Atlanta In Car Audio

March 8 – - Kurt Busch captured the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second straight year.  Busch made a daring move on the penultimate restart to take the lead.  The race was not without controversy as Carl Edwards was parked by NASCAR after retaliating against Brad Keselowski for a bump early in the event.  Keselowski’s car flipped over on the frontstretch and pancaked the outside wall with the roof.

Jeff Gordon’s day was an exercise in frustration. Gordon started 5th and dropped a position at the outset to Kasey Kahne.  Robby Gordon crashed to bring out the first caution on lap 4.  He took a position from Mark Martin, and then took 4th from Dale Earnhardt Jr on lap 15.  The second caution came on lap 35 for David Ragan’s cut tire and subsequent contact with the wall.  The leaders came to pit road with Gordon exiting in 5th place.  On the restart, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano hit the turn two wall after Brad Keselowski clipped Edwards at the bottom of the track.  Gordon moved up to 3rd on lap 65, before Kurt Busch took the spot on lap 67.  A debris caution on lap 77 brought the lead lap cars to pit road.  Gordon departed pit road in 3rd place after a sub-15 second stop.  On the restart, Gordon slipped back to 5th before rallying to take 4th on lap 89.  He ran in 3rd on lap 100, but dropped the spot to Kahne on lap 109.  Mark Martin’s spin on lap 115 brought the caution and the leaders to pit road.  Gordon restarted in 8th and moved to 5th by lap 125.  However, he dropped to 7th as Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson passed in the next four laps.  By lap 142, he was down to the 12th spot after struggling with loose handling.

Gordon pitted for tires and losing more positions.  He received a penalty for speeding on pit road, thus necessitating a pass-thru. Joey Logano’s cut tire on lap 160 brought out the caution and trapped Gordon two laps down.  He made up a lap by not pitting under the caution flag.  Gordon worked his way to 29th — the first car one lap down by lap 185.  Trouble struck Gordon on lap 203 when he slowed dramatically in turn one and came to pit road for a tire issue.  He ran the balance of the event a lap down before a wreck on the first green/white/checkered lap allowed him to get back on the lead lap.  Gordon lined up 19th for the second attempt at a green/white/checkered finish.  He gained one spot and finished the event in 18th.  Gordon moved into a tie for 11th in the series points standings.

The NASCAR series takes a week off before returning to the track at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 21.  Although Gordon has started the season with three finishes of 18th or worse in the first 4 races, they’ve run much better than the results indicate.  When you knock on the door long enough, eventually it opens… eventually.

source: www.gordonline.com

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Atlanta Kobalt 500 In-Car Audio

March 8 – - Jeff Gordon came within one daring late race move of his first victory of the season before settling for a runner-up finish in the Kobalt 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Gordon, driving the black and silver National Guard Chevrolet, led the race with less than 80 laps to go, but fell to 4th on pit road after a dropped lug nut. He battled back and got a needed green/white/checkered finish to close the gap on the leaders. He restarted in 3rd and was edged near the wall by eventual winner Kurt Busch before getting around Carl Edwards. However, he was unable to run down Busch for the victory.

[Source: www.gordonline.com]

[Race Results]
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[Post Race Transcript]

In-Car Audio:

Kobalt 500 – 2nd Place 

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Pit Road Interview

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Jeff to Start 16th at Atlanta

March 6 – - Jeff Gordon will start 16th in Sunday’s Kobalt 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race is the first of eight with the National Guard as the primary sponsor on his car. The silver and black #24 Chevrolet is looking for victory lane for the first time since October 2007. Although Gordon remains on a 43-race winless streak, he leads the points standings for the first time in nearly 17 months– giving him an inside track to qualify for the chase for the championship. “We wanted to come out of the box strong and we have,” Gordon said. “Our goal coming into this season was to run in the top five, lead laps and put ourselves in position to win races. If you do that then you’re going to make the Chase. If you do it really well, you’re going to have a shot at winning the championship.”

[source: gordonline.com]

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New National Guard Paint Scheme:

Jeff will Sport a New Look this Week with the National Guard

This week at Atlanta will be the first of 8 races where Jeff will show off his new National Guard paint scheme instead of the familiar Dupont logo. The other tracks where the new design will be run will be Texas, Darlington, Michigan, Chicago, Richmond, New Hampshire, and Martinsville.

[source: bleacherreport.com]