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With the spots for the Sprint Cup Series’ chase all but locked up this weeks race at Atlanta figures to bring us back to the days were drivers drove their race car with the idea to win and we didn’t have to be reminded hundreds of times by someone announcing that they were attempting to make “the chase”.

Despite dropping to one race next season, Atlanta remains a track very high on everyone’s list. With no restrictor plates and no breaking it’s known as the fastest track on the circuit and there are plenty of guys in the garage looking to prove they are the fastest there.

Like so many other tracks the cars to beat likely are the #48 and #24 of Hendrick Motorsports. Combined Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have won 7 events at the track and amassed 23 top-5’s in 54 starts. Their teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr has been in a downward spiral of late but his career numbers at the track cannot be over looked should you be seeking to buy low.

Perhaps the driver with the best numbers to never win a race is Matt Kenseth. Kenseth ranks behind only the aforementioned and Tony Stewart when it comes to average finish at the 1.54 Quad Oval. Kenseth has 8 top-5’s in 21 starts.

Speaking of Stewart his average finish (12.) is only bested by that of Johnson. (10.8) However it’s worth noting that while Stewarts run with his own race team has netted him solid finishes of 8th, 11th, and 13th it’s a far cry from the run he had with Joe Gibbs motor-sports from 2001-2008 a time in which he had 12 top-10’s in 14 starts. I wouldn’t count Stewart out (as I am suggesting this week) but much like Kenseth it remains to be seen if he can be a winning car or just a contending car right now.

The first career win for Carl Edwards came at Atlatna in an amazing duel with Jimmie Johnson back in 2005. He went on to sweep the 2005 season at Atlanta and added another win in 2008 but any talk about Edwards and Atlanta unquestionably brings up the memory of him wrecking Brad Keselowski earlier this year. This very well could be the race in which Edwards moves from a contending car to a winning car this year as in addition to the 3 wins he had 8 top-10’s in 12 starts.

All this and I haven’t even talked about Kurt Busch who has won two of the last three events at the track. In addition to the wins Busch has posted top-10’s in four of his last six starts. The other finishes were an 11th and a 38th following a crash last fall.

While it’s never a good idea to count out Kyle Busch or Kevin Harvick it’s worth noting they’ve had a mixed bag or results. Mark Martin and Jamie McMurray who is chasing Clint Bowyer for the final chase spot also falls into the category. For what it’s worth I’m picking Bowyer to best Martin and McMurray this weekend which will just about close out the season for the drivers of the #5 and the #1.

If you are looking to hit it big then Juan Pablo Montoya is a great gamble this weekend. Montoya has finished third in the last two races at Atlanta and for those playing fantasy or pick em leagues they will find him an inexpensive option.

Despite AJ Allmendinger’s high career average at Atlanta he’s a hard pick at best. ‘Dinger has mostly ran as a 15th-20th place car in his five starts but managed a 6th place finish this spring due to gambling on tires which in turn skews his data rather largely.

Two of the truly great Atlanta drivers are in also-rans this weekend. Bill Elliott has 5 career wins at his home track and fellow former champion Bobby Labonte has six.

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Even with a move to the #47 Toyota Camry at JTG Racing former NASCAR Champion Bobby Labonte will not be a regular contender in 2011. Labonte was able to move to the #47 car after current driver Marcos Ambrose opted to leave for Richard Petty Motorsports.

Oddly enough it was Labonte who was racing for Yates Racing in 2009 which merged with Petty Motorsports and in turn pushed Labonte to a tenure at TRG.

It’s been years since Labonte was last a regular force and even in 2005, his last year with Joe Gibbs Racing, he was more of an after thought. His last win came in 2003 at Homestead when it was still called the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

Since that win he’s responded with 13 top-5’s in 236 races. He’s led a total of 205 laps or 292 less laps led then in that 2003 season.

When Bobby Labonte moved to Petty Enterprises to drive the #43 car instantly everyone in the announcers booth proclaimed he would be back and would be a chase contender, most notably Darrel Waltrip.

Things didn’t happen that way. Sure Labonte’s equipment wasn’t as good at Petty but it’s not as if he had burned the tires off the car during his last two years at Gibbs Racing either. After some time at Petty he went to Yates Racing and when sponsorship dollars weren’t there the team opted to replace him with a developmental driver at Atlanta. A track Labonte had won 6 times and finished twice on two other occasions.

In total Labonte raced seven events int he #71 car including the last four of the season.

While the equipment drop off may be a viable excuse it’s also concerning that Lab

onte has show little to no signs that he

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Bobby Labonte has officially left the #71 TRG Chevrolet owned by Kevin Buckler. Labonte had ran no higher then 21st in the car and said that the team simply was not competitive.

Labonte will race in the #7 Toyota owned by Robby Gordon this week at New Hampshire. Gordon had originally planned to place P.J. Jones in the car in a start and park effort but said that having a former champion like Labonte on board was something the team could not pass up.

While Labonte said he will seek opportunities to run in all three of NASCAR’s series it’s unclear if Sunday’s pairing with Robby Gordon Motorsports is a one time deal or perhaps something more.

Labonte was the 2000 series champion but has not won a race since Homestead in 2003.

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After word came that Bobby Labonte was being replaced by Andy Lally in the #71 TRG Chevrolet a domino effect played out. Almost immediately it was said that Labonte would race the Robby Gordon Motorsports #7 and not too long after that it was confirmed.

“When we found out that Bobby was available to drive for us, we jumped at it,” said team owner Robby Gordon. “To have a past champion driving your car is a good opportunity. I think we can learn from him this weekend and it will help our program moving forward.”

Originally the RGM #7 was going to be driven by P.J. Jones in a start and park effort due to lack of sponsorship. Now Gordon is saying that Labonte will pilot the car for the entire race. There has been no word as to whether Labonte is bringing any additional sponsorship over to the car for this weeks race.

Labonte, 46, has 30 starts at Loudon and an average finish of 15.7. His best finish on the one-miler was second in the 2000 September race.

While few would be surprised if Labonte and TRG Motorsports parted ways (an annoucement is expected later today) owner Kevin Buckler says that is not the case thus far and that they were still trying to figure everything out.

It’s also unclear where Labonte will race if he does indeed walk away from the #71 car. Labonte and Gordon had been linked a few times over this winter but nothing official ever happened and Labonte returned to TRG.

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Bobby Labonte will indeed be driving the #71 Cheverlot in 2010. The former Nascar Cup Series champion ,who has run for the team on a limited basis when removed from his normal ride at Hall of Fame racing, and the team ended the weeks of rumors.

In Labonte TRG is getting a driver who will be in the field for every race courtesy of the past champions provisional, in TRG Labonte is getting a car to ride in.

Labonte who has struggled to find success since leaving Joe Gibbs racing at the end of the 2005 season has 21 past victories and 114 top 5’s in 580 Cup starts. He hasn’t finished higher then 12th since 2004 in the Series points and current is 29th this season.

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Sitting in 31st in points has to be the pits for Bobby Labonte who is some 1000 plus points behind 13th place driver Matt Kenseth has been stuck in NASCAR purgatory the last four seasons.

A former series Champion, who has 21 career wins, and 114 Top 5’s over 577 career starts (including 575 consecutive) you’d be hard pressed to find a fan of the sport who doesn’t think Bobby Labonte is a good driver.

Perhaps a wreck back at Daytona in 2006 was a bad omen for Labonte who asked for his release from Gibbs racing following a disappointing 2005 season. He had spent the last 11 years of his career with the team dating back to the beginning of 1995. While a member of Gibbs racing he picked up his first career victory in the Coca-Cola 600 and after finishing second in the 1999 points captured the Winston Cup in 2000 ahead of a guy named Dale Earnhardt.

Here’s the problem since his departue from Joe Gibbs racing at the end of 2005 Labonte hasn’t been a very good driver stat wise. Labonte’s last win came at the final race of the 2003 season, back when it was still called the Winston Cup Series. Over the next two seasons Labonte totaled 5 then 4 top 5’s.

In the four seasons since his depature from the green and black #18 he has a total of 4 Top 5’s in 106 races. His lone Top 5 this year came in the season’s third race at Las Vegas.

Obviously when you have made 575 consecutive starts you’re experienced at every track on the circuit and you don’t have to look too hard at any tracks leader board to see Bobby Labonte sprinkled across it with wins, strong finishes or both.

The problem is when Labonte joined Petty Enterprises it was already in the dumpster. No matter how good Bobby Labonte could have been would have changed much he simply wasn’t going to be competitive and the team was going nowhere. Even if you take a look at the merged team of Richard Petty Motorsports today you’ll notice that their only successful car (Kasey Kahne in the 9) wasn’t fielded by the organization last year.

When Petty Enterprises was ready to merge with Gillett Evernham Motorsports they opted to dump Labonte leaving the former champ with few viable options for the 2009 season. Originally it had been rumored Labonte could head over to Richard Childress Racing in the 07 car with General Mills as sponorship but Casey Mears was introduced as the driver of that car back in August of 2008 prior to Labonte being dumped.

Whatever the reasons were for the above Labonte signed with Hall of Fame Racing for 2009 with his cars to be fielded by Yates Racing. Needless to say things haven’t went well for any party involved to the point where Yates opted to remove Labonte from driving the seven races in which Ask.com (the primary sponsor) was not on the car. Labonte has filled in the 71 TRG machine in those weekends.

One thing is simple: Labonte will not be back with Hall of Fame Racing, which has been rumored to be possibly partnering with Penske or Childress Racing in 2010.

So where does Bobby Labonte go for 2010? It’s unclear.

Back in August Ask.com commented that they were still interested in sponsoring Labonte for the 2010 season as has Academy Outdoor & Sport stores. So wherever he goes he carries not only only a champions provisional but also sponsorship dollars.

New reports suggest he’ll drive a second car for TRG which really seems like a step sideways for a driver of Labonte’s statue.

Some suggest he could still end up in the 07 car for RCR, others mention the 1 car as an open ride which could be his.

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