Two-Day Delay for NASCAR in Atlanta

So much for Atanta's Labor Day weekend night race.

Rain on Sunday forced NASCAR officials to postpone the AdvoCare 500 until 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Continuous bad weather is expected today, forcing NASCAR officials to wait until Tuesday before running a 500-mile race that is the next-to-last event before the field is set for the Chase for the Championship.
 
"All the things that create a dangerous situation with weather, we have respect for that," NASCAR President Mike Helton said. "This is one of those deals, nobody wins. But it happens from time to time."

NASCAR officials put dryers on the track Sunday night after the first patch of rain came through Atlanta Motor Speedway, but a second rainstorm wiped out any chance of trying to start the race late Sunday.

Track officials said that existing tickets and credentials will be honored when the gates open at 8:30 a.m. The Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office will open at 9 a.m. today for fans still wishing to purchase tickets for the rescheduled race.

The race will still be broadcast by ESPN.

RickLimpert.info Picture of the Week: A Daytona 500 Winner

The world outside of NASCAR diehards had never heard the name Trevor Bayne before today.

They know it now, and will know it forever as a Daytona 500 champion. 

Ah, to be 20 years old, a NASCAR driver and a Daytona 500 winner.

NASCAR Drivers Can Compete for Only One Championship

This decision by NASCAR could hurt both Sprint Cup and Nationwide series.

Beginning with the 2011 season, drivers in the top two series' in NASCAR must choose one series, and one only, in which they can compete for a championship.

That knocks defending Nationwide Series champion Brad Keselowski and 2007 champion Carl Edwards — both of whom have announced plans to compete in all 35 Nationwide races in 2011 — out of the running for the title this year.  Both drivers have decied to compete for the Cup Championship.

Nationwide, the lower series title sponsor, would have preferred a sunset provision that would have enabled Keselowski and Edwards to compete for the title this year, but NASCAR drew the line.

“It was considered, and Nationwide had expressed that to us, as well as some of the drivers,” NASCAR president Mike Helton said Friday. “Particularly Carl and Brad had expressed it as, ‘OK, can you just give me one more year? We stuck to the decision, once we made it, that we felt like it was better for everybody concerned, the whole industry, to go ahead and draw the line and not have any lingering effects to it.”

Helton said NASCAR’s purpose was to force more exposure and attention on developing drivers who aren’t competing full time in the Cup series.

There’s a danger the move could have the opposite effect. Cup drivers will continue to grab the headlines by winning Nationwide races. Kyle Busch won 13 of the 35 races in 2010, followed by Keselowski with six and Edwards with four. All told, full-time Cup drivers won 33 races and now they can't claim a championship.

One driver confirmed his plan to concentrate on the Nationwide series on Monday. Kenny Wallace told NASCAR.com his license application from NASCAR read in part: "A driver will only be permitted to earn driver championship points in one (1) of the following three series: NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Please select the series in which you would like to accumulate driver championship points. Choose one."

Wallace, who has a full-time ride in the Nationwide Series, told NASCAR.com: "Of course I checked 'Nationwide.'"

NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp would not comment on the apparent change, telling NASCAR.com, "I'm sure we can answer all your questions at our competition update."

Does this cheapen the other series' in NASCAR?  Or will we have more competitive races going down the stretch?  We'll find out come November.

Hamlin Still With Work to do in NASCAR Finale

Denny Hamlin, who is ahead of reigning champion Jimmie Johnson by 15 points, is not concerned about being so far back in the 43-car field for the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Johnson qualified sixth for this race which will decide the 2010 championship.  Hamlin hada disappointing qualifying effort, he ended p in the 37th spot. 

He won this race in 2009 from one spot farther back.

The difference in having to catch the Lowe's #48 this year is that a Cup title is on the line. The reigning four-time champion, Johnson trails Hamlin by 15 points in the standings. Johnson will start Sunday's race 31 spots ahead of Hamlin and 22 positions in front of Kevin Harvick, the other championship contender.

Johnson, who's won the Homestead-Miami pole twice (2007, '09), clinched his second-best starting position (sixth) in the Chase races. He won the pole at Dover on Sept. 26, but in the eight other Chase events Johnson's average starting position was 17.5.

Four of Hamlin's eight victories this year were from a starting position of 14th or worse. His two victories at Texas on April 18 and Nov. 7 came from the 29th and 30th spots, respectively.

Including Sunday, Hamlin and Harvick will have started in the top 10 in just nine of 36 races. That's 15 fewer top 10 starts than Johnson. Last weekend in Phoenix, a notoriously difficult passing track, Hamlin started 17th and finished 12th.

"With the multi-groove track like Homestead … most guys prefer to run up high," Hamlin said. "I always seem to run lower here so I get a whole lot cleaner air than what guys do. Passing has not been as big of an issue at this track in the past as Phoenix has been for me. If I have half of the car that I had at Phoenix here this weekend, we should be OK."

We should see a close race Sunday afternoon, and the title could be decided a matter of inches.

Atlanta Loses Spring NASCAR Race

Atlanta's loss might be Kentucky's gain as Atlanta Motor Speedway has been informed it has lost their annual spring NASCAR race. 

Atlanta Motor Speedway announced Thursday that it will hold onto the Labor Day Weekend event on Sept 2-4. It will be the first time in 50 years that the 1.5-mile track, owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc., hasn't hosted two Cup events.

Kentucky Speedway, an SMI track, has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday, when it is expected to announce it has secured a Sprint Cup date.

Sources have confirmed Kentucky will replace Atlanta on the schedule, but not on the March weekend that Atlanta traditionally has hosted its first race. Multiple reports over the weekend said Kentucky would host a date in July.

"Atlanta Motor Speedway has provided top-quality racing entertainment to spectators from across the nation and around the world for 50 years," Atlanta president Ed Clark said in a statement. "While our schedule will change, our commitment to the racing fans who have been the heart and soul of Atlanta Motor Speedway through these years will be stronger than ever.

"Our entire staff will be even more driven to produce the top annual sporting event in Georgia for many years to come."

Kentucky already hosts NASCAR Nationwide and Truck Series events, as well as an IndyCar race. Plans are already in place to expand seating from 65,000 to around 100,000.