting positions 11-20, 2 from 21-30, and one each from positions 35, 37, and 39 respectively.

The Qualifying record belongs to Geoff Bodine who hit 197.478 mph in 1997. The Race record (500.5 miles) since the track reconfiguration in 1997 is owend by Bobby Labonte at 159.904 mph also set in 1997. Prior to the reconfiguration, the Race record (500.5 miles) belongs to Dale Earnhardt at 163.633 mph set in 1995.

Stay tuned for more information as the week progresses.