A slew of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck drivers will descend on Atlanta Motor Speedway over the next two weeks as all of NASCAR prepares for the March 18-20 Golden Corral 500 weekend.
It will be the first time in history that all three of NASCAR¿s premier series will compete at Atlanta on the same weekend. That will make for a jam-packed race weekend, but also a jam-packed testing schedule for the two weeks prior to race time.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck drivers Jack Sprague, Regan Smith, Brad Keselowski and Bobby Labonte (in the No. 47 Chevrolet All-Stars Silverado he will drive in the March 18 World Financial Group 200) will test next Tuesday and Wednesday alongside Busch Series rookie Blake Feese.
The true influx begins the next week, when NASCAR drivers Ryan Newman, Jeremy Mayfield, Kevin Harvick, Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, Matt Kenseth Joe Nemechek, Scott Riggs, Dave Blaney, Jeff Green, Carl Edwards, Travis Kvapil, Brandon Miller and Ron Hornaday will all test in Atlanta. The tentative test schedule is as follows:
Driver Team Series DateDave Blaney Richard Childress NEXTEL Cup March 7
Joe Nemecheck MBV NEXTEL Cup March 7
Travis Kvapil Penske NEXTEL Cup March 7-8
Jason Leffler Joe Gibbs NEXTEL Cup March 7-8
Brandon Miller Richard Childress Busch March 7-8
Ryan Newman Penske NEXTEL Cup March 7-8
Scott Riggs MBV NEXTEL Cup March 7-8
Scott Wimmer Bill Davis NEXTEL Cup March 7-8
Bill Elliott Evernham NEXTEL Cup March 8
Jeff Green Petty Enterprises NEXTEL Cup March 8
Kevin Harvick Richard Childress NEXTEL Cup March 8
Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Busch March 8
Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Busch March 8
Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs NEXTEL Cup March 8
Jeremy Mayfield Evernham NEXTEL Cup March 8
Carl Edwards Roush Racing NEXTEL Cup March 8-9
Ron Hornaday Kevin Harvick, Inc. Craftsman Truck March 10
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Ron Hornaday will test his Chevy Silverado from 3-10 p.m. on March 10, as he tries to simulate conditions for the 9 p.m. start of the March 18 World Financial Group 200.
All of these drivers will just be warming up for their big events during the March 18-20 Golden Corral 500 weekend. Great seats are still available and tickets start at $30. For more information call Ticketmaster or the Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office at (770) 946-4211.
ALL TESTING IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC.
