1 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford
2 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s Chevrolet
3 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
4 43 A J Allmendinger Insignia HDTV Ford
5 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite/Vortex Dodge
6 14 Tony Stewart Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet
7 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford
8 82 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota
9 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet
10 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota
11 47 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie Toyota
12 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge
13 83 Boris Said Red Bull Toyota
14 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota
15 7 Robby Gordon Speed Factory.TV Toyota
16 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet
17 26 Patrick Carpentier Air Guard Ford
18 20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota
19 39 Ryan Newman U.S.Army Chevrolet
20 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet
21 36 Ron Fellows Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
22 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet
23 98 Paul Menard Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford
24 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
25 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Toyota
26 55 Michael McDowell PRISM Motorsports Toyota
27 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet
28 13 Max Papis GEICO Toyota
29 09 Bobby Labonte Phoenix Construction Chevrolet Chevrolet
30 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
31 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford
32 12 Brad Keselowski No. 12 Penske Dodge Dodge
33 71 Andy Lally Adobe Road Winery/TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet
34 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet
35 6 David Ragan UPS Ford
36 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Ford
37 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota
38 19 Elliott Sadler Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford
39 07 P J Jones SpeedFactory.TV Toyota
40 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet
41 37 Travis Kvapil Long John Silver’s Ford
42 34 Kevin Conway # Extenze Ford
43 38 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford

Did Not Qualify: # 46 J J Yeley; # 66 Dave Blaney; # 35 Tony Ave.

Cars attempting to quality will be divided into 8 groups.

The first three groups will include 6 cars the remaining five groups will have 5 cars each.

Group assignments will be based on final practice times.

Each qualifying group will be on-track for approximately 5 minutes.

A car’s best lap time during the group session will be the lap time of record.

A group’s time begins when the first car receives the green flag at the start/finish line.

Time will stop only in the event of a red flag. Time will begin again when the first car retakes the green flag.

A car must qualify in its assigned group unless otherwise designated by the Series Director.

Once a car enters pit road or service area it may not re-enter the qualifying group.

A five-minute clock may be applied to a car that does not enter the qualifying group at the designated time.

NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. (right) surprises office workers in downtown Nashville during a video shoot for AMP Energy Juice, Dale’s sponsor. Dale Jr. was a good sport and signed autographs for fans and gave out AMP Energy Juice. He also gave a few lucky fans tickets to the upcoming Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 21 care of AMP Energy Juice. Also pictured, Alex Stamper, Hendrick Motorsports.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ryan Smith

Top 12 Bubble Tightens With Martin’s Rebound

Coming into Pocono, Mark Martin had slumped to the tune of seven consecutive finishes outside the top 10. The swoon dropped him from 10th to 13th in the points.

Those struggles might be over. He finished seventh in Pocono, and cut his deficit to 12th-place Clint Bowyer from 62 points to 34.

Now he head to Watkins Glen, where he has three wins – but none since 1995. Martin won three consecutive races, all from the pole, from 1993-95.

A little further back in the standings sits Dale Earnhardt Jr., in 14th. Earnhardt, certainly still in Chase contention, is 129 points behind Bowyer.

Atlanta Motor Speedway Announces 2011 NASCAR Schedule

HAMPTON, Ga. (August 5, 2010) – Atlanta Motor Speedway officials today announced the facility’s 2011 event schedule will include one NASCAR racing weekend on September 2-4.

One of the original NASCAR superspeedways, the track has hosted two of NASCAR’s premier event weekends for 50 years, including the upcoming Emory Healthcare 500 slated for Sunday night, Sept. 5.

“Atlanta Motor speedway has provided top-quality racing entertainment to spectators from across the nation and around the world for 50 years,” said speedway president, Ed Clark. “While our schedule will change, our commitment to the racing fans who have been the heart and soul of Atlanta Motor Speedway through these years will be stronger than ever. Our entire staff will be even more driven to produce the top annual sporting event in Georgia for many years to come.”

Atlanta Motor Speedway hosted its inaugural Labor Day racing weekend in 2009 when the events were moved forward on the NASCAR schedule from the speedway’s traditional October date.

“We were thrilled with the acquisition of the Labor Day date two years ago and are proud to host such a prestigious, historical date on the NASCAR schedule,” added Clark. “This track produces some of the greatest racing the circuit sees, it remains one of the drivers’ favorite tracks and we will continue to build a platform that sets this one date apart from the rest.”

This year’s Sept. 3-5 Labor Day Weekend Schedule will include the Friday Fan Fest presented by Your Georgia’s Best Chevy Dealers, Saturday night’s Great Clips 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race and the Sunday night Emory Healthcare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event.