Week 4 -- Atlanta
Ryan Newman won another pole on Friday. Ho-hum. That makes 29 for his career, and five straight at Atlanta, where he has yet to win. I'd like to think his luck is about to change, but I'm not quite sure what to make of the Rocket Man so far this season. He looks hot in qualifying and shows good stuff early, but then something seems to go wrong and he can't finish strong. At least so far this year he hasn't been burned by the disastrous sub-40th finishes that killed his title chances the past couple of seasons.
Atlanta is a fast and usually fun race. I'm ready to pick my winners...
GLENN'S TEN:
* Tony Stewart -- Tony might seem an unlikely pick, given his struggles last week, but this is a track where the Gibbs cars seem to do well, and Tony's starting 9th. He was runner-up in Saturday's Busch race.
REST OF THE TOP 10 (in no particular order):
* Jimmie Johnson -- Coming off the big win at Las Vegas. Another top-five seems highly likely.
* Jeff Gordon -- Knows this track well. Starts 25th, but he'll get the ship righted pretty quickly.
* Ryan Newman -- Winning the pole hasn't helped him win at this track in four previous, where most of those finishes were mid-pack. Look for him to crack the top 10 this time, if not as the winner.
* Carl Edwards -- Saturday's Busch race winner. That's gotta be a confidence booster.
* Greg Biffle -- The guy is running well. Starts sixth Sunday.
* Brian Vickers -- It's the #25 magic at Atlanta. I know I've said that before and Vickers proved me wrong, but this is a new season.
* Kurt Busch -- Defending champ will find a way to be up front when it matters.
* Kevin Harvick -- Qualified (if we can call it that) a disappointing 36th, so perhaps I'm being too optimistic. But given that this is the site of his first career victory four years ago, maybe that will give him extra incentive.
* Bobby Labonte -- Bobby used to own this track. The way he's been running the past year it might be unrealistic to expect a win, but he might make the top 10.
AND WHAT ABOUT... Kasey Kahne? (Doesn't seem to be catching the breaks, but we've seen some breakdowns.)... Mark Martin? (Might just surprise us all.)... Matt Kenseth? (This isn't looking like his year so far.)... Dale Earnhardt Jr.? (Last year's winner sucked eggs with a 35th-place start. He won't finish that low, but will he make the show? This race could tell us a lot about the rest of his season.)
