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Tune in for
all the action!
2007 TV Schedule
2007 Schedule
Race Previews & Results
Daytona 500
Auto Club 500
UAW 400
Kobalt Tools 500
Food City 500
Goody's 500
Samsung 500
Subway Fresh 500
Aaron's 499
Crown Royal 400
Dodge Avenger 500
All_Star
Coca Cola 600
Autism Speaks 400
Pocono 500
Citizens Bank 400
Toyota/Save Mart 350
Lenox Tools 300
Pepsi 400
USG Sheetrock 400
Allstate 400
Pennsylvania 500
AMD at the Glen
GFS Marketplace 400
Sharpie 500
Sharp AQUOS 500
Chevy Rock & Roll 400
Syvania 300
Dodge Dealers 400
Lifelock 400
UAW-Ford 500
Bank of Americ 500
Subway 500
Bass Pro Shop MBNA 500
Dickies 500
Checker Auto 500
Ford 400
Additional Stories
How Does NASCAR Qualifying Work?
Chad McCumbee and John Andretti Named To Drive #45 Dodge
Make Your Vote Count
Make Kyle the most popular driver in 2007"
Speed Adds Kyle Petty
 Robbie Loomis
Feature guest on
the NASCAR Teleconference
Loomis looms large for Petty team
Inside the Halls of Petty: Welcome back Andretti
2007 NASCAR TV
Broadcast Times Announced
TNT Kyle Petty to serve as Race Analyst
Petty Meets Key
Legislature In Support
Of Track In Northwest
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Track Facts:
Banking/Turns: 24°
Distance: 1.54 miles / 325 laps
Shape: Oval
Pep Boys Auto 500
Sunday, October 28
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Hampton, Georgia
Sunday, 1:30 p.m. EST
Schedule
Practice
3:30-5:00 p.m. EST, Friday, October 26
8:45-9:30 a.m. EST, Saturday, October 27
11:20-12:20 p.m. EST, Final Practice Saturday, October 27
Qualifying
7:10 p.m. EST, Friday, October 26, Two laps all positions
Race Day Sunday, October 28
1:30 p.m. EST, Driver introduction
2:00 p.m. EST, 325 laps, 500.5 miles
TV: ABC 1:30 p.m. EST start
Radio: Motor Racing Network (PRN), XM Radio
2006 Winner: Tony Stewart
Check the SPEED Channel schedule (speedtv.com) for various programs on the race this weekend.
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Race Preview
Petty Enjoys Breathing Room in Owner Points
Team Improvement Shown on Track
This weekend, Kyle Petty and the #45 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge team will travel to the 1.54-mile Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway (AMS) for Sunday’s Pep Boys Auto 500.
AMS is a track that is a favorite of drivers and fans alike. It is a place of high speeds and thrills. While the top-12 drivers will take the “Chase for the Championship” to the Hampton, Ga. track, there is another thrilling “race within the race” going on where the stakes are also high. The battle to stay inside the top-35 in owner points is coming down to the wire. Petty helped his cause with a 21st place finish at Martinsville. He now occupies the 34th spot in the standings.
Petty has made 53 starts at AMS, with the first coming in 1979. He has two top-five and 11 top-ten finishes at the track. Petty has enjoyed some good runs at AMS in recent memory. He finished 17th in the 2006 edition of this race and 8th in the “spring” race that same year.
Comments from Petty as he prepares for the Pep Boys Auto 500:
“Yea, I think it helps to come out of Martinsville with some breathing room, but I don’t think it’s surprising either. Our team has been good recently, but we’ve seen some great runs from the ‘22’ team too. We had some bad luck and got caught up in wrecks at Dover and Talladega. We just didn’t finish in front of who we needed to, but we’ve been pretty strong with the Marathon Dodge the past two or three weeks.
“Some of that changed at Martinsville, but we still had some bad breaks with getting hit near the end. I think we had a better car, but still didn’t get the finish we deserved. It was just better and that’s the difference. It’s still a good sign for our race team to show improvement like that.”
“Look at the races coming up starting this weekend. It’s Atlanta, Texas and finish at Homestead. You have Phoenix in there, but that’s three out of the last four races at intermediate tracks. Petty Enterprises has made great strides in that department. That speaks tons of Billy Wilburn, Robbie Loomis, the guys back at the shop preparing. The cars are junk after Thanksgiving, but right now they are priceless for us.
“Atlanta. OK, that’s first. I’m sure Billy (Wilburn, crew chief) can get the car to be as competitive as it was at Charlotte. The tracks are similar. Sure, when you think about you think of pure speed, but Charlotte is fast too. Atlanta is wide and you can race three abreast with no problem. That’s what happens when you leave a track alone. I think you just take some of the characteristics of Texas and Charlotte, make some adjustments and tackle the speed aspect and the multiple grooves. I think we’re feeling good about this weekend.”
“Each track that we go to is unique in its own way. Atlanta is no different. When we come down here we are racing in front of what could be the biggest corporate audience that we have. A lot of the sponsors that you see on Sunday have a huge presence in Atlanta. I’m fortunate enough to have been associated with Coca-Cola for many years now. They’re headquartered down there. That gives me extra motivation when I go to Atlanta because I get to see a lot of the great people from Coke. I’m sure the other drivers feel the same way when they go to Atlanta.”
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Race Results
FINAL RESULTS:
1. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
2. Carl Edwards, Ford
3. Reed Sorenson, Dodge
4. Matt Kenseth, Ford
5. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet
13. Kyle Petty, #45 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge
41. Bobby Labonte, #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
OVERVIEW:
Jimmie Johnson took just two tires on the final pit stop to get him to the front of Sunday’s Pep Boys 500 at the 1.54-mile Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway. The pit call helped him propel towards the front, and after an accident on the restart involving the leader, he found himself in the lead. Johnson held on for the win after a green-white-checkered finish was stopped short by another accident involving front runners.
It was a most bizarre ending to Sunday’s 325 lap race at one of the fastest tracks on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit. The beginning of the race featured a red flag period for an accident that saw Mark Martin collide with a spinning David Gilliland. Both cars were severely damaged in the wreck, but both drivers were able to walk away unhurt. The race was then relatively run with no major incidents. Drivers Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. led for the majority of the afternoon. The drivers took turns leading throughout the race. A caution for a shredded tire of Joe Nemechek on lap 234 set the stage for one last run, but having enough fuel to race to the end became an issue. Ryan Newman then blew an engine on lap 267 and all the leaders came down pit road for fuel, all but driver Denny Hamlin. Hamlin, instead, decided to gamble by staying out. Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. took two tires and restarted second and third. On the restart Hamlin’s car ran out of gas and created a mass of piling cars behind him. The result was Johnson taking the lead as the caution came out again for cars scattered on the frontstretch. The last restart, a green-white-checkered finish, Earnhardt Jr. tried to go for the win, but instead wrecked in Turn One, thus ending the race. Johnson won and closed the gap on Jeff Gordon in the championship battle to a mere nine points.
If there was one team that didn’t want to see the power plant of Newman’s Dodge explode it was that of Kyle Petty and the #45 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge. Petty had made his last pit stop and the team was in position to make a run until the end. In what might have been shades of Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May, Petty was possibly looking at a top-five finish if for no more cautions. Instead, Petty nearly raced his way to a top-10 finish using his skill and experience. Petty was in the 21st position after the lap 267 restart. Petty easily powered by Casey Mears, Greg Biffle and others to climb into the top-20. The last caution periods, Petty masterfully drove underneath and around spinning cars and flying debris- one such featured Petty going into the infield grass to avoid damaged cars. The moves allowed Petty to move into the top-15 on the last restart. The last restart could not have come any sooner as the grass and dirt that had collected underneath the car during Petty’s infield trip had started to clog the front of his car. It was becoming ‘hot’ and water started to come out of the overflow, but the engine was strong enough to gas Petty to a 13th place finish. It’s the team’s fourth top-25 finish in the last five races. Petty remains 34th in owner points, but is only 14 points behind 33rd.
“That was just a great run and finish for everyone,” said Petty. “That’s a good day for Marathon, Wells Fargo and Tire Kingdom and everyone associated with the team. We led a lap and the guys did a great job of getting this car up front. We gained on those guys today and closed in on some too. It was wild at the end, but pretty cool too. It was fun to race with those guys and survive all that.”
Having terrible luck was Bobby Labonte and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team on Sunday. It was filled with promise as Labonte started the afternoon in the 11th position. Labonte raced in the top-15 early, and on longer runs had a car that eventually raced into the 10th position. Their good run was cut short after something went wrong on the car sending Labonte into the wall on lap 162. The wreck was severe enough to send Labonte and the team behind the wall for repairs. They were able to make repairs and finished the race completing 238 laps.
“We just went down into the corner and something let go,” said Labonte. “I’m not sure what it was and we will have to take a look at it. Something broke and it went away on me. I tried to get it off the wall, but the car was moving too fast. It’s just bad luck, but we’ll break it. We’ve been running so strong lately not to get that good finish soon.”
The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series now heads to the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway for the Dickies 500. The race will be televised live on ABC and broadcast live on PRN Radio.
Last update Monday, October 29, 2007
Kyle Petty name and/or likeness used under license by Petty Marketing Company, L.L.C.
Richard Petty name and/or likeness used under license by Petty Marketing Company, L.L.C.
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