Pep Boys Auto 500

NASCAR heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend for the seventh race of the Chase.

Here is a quick run down of trivial facts and statistics for this weekend’s Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, GA.

Atlanta Motor Speedway History

• Originally called Atlanta International Raceway, the track was then a 1.5-mile paved speedway.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was on July 31, 1960, won by Fireball Roberts.
• Jeff Gordon won the first NASCAR Nationwide race at Atlanta held March 14, 1992.
• The first NASCAR Craftsman Truck series race at Atlanta was held March 13, 2004 and won by Bobby Hamilton.
• The track was re-measured to 1.522 miles in the spring of 1970.
• The track layout was reversed and the track was re-configured to 1.54-miles between the two races in 1997.

Track Numbers

• NASCAR Cup Series Races: 98
• Pole Winners: 43
• Race Winners: 42
• There have been 98 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Atlanta Speedway, two races per year except 1961, which had three.
• Fireball Roberts won the pole for the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in 1960.
• Fireball Roberts won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
• 43 drivers have won poles, led by Buddy Baker and Ryan Newman, each with seven.
• Six of Newman’s seven poles came in the six races between March 2003 and October 2005.
• 42 drivers have won races; 20 have won more than once there.
• Dale Earnhardt scored nine victories, more than any other driver. Cale Yarborough is second with seven.
• Bobby Labonte heads the list of active drivers with six Atlanta victories. Labonte is tied with Richard Petty for third on the all-time Atlanta win list.
• 14 races have been won from the pole.
• 55 races have been won from the first five starting positions.
• Bobby Labonte won the 2001 fall race from the 39th starting position, the deepest in the field a race winner has started.
• There have been seven season sweeps at Atlanta, most recently by Jimmie Johnson in 2007.
• There has been one green-white-checkered finish at Atlanta: 2007-2 (329 laps).

Hot Fact

Atlanta has produced three of the 12 closest finishes since the advent of electronic timing in May 1993.

• Dale Earnhardt finished 0.010 seconds ahead of Bobby Labonte in the sixth-closest race (tied with Rockingham-2004) on March 12, 2000.
• Kevin Harvick beat Jeff Gordon by 0.006 seconds on March 11, 2001, in the fourth-closest finish.
• Carl Edwards beat Jimmie Johnson by 0.028 seconds on March 20, 2005, in the 12th-closest finish (tied with Texas in April 2004).

Track Records

• Track qualifying record: Geoffrey Bodine (197.478 mph, 28.074 secs., 10-21-05)
• Track race record: Bobby Labonte (159.904 mph, 11-16-97)

Qualifying/Race Data

• 2007 pole winner: Greg Biffle (192.453 mph)
• 2007 race winner: Jimmie Johnson (135.260 mph)

Atlanta Race Day Data

• Estimated Pit Window: Every 48-52 laps, based on fuel mileage.
• #33 of 36 (10-26-08)
• Track Size: 1.54 miles
• Banking/Corners: 24 degrees
• Banking/Straights: 5 degrees
• Frontstretch: 2,332 feet
• Backstretch: 1,800 feet