Hampton, Georgia plays host to this weekends NASCAR series races. The Camping World Truck Series and the Sprint Cup Series will run at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS), on Saturday afternoon (SPEED, 1:30 pm) and Sunday afternoon (FOX, 1:30pm), respectively. The Nationwide Series is off-track until March 21 (Bristol Motor Speedway).
AMS has always been a favorite track of mine, to watch and to race on Playstation2. Mostly, I like it because it is F-A-S-T, but a controlled fast (unlike Daytona or Talledega). It is a 1.54-mile, D-Shaped oval, with 24-degree banking in all four turns. The straightways flatten out to 5-degrees, coming out of the turns, but do so with a pretty sweet transition. The drivers can just about mat the gas pedal all the way around the track, and there is plenty room for side-by-side racing. You have to be a little careful coming out of turn 4, and through the start-finish stretch, as racing can get a little tight there. Although I expect this weekends event to be a great race, am I absolutely psyched about the September 6 race. That race will be the first race for AMS, with the new Labor Day race date, but most exciting to me is that it will be AMS's first ever Cup series NIGHT RACE!!
The 2008 season at AMS featured wins by Kyle Busch (Spring race) and Carl Edwards (Fall race). I think the odds are pretty high for another weekend sweep by Kyle "Shrubby" Busch. But not so fast, Shrubby!
TOP-5 PREDICTION1) Jeff Gordon
2) Dale Jr.
3) Kyle Busch
4) Jimmie Johnson
5) Tony Stewart
SPECIAL PAINT SCHEMES
Aric Almirola - Cub Cadet
Casey Mears - DirecTV
Clint Bowyer - BB&T
Jeff Gordon - National Guard Youth Challenge Program
Pual Menard - Pittsburgh Paints
Reed Sorenson - Super 8 Motels
INTERESTING SIDENOTE
