Atlanta was one of the many tracks that Cup champion Jimmie Johnson owned on his way to a 10-win season. The 48 Chevy took the checkers in both March and October, having already earned a victory at the 1.5-mile oval in the fall of 2004.

In last year’s spring race, JJ made an inside power move on Tony Stewart with three laps left, going three-wide and forcing the 20 car into the wall and back in line for a second-place finish.

Dating back to a win at Atlanta in the spring of 2002, Stewart has top-10 finishes in 10 of his last 12 races at AMS — with wins in 2006 and 2002, runner-ups in ’07 and ’03, a fourth-place finish in ’02, and fifth-place runs in ’06 and ’03.

Carl Edwards back-to-back-flipped at Atlanta in 2005, taking the 99 Ford to Victory Lane twice in the same season — becoming the first driver to sweep both races in a single season since Georgia native Bill Elliott drove his No. 11 Ford to consecutive home track wins in 1992. Johnson in 2007, Edwards in 2005, Elliott in 1992 and 1985, David Pearson in 1973, Bobby Allison in 1972 and Marvin Panch in 1965 are the only drivers to accomplish the rare single-season sweep in Atlanta.

Jeff Gordon has four wins at the intermediate track — 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2003.

Kasey Kahne won at AMS in the spring of 2006, but has ninth-, 32nd- and 38th-place finishes since his first victory of a six-win ’06 season.

FANTASY STALL
Looking at Checkers

You willing to bet against the 48?
Pretty Solid Pick
Carl Edwards and Martin Truex Jr.
Good Sleeper Pick
Reed Sorenson. No doubt.
Runs on Seven Cylinders
Yeley and the 96 team.
Insider Tip
Stick with Hendrick and Roush drivers.

KEEP AN EYE ON...
Clint Bowyer A pair of sixth-place finishes were huge improvements on his 25th- and 27th-place runs in his rookie year. Bowyer likes these fast tracks, too.

Kyle Busch Burned in the water-in-the-fuel-cell fiasco last October, Busch is heading to an organization at Joe Gibbs that has excelled in Hampton.

Juan Pablo Montoya A fifth in his first visit to AMS proved he acclimated himself to the track quickly. We’ll see how he handles the CoT here this season.

Martin Truex Jr. Truex was close to a win in last fall’s event. Lined up second on a late restart, he had the tires and the horses to overtake race leader Denny Hamlin. However, when Hamlin sputtered, Truex rear-ended him, negating a solid run that that included 135 laps on point.