Instant Analysis from Tom Jensen

Some final thoughts. It's fitting that the two protaganists in the title fight now are the two guys who've had the best overall seasons, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson. Honestly, I'd be shocked at this point if anyone other than those two takes the title. The guys who took the worst points hits were Kevin Harvick (31st), Mark Martin (36th) and Kasey Kahne (38th). Now it's on to Texas and race No. 8 in the Chase.

Kyle from California: Is NASCAR really concerned about safety? Is it just me - or is it boggling that NASCAR takes all of this time to design the Car of Tomorrow for safety but won't fix something as simply as the race schedule to avoid the sun issues that arise during these races that transition from day to night? I understand that drivers have tear-offs and dark sunglasses, but we could easily make these races a lot safer, and avoid situations like tonight with Gordon and McMurray.

Tom Jensen: Kyle: I agree. It's amazing there aren't more crashes when drivers have to drive blind at 190 mph into the corners.

The title race is now Kenseth, Johnson and everyone else. Here are the unofficial points:

1. Kenseth, 6008
2. Johnson, 5982
3. Hamlin, 5943
4. Burton, 5924
5. Earnhardt 5924
6. Harvick 5887
7. Gordon 5862
8. Martin, 5807
9. Kahne, 5798
10. Busch, 5759

Lap 325: Stewart wins, Johnson is second and Earnhardt holds off Kenseth by .007 seconds for third. Biffle is fifth, Jeff Gordon sixth, then Edwards, Hamlin, Nemechek and Robby Gordon.

Lap 324: White flag. Bowyer into wall. No caution.

Lap 323: Stewart is 1.084 seconds and headed for victory.

Lap 322: Stewart's lead is 0.951 seconds as Kenseth pressures Earnhardt for third.

Lap 321: Mike Bliss's engine blows.

Lap 318: Kenseth passes Edwards for fourth. Stewart's lead over Johnson is 0.900 seconds.

Lap 317: Johnson passes Earnhardt for second.

Lap 316: Johnson passes Edwards for third place.

Lap 315: Green flag. Stewart takes lead on restart.

Lap 313: Under caution, Earnhardt, leads Stewart, Edwards, Johnson, Kenseth, Biffle, Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Nemechek and Robby Gordon.

Caution 9

Lap 310: Green flag. The order now is Earnhardt (no pit), Edwards (two tires), Stewart, Johnson, Kenseth, Biffle, Hamlin (two tires), Gordon, Martin and Nemechek.

Lap 306: Stewart dives into pits at last moment, as do Johnson, Kenseth, Edwards and virtually all the lead-lap cars except Earnhardt. It looks like Martin may have hit Bowyer on pit road.

Caution 8

Lap 301: Biffle passes Gordon for fifth place.

Lap 300: With 25 laps to go, Stewart leads Johnson by 0.742 seconds, Earnhardt, Kenseth and Gordon

Lap 300: Earnhardt passes Kenseth for third.

Lap 296: Harvick nearly wrecks on the restarts as he has a problem.

Lap 295: Green flag.30 laps to go.

Lap 292: Leaders all pit. Robby Gordon gets Lucky Dog. Kahne back in the race in 38th place, 41 laps down. Order out of the pits is Stewart, Johnson, Kenseth, Earnhardt, Gordon, Biffle, Truex, Edwards, Nemechek, Bowyer. Martin is 11th.

Caution 7

Lap 288: Harvick pits.

Lap 285: 40 laps to go and the top seven spots are unchanged. Burton is back to 17th, two laps down as he bounced off the wall on Lap 268. He pitted to change a flat tire, which dropped him off the lead lap.

Lap 281: If nothing else changes, the title fight will tighten between Kenseth and Johnson, with everyone else well back.

Lap 275: No changes in the top five, as Stewart leads by 0.463 seconds over Johnson, Biffle, Kenseth, Earnhardt and Gordon

Lap 265: With 60 laps to go, it's Stewart by 0.530 seconds over Johnson. Biffle now third, then Kenseth, Earnhardt, Gordon and Edwards. The entire field will have to pit one more time.

Lap 260: Stewart retakes the lead from Johnson. Kenseth, in third, is poised for a nice points day as many of the Chasers are struggling hard.

Lap 257: Gordon is up to sixth.

Lap 255: Green flag. Johnson leads Stewart, Kenseth, Earnhardt, Biffle, Bowyer, Edwards, Gordon, Martin and Burton.

Lap 253: Hamlin is the Lucky Dog and is back on the lead lap; Kahne gets two one-lap penalties, one for passing under caution, the other for running through the stop paddle at the pit road. But it's a moot point as he heads to the garage.

George from Lawrenceburg, Ky.: I haven't heard of any problems with Denny Hamlin's car. Is it just not running well or having trouble in the turns?

Tom Jensen: George: This is a very fast track and there have been long green-flag stretches today. If you're off even a little, it's easy to fall behind.

Caution 6

Lap 248: Restart. Truex sent to back of pack for speeding.

Lap 244: Leaders pit. Order out is Johnson, Stewart, Kenseth, Truex, Earnhardt, Biffle, Bowyer, Edwards, Martin, Gordon, Kahne, Burton, Jarrett, Nemechek and Mears, who got the Lucky Dog.

Caution 5

Lap 241: Johnson running the low line and opens a lead of about half a second over Stewart.

Lap 239: Johnson takes the lead past Stewart.

Lap 238: Johnson closing on Stewart for the lead.

Lap 235: With 90 laps to go, the front pack is still the same. Stewart leads Johnson by 0.601 seconds, followed by Kenseth, Kahne, Earnhardt, Truex, Edwards, Bowyer, Biffle and Gordon.

Lap 226: Burton is complaining of no grip in 11th place.

Lap 225: 100 laps to go, as Stewart leads Johnson, Kenseth, Kahne and Earnhardt.

Lap 220: Stewart leads Johnson by 2.436 seconds. Then it's Kenseth, Kahne, Earnhardt, Truex, Edwards, Bowyer, Gordon and Biffle. Martin is 13th.

Lap 220: Johnson moves to second.

Lap 219: Kahne passes Earnhardt for fourth.

Lap 216: Gordon gets past Burton for ninth place.

Lap 212: Burton has slid back to ninth, but Gordon is up to 10th and looking to work back towards the front again.

Lap 208: Johnson passes Earnhardt for third place, as Earnhardt says his car is really, really loose.

Lap 205: Stewart already has a lead of 1.045 seconds in just four green-flag laps. The top five and six of the first seveen are all in Chase.

Lap 202: Green flag.

Lisa from Kalispell, Mont.: What happened to Kevin Harvick? He's in first than all of a sudden he's a lap down.

Tom Jensen: Lisa: The handle of Harvick's car went away early. He described the car as "wrecking loose," which means the back end was extremely twitchy and wanted to come around in the turns. His crew chief, Todd Berrier, says they have been unable to find the balance.

Lap 198: Lead-lap cars pit. Stewart leads race off pit road, ahead of Earnhardt, Kenseth, Johnson, Kahne, Burton, Truex, Bowyer, Martin, Edwards, Jarrett, Gordon, Biffle, Mears and Nemechek, the only cars on the lead lap.

Caution 4

Lap 196: Martin nearly gets spun by Jeff Green.

Lap 194: Kahne passes Burton for fifth, as he starts to move towards the front.

Lap 190: Earnhardt's lead over Stewart is 0.914 seconds. Johnson is third, followed by Kenseth, Burton, Truex, Kahne, Martin, Bowyer and Edwards.

Lap 183: Gordon said he had a flat and slowed before McMurray hit him.

Lap 181: McMurray said by the time he saw Gordon, he was too late to stop.

Lap 179: Earnhardt blows by Stewart for the lead.

Lap 178: Green flag.

Lap 176: An unusually long caution as track clean-up continues. Casey Mears gets Lucky Dog. Gordon pits a fifth time. He's sent to the end of the longest line because his first stop was before pit road opened.

Lap 174: Gordon pits for the fourth time and he rejoins the field in 14th, the last car on the lead lap.

Lap 172: Gordon pits again.

Lap 171: Lead-lap cars all pit. The order out is Stewart: Earnhardt, Johnson, Burton, Kenseth, Truex, Bowyer, Kahne and Martin.

Lap 170: Gordon pits with rear-end damage. Apparently, Gordon was in a blind spot and McMurray simply slammed into the back of him and spun him out.

Caution 3

Lap 166: Just past halfway and Stewart's margin is more than 3.5 seconds over Gordon.

Lap 160: Stewart's leads Gordon by 1.980 seconds. Then it's Earnhardt, Johnson, Burton and Kenseth.

Lap 157: Gordon gets pinched into the wall trying to pass Nemechek and Stewart takes the lead. Nemechek got loose and pushed up into Gordon.

Lap 155: Stewart is closing on Gordon and has cut the margin to about half a second.

Lap 154: Just 15 cars are on the lead lap.

Lap 150: With green flag stops complete, Gordon leads by 2.710 seconds over Stewart. Earnhardt is third, followed by Johnson, Burton, Kenseth, Truex, Bowyer, Kahne and Edwards.

Lap 147: Martin and Edwards pit.

Lap 146: Gordon and Stewart now come in.

Lap 145: Earnhardt in the pits now; Burton, too.

Lap 143: Jarrett pits from ninth place, one his better runs so far this year. Kahne is also in.

Lap 142: Johnson now comes down pit road.

Lap 141: Bowyer pits.

Lap 138: Harvick pits, as does Newman. Gordon has lapped Hamlin as there are only 15 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 136: Kyle Busch pits.

Lap 134: Kenseth pits, complaining of a problem on the right front. He has a long 17.5 second pit stop to knock a hose out of the way of the front tire.

Lap 130: Gordon leads Stewart by 1.199 seconds. Then it's Earnhardt, Burton, Johnson, Truex, Edwards, Bowyer, Jarrett, Kenseth and Martin.

Lap 130: Labonte has overheated and fallen 41st.

Lap 126: Stewart takes second place away from Earnhardt and Burton moves past Johnson for fourth.

Lap 125: Hamlin is 17th, the last car on the lead lap and in danger of joining Harvick and Kyle Busch as the Chasers not on the lead lap.

Lap 120: Gordon leads Earnahrdt by 0.913 seconds. Stewart is third, followed by Stewart, Johnson, Burton, Truex, Edwards, Bowyer, Kahne, Kenseth and Martin.

Lap 117: The official track cumulative report lists the cause of the most recent caution as TBD - to be determined. Or as someone here in the media center said, "To Benefit Dale."

Lap 115: Gordon retakes the lead with a pass that's a little less dramatic than his previous attempt.

Lap 110: Gordon passes Earnhardt for the lead and the two nearly make contact. Earnhardt gets the lead back with a major slide job.

Lap 106: Burton, whose team was worried about his engine blowing again, is now up to fifth and looking good. His teammate, Harvick, however, is 22nd and off the lead lap, with three lapped cars ahead of him.

Mike from Seattle: What a shock! Earnhardt needs a caution and suddenly there is debris.

Tom Jensen: Mike: Thanks for the note. It was hardly a shocker that the caution came out, was it? But there really was debris. Just ask the NASCAR officials.

Lap 102: Stewart goes high on the backstretch to take over third place.

Lap 100: The shadows are growing long on the track, as the top five has stabilized, with Earnhardt leading Gordon by 0.985 seconds. Johnson is 3.221 seconds back of the leader in third, then it's Stewart, Burton, Truex and Edwards.

Kenseth's crew found a rub on one of his rear tires, which has the team concerned.

Lap 90: Earnhardt's lead over Gordon is 0.841 seconds. Then it's Johnson, Truex, Stewart, Burton and Edwards.

Lap 88: Gordon moves up to second ahead of teammate Johnson.

Lap 85: Green flag. Jarrett was Lucky Dog on last stop.

Lap 83: Leaders all pit. The order out is Earnhardt, Johnson, Gordon, Stewart, Truex, Burton, Martin, Edwards, Clint Bowyer and Labonte. Other Chasers: Kahne 12th, Hamlin 13th, Kenseth 15th, Harvick 19th (-1 lap), Kyle Busch, 38th. Kenseth overshot his pit, which is why he lost so many spots.

Caution 2

Lap 80: Earnhardt will pit at Lap 90 if there isn't a caution before then. His lead over Gordon is now just 0.619 seconds, with Stewart third. Then it's Johnson, Truex, Burton and Martin.

Lap 76: Harvick is 18th, more than a lap behind Earnhardt.

Lap 75: Gordon has cut the lead to 2.605 seconds.

Lap 70: Earnhardt leads Gordon by 5.674 seconds, followed by Stewart, Johnson, Truex, Hamlin and Burton.

Lap 69: The rapid pace of the race has meant that just 17 of 43 starters are still on the lead lap.

Lap 67: Earnhardt leads Gordon by 7.871 seconds, an eternity in NASCAR time.

Steve from Carson City, Nev.: What is the pit window for Atlanta today? I must have missed it when they said it. Thanks.

Tom Jensen: Steve: It looks like the pit window will be 50-60 laps, with tire wear being the critical issue.

Lap 64: With the first round of green-flag stops cycled through, the order is Earnhardt, Stewart, Gordon, Johnson, Truex, Kenseth, Hamlin, Burton, Martin and Bobby Labonte.

Lap 63: Nemechek pits, handing the lead back to Earnhardt.

Lap 60: Joe Nemechek leads, but still has to pit.

Both Johnson and Gordon each led a lap and picked up 5 bonus points.

Lap 59: Johnson is next to stop, along with Burton.

Lap 58: Hamlin pits.

Lap 57: Edwards in, followed by Gordon.

Lap 56: Stewart pits.

Lap 55: Harvick and Martin pits.

Kahne's right-front tire was down to the cords and would have failed within a couple of laps.

Look for the rest of the field to start pitting soon.

Lap 53: Kenseth pits for four tires and gas.

Lap 52: Newman pits.

Lap 50: Stewart remains large and in charge, though Gordon has cut the gap to just 0.723 seconds. Johnson, Truex and Hamlin follow. Kahne pits and gets a spring rubber out of the right rear.

Lap 47: Earnhardt's tires weren't flat, but the driver is saying the vibration is gone.

Lap 46: Truex charges around Hamlin to take fourth place, his best of the day.

Lap 45: Despite serious engine concerns, Burton is looking good in sixth.

Lap 41: If Earnhardt wants to get the Lucky Dog next time, he'll first need to pass two cars in front of him now: Kyle Busch and Bill Elliott.

Lap 40: Stewart has stretched it out again and now leads Gordon by 2.057 seconds. Johnson is third, followed by Hamlin and Martin Truex, Jr., who won the IROC race on Saturday.

Lap 37: Martin is up 10th, Kahne back to 14th.

Lap 35: With Earnhardt a lap down, the top five is now Stewart, Gordon, Johnson, Hamlin and Kenseth.

Lap 33: Earnhardt has fallen to 41st, one lap behind.

Lap 31: Unscheduled pit stop for Earnhardt, who was complaining of a bad vibration. He dropped from the top five to 41st.

Lap 30: Stewart's lead over Gordon is 1.191 seconds, which Gordon is slowly chipping away at. Johnson gets by Earnhardt for third, with Hamlin rounding out the top five.

Lap 25: Earnhardt is starting to fade a little, as Gordon gets by him for second place. Harvick has slipped to seventh, on spot ahead of teammate Burton. Eight of the top 10 are Chasers.

Lap 24: Stewart blows by Earnhardt for the lead.

Lap 20: Earnhardt leads Stewart by 1.399 seconds. Then it's Gordon, Kenseth, Johnson, Hamlin, Harvick, Edwards, Burton and Kahne. Stewart is flying. He's the fastest car on the track by far.

Lap 19: Stewart now in second as he motors by Gordon.

Lap 18: Stewart passes Kenseth for third as Earnhardt is checking out on the field. Lap 16: Stewart by Harvick into fourth.

Lap 15: Gordon goes low, Kenseth high and Harvick in the middle as Kenseth takes second, Gordon third and Harvick falls to fourth.

Lap 14: Kenseth challenges for second.

Lap 10: Earnhardt goes around Harvick to lead for the first time, as his DEI Chevrolet looks exceptionally stout early on. Kenseth is third, Gordon fourth and Stewart fifth.

Lap 8: Dale Jarrett to the end of the longest line for speeding, Kyle Busch for entering pit road too soon. There was no Lucky Dog.

Lap 8: Green flag. Kyle Busch's 75th career Cup start is off to an unhappy start as his string of Chase problems continues.

Lap 5: The top 10 is Harvick, Kenseth, Earnhardt, Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards.

Caution 1

Lap 3: Earnhardt is flying - he's up to third already.

We have a great crowd today in Atlanta.

Lap 1: Green flag! Kevin Harvick jumps ahead of Matt Kenseth to lead Lap 1. Then it's Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

3:02 p.m. Cars roll of pit road. Today's Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be 325 laps long around the 1.54-mile track.

2:58 p.m. Engines fired. ENJOY THE RACE EVERYONE!!!

BREAKING NEWS

Jo from Rock Hill, S.C.: Happy Sunday, Tom! Atlanta is supposedly a sister track to Charlotte, which is a very weather-sensitive track. Is that the same for Atlanta, and if so, how should we expect the track to change over the course of 500 miles? Will practice in much cooler weather be much help to the teams today?

Tom Jensen: Happy Sunday to you, too, Jo! Yep, look for a lot of changes as the temperatures plummets when the sun goes down. I talked to one of Kasey Kahne team members today who said he thought the team had a good handle on what to do when the weather gets cold.

One late note

Kenseth's crew had to make some substantial last-minute changes to the front end of his car, so keep an eye on it at the start of the race.

Odds & Ends

Scott Riggs missed the season-opening Daytona 500, but is 19th in points, ahead of 14 drivers who have competed in all 32 races run to date. But had Riggs made Daytona, it wouldn't have made a lick of difference in his points position now - he's 184 points out of 18th place, meaning he would have had to win the Daytona 500 to move up in the standings.

Today's race purse is $6,030,505, an increase of $842,159 over this race last year.

I spoke briefly today with Andy Graves, who used to be general manager at Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and before that worked at Hendrick Motorsports for 10 years. Graves has been hired by Toyota to oversee its Nextel Cup launch next year, a massive undertaking. Graves will meet the press next Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.

The weather here in Atlanta is perfect — clear and cool.

Mike from Clanton, Ala.: Is the Car of Tomorrow going to replace the Cup cars of today? I think the whole COT idea is bad,the teams are spending alot of money for this. The Impala looks like a Honda Civic on steroids. Almost like Honda saying they will buy Chevrolet engines for the Civics next year and make them rear wheel drive. Am I the only one that feels like this, and are the other manufacturers going to run two makes next year like Chevy?

Tom Jensen: Mike: Welcome to FOX's Instant Analysis: The Car of Tomorrow will be phased in over three seasons: It will be run in 16 races in 2007, 26 in 2008 and all 36 in 2009. Almost every fan I've heard from hates the way the COT looks and a lot of the teams don't like it, either. As far as specific models, Ford is going to run the Fusion in all races and Toyota will run the Camry in all races. Dodge officials so far have been non-committal about what car they will run in which races.

Jack from Evergreen, Colo.: How is pole position determined when qualifying has been rained out and who or what determined that the number of cars per race would be 43 and which cars would go home?

Tom Jensen: Jack: Good question. When qualifying is rained out, the order positions 1-35 are set by owner points, so the 10 Chase drivers will start in the top 10 positions today, with Matt Kenseth on the pole. Position 36 goes to the past champion, while 37th-43rd are based on qualifying attempts. If some teams have the same number of qualifying attempts - as was the case here - the tiebreaker is owner points. As far as field size, it used to be 42, with a 43rd spot added as a past-champion's provisional in 1997.

Bob from Upland, Calif.: Do Ken Schrader and Robby Gordon have to go the rear of the field for the start because of changing engines? Or because it is not an advantage, due to there being no qualifying, they stay in their original start position?

Tom Jensen: Bob: Thanks for the question. Yes, Ken Schrader and Robby Gordon do have to go to the back of the field. The advantage is that their replacement engines have fewer miles on them than those of the other 41 competitors who completed both of Saturday's practice sessions with the same engine they'll race with.

Grant from Martinsville, Ind.: Mark Martin had a third-place average finish at the last three Atlanta races. They took a new car there this time. Why? Did they crash and destroy the old one?

Tom Jensen: Grant: Welcome to FOX. Mark Martin heavily crashed at Charlotte two weeks ago and destroyed his car. I don't know if that was the same specific car he had planned to bring here or not, but since the tracks are similar in configuration, it's possible. On a broader note, this is NASCAR's stretch run and one factor every team has to balance is, do they bring a car that they know is good or do they bring a car that they hope is great? A lot of top teams stockpile cars for Chase races hoping that their newest cars are faster than their old cars and they know the other teams will be bringing new and better cars, too. So a car that finished third last year might only be a 10th-place car now.

Jeff from Cleveland: Tom, I have two questions for you. One: Do you see this year as a total bust for Kurt Busch or was this a learning year to work out the bugs of a new team and come back strong next year? Second: Do you see Kurt getting involved in more Busch races next year to help on the Cup side of things and build toward getting back into the chase? Thank you.

Tom Jensen: Jeff: Great quesstion. My expectation is that Kurt Busch will be back in the top 10 next season, as this year he had to learn a new car, a new crew chief and a new team, one that had a lot of offseason turnover. The only hesitation to me about predicting anything for next year is the Car of Tomorrow. I think some teams will run great with it and some teams will really struggle adapting to it. Who'll get it and who won't is anyone's guess right now. I suspect Kurt will do fewer Busch races next season, as Penske tries to get Sam Hornish, Jr. some seat time in a Busch car.  

Tuck from Macon, Ga.: What is the tire pressure when the tires go on the cars, and how much higher are they when they come off?  

Tom Jensen: Glad you could join us at FOX, Tuck. Tire pressures vary from track to track and race to race. Today in Atlanta, Goodyear's recommended minimum air pressure settings are:

Right front: 48 pounds
Right rear: 45 pounds
Left front: 22 pounds
Left rear: 20 pounds

NASCAR enforces the right-front minimum pressure to keep teams from running radical caamber settings that could cause tire failures. As far as how much those pressures rise, it depends on a whole host of factors, including how hot it is, how long the green-flag run is, what the track surface is, etc.  

More pre-race

Remember, the top eight drivers are all within 100 points of the NASCAR Nextel Cup points leader, Matt Kenseth. Expect a big shakeout today.

Roush Racing will only be allowed to run the No. 06 Ford Fusion in one more race this season. Todd Kluever will drive the car in Phoenix although David Ragan may attempt to run a couple of more races in Boris Said's No. 60.

My, how times change: As recently as three years ago, Miss Winston used to be a fixture at NASCAR Winston Cup races, giving out carton after carton of free cigarettes around the garage. But with Winston now a dim memory, cigarettes are rapidly going the way of the dinosaur. Nicorette nicotine gum announced Friday that it will be Jeff Gordon's primary sponsor for four races in 2007. More importantly, Nicorette officials said the product helped 173 NASCAR employees and crewmembers quit smoking this season.

Tony Stewart, who on Saturday won the 2006 IROC championship, wants to host a round of the series at his Eldora Speedway dirt track next year. Stewart said he's holding off cashing in $1 million IROC check in hopes of using it to pay the series to race at Eldora sometime next summer. And he swears he's serious about it.

Lots of folks have been asking about Jeremy Mayfield. It appears the veteran driver will run two more Cup races this season, as he'll run James Finch's No. 09 Miccosukee Gaming Dodge at Phoenix and Homestead.

With Juan Pablo Montoya and A.J. Allmendinger already in NASCAR, and Sam Hornish Jr. set to run his first Busch Series race in two weeks, Formula 1, Champ Car and the IRL all are represented in NASCAR these days. A lesser-known point is that the NASCAR garage is quickly filling up with engineers, crewmen and other mechanically-inclined refugees from the open-wheel world. Why? For the same reason Willy Sutton robbed banks: Cause that's where the money is. NASCAR teams pay more for top talent than Champ Car or IRL teams can afford to — and by a wide margin. A top-flight Nextel Cup crew chief can pull down a seven-figure salary and first-tier pit crewmen can earn more than $100,000 a year. If that sounds excessive, consider this: one dropped lug nut at Texas last year cost Greg Biffle the Nextel Cup championship. With the level of competition as intense as it is these days, NASCAR teams want the very best talent available and are more than willing to pay for it.

Chris from Latham, N.Y.: Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Kenny Wallace, J.J.Yeley, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards were in Atlanta for Nextel Cup practice when qualifying for the Sam's Town 250 got underway, Who qualified for them? How will missing some or all of Nextel Cup final practice affect them on Sunday?

Tom Jensen: Chris: Glad you could join us. The Busch fill-ins for practice and/or qualifying were, in order, Randy LaJoie, Hermie Sadler, Mark Green, Brandon Miller, Kertus Davis and Peter Shepherd. As far as missing Cup practice, it shouldn't be an issue for the Cup drivers. They all have plenty of experience and this is a long enough race that they'll have lots of time to adjust their cars if they miss the setups early on.

Ross from Coral Gables, Fla.: Wow, I couldn't believe all of the "boo birds" after Jimmie Johnson's win at Martinsville. Who is more hated: Jimmie Johnson or Kurt/Kyle Busch?

Tom Jensen: Ross: Thanks for being with us. Frankly, I found the booing of Jimmie Johnson at Martinsville to be incredibly tacky, given the circumstances. There are some drivers that fans love to hate, and on any given Sunday, the one they usually hate on the most is the guy who won, as long as his last name isn't Earnhardt. Rarely do race fans boo a guy for finishing 23rd.

Steve from Ormond Beach, Fla.: Bill Elliott is the driver for car No. 37. Whose team or who is the owner of this car? Still my favorite all-time driver. Also, what about his earlier ride in No. 00?

Tom Jensen: Steve: Thanks for the question. John Carter is the owner of the No. 37 Dodge. The No. 00 entry was a Michael Waltrip Racing car.

A couple of quick notes: engine changes in practice today for Ken Schrader and Robby Gordon.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun on cold tires in the morning practice, but had no damage.

The weather is steadily improving in Atlanta.

Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne, among others, are heading to Memphis for today's Busch race.

Welcome to Race No. 7 in the 2006 Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup, the Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Heavy rain washed out all on-track activity Friday at AMS, canceling qualifying and practice. For Sunday's race, the field will line up by owner points, with Matt Kenseth on the pole and Kevin Harvick second.

The top 35 drivers line up by owner points. The provisionals begin with Bill Elliott, driving the No. 37 Dodge, who will start 36th as past champion. Kyle Petty, Travis Kvapil, Michael Waltrip, Todd Bodine (in the Morgan-McClure No. 4 Chevrolet), Mike Bliss, Kevin Lepage and Kenny Wallace took the remaining spots from 36th to 43rd.

Four drivers missed the program: Derrike Cope, Kirk Shelmerdine, Mike Skinner and A.J. Allmendinger, who had hoped to make his Cup debut in Sunday's Bass Pro Shops 500 driving a Team Red Bull Dodge.

The top 10 in points are:

1. Matt Kenseth
2. Kevin Harvick (-36)
3. Jimmie Johnson (-41)
4. Denny Hamlin (-47)
5. Jeff Burton (-48)
6. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (-94)
7. Mark Martin (-96)
8. Kasey Kahne (-99)
9. Jeff Gordon (-141)
10. Kyle Busch (-171)

News Update

Stat of the week: Since the Chase has started, Bobby Labonte has amassed 765 points in the last six races. That's more than Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne.

Ryan Newman has scored six consecutive poles at Atlanta (March 2003 through October 2005). The last time a driver scored seven consecutive poles at a track was by David Pearson at Charlotte (October 1975 through October 1978). Those seven completed his all-time record of 11 straight poles at Charlotte that began in October 1973.

There have been eight different race winners in the last nine Cup races at Atlanta. Carl Edwards, who swept both races in 2005, is the only repeat winner there since 2002. Edwards was just the sixth driver to sweep both races at Atlanta since the track opened in 1960. Though there have 12 back-to-back wins at Atlanta, no one has ever won three straight here.

Kasey Kahne won the Golden Corral 500 in March 2006, the first Dodge victory at Atlanta since Richard Petty won here in the spring of 1977.

Geoffrey Bodine's 197.478 mph qualifying lap at Atlanta in November 1997 (the first on the new configuration) remains the fastest qualifying lap on a non-restrictor-plate track in NASCAR history.

Atlanta has produced three of the 10 closest finishes since electronic timing was introduced in May 1993. All three races occurred since the track was reconfigured in mid-1997.

Dale Earnhardt finished 0.010 second ahead of Bobby Labonte in the fifth-closest race (tied with Rockingham-2004) on March 12, 2000.

Kevin Harvick beat Jeff Gordon by 0.006 second on March 11, 2001, in the third-closest finish.

Carl Edwards beat Jimmie Johnson by 0.028 second on March 20, 2005, the ninth-closest finish.

Fifty-four of 94 Cup races at Atlanta have been won from the first five starting positions. Eight of the last nine races there have been won from a top-10 starting position. Dale Earnhardt scored nine victories at Atlanta, more than any other driver. Bobby Labonte (six) heads the list of active drivers with Atlanta victories.

Chase For the NASCAR Nextel Cup Drivers (Ranked by Average Finish) Driver Starts Average Finish Laps Led 1. Kasey Kahne 5 9.800 89 2. Jimmie Johnson 10 11.800 176 3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 14 11.857 474 4. Jeff Gordon 28 13.607 976 5. Mark Martin 41 15.707 924 6. Matt Kenseth 13 17.461 49 7. Jeff Burton 24 17.958 101 8. Kyle Busch 4 19.750 4 9. Kevin Harvick 11 24.636 59 10. Denny Hamlin 2 25.000 16

Jeff Gordon leads all Chase drivers with four Atlanta victories. Mark Martin (two), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (one), Kasey Kahne (one) and Jimmie Johnson (one) also have victories here.

Five Chase drivers posted top-10 finishes in the spring race at Atlanta: Kasey Kahne (first), Mark Martin (second) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (third), Jeff Gordon (fourth) and Jimmie Johnson (sixth).

Three Chase drivers posted finishes of 25th or worse at Atlanta in March: Jeff Burton (25th), Denny Hamlin (31st) and Kevin Harvick (39th Harvick posted his ninth-consecutive finish of 19th or worse at Atlanta, extending a streak that began with a 39th-place finish in March 2002.

Judy from Logansport, Ind.: I would be interested in knowing what chance you give each of the 10 drivers in the Chase of winning the championship. I'm sure there are a couple who don't have much of a chance but there are some who I think do.

Tom Jensen: Hello, Judy. How are you today? You ask a difficult question, because the field is so topsy-turvy in this years Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup. Literally, I would not be surprised if any of the nine drivers win. But I'll stick my neck out anyway: I give Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne each a 15 percent chance of winning. Kenseth's not been fast, but he's been consistent. Johnson and Kahne haven't been consistent, but they've been fast. And Kahne has the schedule very much in his favor with three 1 1/2-mile tracks in the last four races. I give Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton 12.5 percent chances each. I give Kyle Busch a 2 percent chance — he's just too far back. I give Mark Martin a 3 percent chance because, even though he's a great driver, he truly believes he's not destined to win a championship. The remaining three drivers — Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Jeff Gordon — are each 8.33 percent because I believe they have uphill battles for a variety of reasons. Understand, too, these odds could change radically this weekend.

Jason from Willow Park, Texas: Why is Kyle Busch not running in the Busch race? He has a shot at moving into the top five over there. Is this an audition for Justin Labonte to drive the car next year?

Tom Jensen: Jason, welcome to FOX. Kyle Busch is not running the Busch race because he and his team want his full attention on his Cup duties this weekend. Yes, hes a long shot to carry the day, but his team wants to try to still win the Cup title.

Cliff from McMinnville, Tenn.: I was really glad to see Ward Burton back behind the wheel of a race car. For his first race in two years, getting the car in the race and then finishing on the lead lap with a decent result was wonderful. I've heard that after McClure let Scott Wimmer go, they wanted to put veteran drivers in the No. 4 car to evaluate their Chevy cars for competitiveness. Could they be considering switching manufacturers? I heard a rumor they could be going to Toyota, and if so, I hope Ward fills the seat. Appreciate your reply.

Tom Jensen: Cliff: Thanks for the question. It was good to see Ward Burton back in a Cup car last weekend. Morgan-McClure is probably more interested in Toyota than Toyota is in them. No offense to Morgan-McClure, but Toyota has a decent nucleus right now with Bill Davis, Michael Waltrip and Team Red Bull, plus a couple of part-time teams moving up from the Truck Series. When they add the next team, they're going to want to add a team capable of winning championships, not one fighting just to make races every week. I asked Cal Wells, who enjoyed much success with Toyota in other series, if he was interested in Toyota in the Cup Series, and he was blunt about it: Sure, he was interested, but he wasnt running well enough to interest Toyota. The same I'm sure is true with Morgan-McClure.

Doug from Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Canada: Pete Shepherd had a good first year with Roush Racing. Have you heard where he stands in their plans for 2007? Jack Roush stated that Pete reminded him of a young Mark Martin.

Tom Jensen: Doug: Glad you could be here with us. I know Pete Shepherd is held in high regard in the Roush organization and has impressed them. That said, I don't know what his specific plans are for ' 07.

Walter from Pennsyvania: Why does Dale Earnhardt Jr. run well for the first half or three quarters of a race and then start to fade? He is good, but does he have a temper or problems with patience?

Tom Jensen: Walter: Thanks for joining us at FOX. One of the characteristics that separates championship-caliber teams than those that are merely good is adjusting to change as the race goes on. That requires the driver to accurately communicate what his car is doing as the laps add up, the fuel load lightens, the tires begin to give up and the weather changes. The crew chief then has to take the drivers subjective impressions and recommend specific adjustments to the car as a result. Personally, I think Earnhardt does a good job with that in most situations. He does get impatient sometimes, but most of the other drivers do, too. With the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup, all 10 of the Chasers are on the ragged edge.

Bill from Elkhart, Ind.: Do you think Jeffrey Earnhardt will be in the Busch Series soon, and will he drive for DEI or maybe JR Motorsports?

Tom Jensen: Bill: Welcome and thanks for the question. Jeffrey Earnhardt, grandson of the late Dale Earnhardt and son of Kerry Earnhardt, made a tremendous impression in a recent GM group test of young drivers. The buzz is that he's going to do one more year of Late Model racing before moving up to the NASCAR Busch Series. I have not heard his name linked to a specific team, though DEI, JR Motorsports and RCR are the obvious choices.

Dale from Fletcher, N.C.: Five bucks says A.J. Allmendinger doesn't make either of the two races if he runs them both. It was obvious that the car was not up to caliber at Charlotte when Bill Elliott tried to qualify it. Red Bull Racing has shot itself in the foot because they don't have the champion's provisional to get the car in the race. So Allmendinger runs a few decent races in the Truck series? Big deal. There is no comparison to Nextel Cup. He is going to have a big learning curve in the car that is not up to the Cup standard. If he makes the race, it will surprise me. If he does, it will just be another rookie out there to wreck some of the Chase contenders like last week. Too much green at the racetrack! I could be wrong, but before the weekend is over, you will see the smoke from the gun that shot themselves in the foot!

Tom Jensen: Dale: Thanks for the comments. I agree with you that A.J. Allmendinger has a steep learning curve ahead of him and many challenges to address. But he is a phenomenal young talent who has the ability to develop into a true superstar. Whether he does or not will depend on a lot of things, but I think he's got the most upside potential of any of the seven Toyota drivers signed so far.

Tom from Green, Ohio: I hope the driver for the No. 88 will be Steve Park. He was supposed to have an announcement on the 15th, but things weren't ready yet. Robert Yates Racing was supposed to make an announcement recently, and it hasn't happened yet either. Putting Park in the No. 88 would be a big shock to a lot of people who have written him off. Steve would surprise a lot of people but not anyone who is a fan of his. He has won in all three series and will win again.

Tom Jensen:Tom: Welcome to FOX. It would be great to see Steve Park land with a first-rate team in one of NASCARs top-three series. But it's going to be an uphill climb. I've not heard his name linked to No. 88, although the way this Silly Season has gone, I suppose anything is possible.