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Golden Corral 500 - Atlanta Motor Speedway
Earnhardt Jr. Cruises to Atlanta Win
Newman Rockets to Another Pole
Coming off an embarrassing performance last week in Las Vegas, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 team were determined to rebound. And rebound they did. Earnhardt won the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway going away to score his second victory of the season. Earnhardt led 55 of the event’s 325 laps on the day, while Tony Stewart led 127 circuits to grab the bonus points for leading the most laps. Earnhardt won by 4.584 seconds over Jeremy Mayfield to score his 11th career victory. Mayfield, who had the lead following the final pit stop, settled for second place, while teammate Kasey Kahne came home in third. Jimmie Johnson finished in fourth, followed by pole sitter Ryan Newman in fifth. Nextel Cup points leader Matt Kenseth fought back from being a lap down to capture a sixth-place finish. Kenseth now has a lead of 82 points over Stewart.
A fast track plus a fast driver equals one pole position. The qualifying machine, better known as Ryan Newman, roared to yet another pole position on Friday afternoon at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Newman speed around the circuit’s fastest track in 28.640 seconds, at an average speed of 193.575 mph, to earn his third consecutive pole at AMS. The top starting spot is the second of the season for Newman and the 20th in his young career. Rookie Brian Vickers, who qualified fourth in his first attempt at Atlanta in 2003, will join Newman on the front row, starting from the outside pole position. The teammates of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon will make out the second row of the starting grid, while Elliott Sadler rounds out the top five starting positions.
