Dale Jr.! And Atlanta is an Earnhardt track

   Dale Earnhardt Jr., on the Atlanta pole, but wary of getting overconfident (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
   

    By Mike Mulhern
    mikemulhern.net

    ATLANTA
    The comeback kid?
    Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn't had a great start to the season, but things may be turning around for Rick Hendrick's fourth team driver.
    Earnhardt Friday evening, under the lights and in chilly 50-degree weather, took the pole for Sunday's Atlanta 500 at a sizzling 192.761 mph.
    How fast is that?
    Well, it's almost six mph quicker than Mark Martin's 187.045 run last spring.
    "It's really, really fast," a full-bearded Earnhardt said. "You've just got to hang on. It's not something you'd want to do all day long.
    "You've just got to make sure you hit your marks right.
    "We're just hungry, so hungry to do better on Sunday. To do this means a lot to us, but we're starving for a good finish on Sunday."
    What Earnhardt's run might mean, not only Sunday but for the rest of the spring, is unclear, because he's had such a long drought, even though Hendrick has pulled out all the stops to get Earnhardt up to part with teammates Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Martin. But then it has to look like a positive, since Earnhardt isn't known as a great qualifier. (This was only his third pole since 2002.)
    "Lance (McGrew, his crew chief) and the guys have been working hard and we've been qualifying better this year, at Daytona and Las Vegas. Hopefully we'll start seeing some results like this on Sunday too. And I think we will. It's just a matter of time.
    "We've made a lot of changes, and we've tried to forget about last year. It really has a lot to do with how much confidence you have. And we just got beat down last year. We're starting new this year."
    Are these speeds too fast? "No, I don't think there should be any concern," second-quick Kyle Busch says. "The tire looks good over 40 laps.
   "This is a very fast speedway, but I don't think you always realize that, because the corners are so wide.
    "We should run some laps at 29.60s (187 mph) at the start of race runs and the speeds will fall off from there."
    While teammate Denny Hamlin has been grumbling about his slow start this season, Busch seems optimistic about things: "I feel we're decent, competitive at least, not way far behind. We've come a long way on chassis design and aero, and I think Denny will see some of that soon too.
   "And I don't think we're too far off on engine power; you gain speed on the straights by getting through the corners."
   Another potentially big storyline here – third-fastest Juan Pablo Montoya....though after two disastrous weekends he may try to be more conservative and regain some points.
    The story in the Ford camp continues to be a bit confusing, with newcomer Kasey Kahne – though he says he's not decided what he might do in 2011 after his current contract expires – leading the pack. Again Kahne showed the fastest Ford Friday.
    However this is a track where Carl Edwards typically looks good, where he scored his first tour victory, in 2005. "A lot has changed in five years," Edwards muses. "I've had a lot of really great things happen in my life and in my career.
    "Right now, as a team, we ran really well for a period of the race last week (at Las Vegas, where he finished 12th). So I felt we've got that little glimmer of hope we're turning things around.
    "And there isn't a better place than Atlanta to keep trying some things...and hopefully have a good run to build our confidence and possibly get back to victory lane."
    Though Edwards hasn't won on the tour since the last race of 2008, which was an amazing nine-win season for him, he says if the Richard Childress guys can turn things around like they have "that definitely gives me hope that 'Hey, if those guys can figure it out, we can figure it out too.'"
   In fact Edwards sits 10th in the standings. "We might be in the top-10, but we're not running as well as we need to be running," he insists.
   "The good thing is about 75 laps in at Vegas I thought 'All right, this is it: We've got a car that can win here.'  And then we kind of messed it up and didn’t run so well at the end.  I think the Childress guys running as well as they are, that definitely gives me hope that, ‘Hey, if those guys can figure it out, we can figure it out.’  We can compete with these guys, we just have to keep working.  There is still a little bit of time and I think we’re closer than we were, so we’ll find out here and Texas – these next few mile-and-a-half races are gonna be the ones that really tell us where we stand.  Vegas, like I said, it gave me a little hope because we ran better there than I’d say in about a year and that’s pretty big.” 
    Tires are usually a question here, in part because this is a very fast track but also abrasive. And Goodyear has yet another tire combination for Sunday's 500.
    If tire testing gives a driver an edge, then Edwards should be charmed here, because he was one of Goodyear's testers.
   "I think the tires are great," Edwards says. "If it holds up, it'll be good. 
    "You can drive the cars sideways here a little bit, you can lean on the tire and make some things happen.
     "They seem to have pretty good grip in qualifying trim.  I didn't run any race trim, so we'll see Saturday morning how they last on a long run.
    "But they were good during the test. I think they're better and easier to drive than the tire we used to have here."   
    The track was redesigned and repaved in 1997, but now bumps have developed in the corners.
   "I've only been doing this for five or six years, but it seems like the tracks get more perfect and more perfect (as they age)....and it makes me appreciate this track more and more," Edwards says. "This is my favorite oval to race on; Darlington used to be my favorite, but this is my favorite  now. I like the track the way it is now. I hope they never repave it.
     "I'm sure eventually they'll repave it, and it won't be as much fun. But for now, those bumps are great.  It gives it some character.  It lets you drive the car -- and pitch the car around them (the bumps), or drive around them. It makes it challenging."
     Indeed, this is usually one of the best tracks on the tour for action, because tires wear out and get slower, changing lines, changing things for the drivers. And the stretch charge can be quite interesting. Remember Edwards' 2005 photofinish win over Jimmie Johnson, the outside pass with his tires shredding rubber.....
   So, high or low? "It depends on the grip and where your car is fast," Edwards says. 
    "The inside guy gets a little side-force, or rear downforce taken away sometimes. So you can pinch that guy down and make him lift. 
    "I think on the last lap people will be fighting for the top.
    "But anything can happen.  This is a really neat race track, especially when it comes down to the last lap or two....because you have a lot of options here as a driver.
     "You can drive down all the way on the apron....You can really slide the car in the corner...You can do some really neat things. 
     "It's like a big dirt track.  It gives you a lot of options."

           Qualifying results from Friday's Atlanta Kobalt Tools 500 runs

   

   

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