The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup heads into the homestretch. Four races remain until a champion is crowned. Race 7 is set for Sunday at the fast Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Also this weekend, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will race Saturday at Atlanta. The NASCAR Nationwide Series has its final stand-alone of its season, at Memphis Motorsports Park.
Storylines for this weekend follow, starting with a look at “in the garage” local angles for Atlanta and Memphis.

In The Garage

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Atlanta Natives
David Ragan (Unadilla) – No. 6 driver
Reed Sorenson (Peachtree City) – No. 41 driver
Bill Elliott (Dawsonville) – No. 21 driver
Jason Jones (Rhine) – No. 5 mechanic
Jayme Christianson (Marietta) – No. 83 media relations
Chris Golder (Alpharetta) – No. 88 shock specialist
Jacob Norman (Marietta) – No. 45 front-tire changer
Adam North (Sonoraville) – No. 31 jack man
Paul Craven (Summerville) – No. 45 jack man
Kenneth Purcell (Savannah) – No. 48 jack man
Jason Jones (Rhine) – No. 5 rear tire carrier
Sheila Lumpkin (Atlanta) – No. 9 scorer
Mike Brown (Statham) – No. 22 spotter
Shane Bourgeois (Peachtree City) – No. 41 pit support
Byron Goggin (Tifton) – No. 20 pit support

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Atlanta Natives
Scott Brook (Carrollton) – No. 15 mechanic
Jerel Dawson (Danielsville) – No. 6 pit support
Kevin Gravitte (Conyers) – No. 13 jack man
Billy Ballew (Atlanta) – No. 51 owner

NASCAR Nationwide Series Tennessee Natives
Bobby Hamilton Jr. (Nashville) – No. 24 driver
Marty Oody (Loudon) – No. 5 front tire changer
Tim Whelan (Nashville) – No. 5 gas man
Brett Jones (Lebanon) – No. 27 gas man
John Reese (Mt. Juliet) – No. 27 jack man
Butch Waugh (Murfreesboro) – No. 27 rear tire carrier
Danny Rankin (Chattanooga) – No. 2 rear tire changer

Johnson Dominates, Lead Grows
Two-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson won his 13th career Chase race this past weekend at Martinsville. The Johnson-specific storylines:

• The list of superlatives grows: dominant, relentless, unstoppable. With his fifth career Martinsville win, Johnson extended his standings lead to 149 points. Johnson now heads to Atlanta, where he has three wins and a series-best Driver Rating of 113.4.

• All season long, Johnson’s quest was to match Cale Yarborough’s record of three consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series titles. Yarborough did in from 1976-78, besting some of the all-time greats: Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip. Johnson’s competition is likewise stout: fellow series champions Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth.

• What makes Johnson so good is his ability to handle playoff pressure. Thus far, the series has returned to five of the six Chase tracks (New Hampshire, Dover, Talladega, Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Martinsville). During the “regular season” races at those tracks, Johnson averaged 126.8 points. During the Chase at those tracks, he has averaged 167.6 points per race.

Biffle, Edwards Optimistic
The task looks daunting. But it’s not impossible by any means. Greg Biffle trails Johnson by 149 points with four races remaining. The largest deficit overcome since the current points system was implemented in 1975: 144 points. In 1992, eventual champion Alan Kulwicki trailed Bill Elliott by 144 points with four races remaining.

Biffle, as does teammate Carl Edwards in fourth and Jeff Burton in third, needs strong finishes and no mistakes.

The schedule shakes out favorably for the Roush Fenway Racing duo of Biffle and Edwards. Three of the four remaining tracks are 1.5-miles in length, a Roush favorite.
Edwards has two Atlanta wins, while Biffle finished fourth there in March.

The Ratings Game: Cream Rises at Atlanta
This Sunday’s Pep Boys Auto 500 should feature the best-of-the-best in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series running up front. The top-10 drivers in Atlanta Driver Rating are all Chase contenders, led by points leader Jimmie Johnson. Take a look:

Jimmie Johnson 113.4
Tony Stewart 104.4
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 103.6
Carl Edwards 102.8
Greg Biffle 102.3
Jeff Gordon 96.6
Matt Kenseth 94.1
Jeff Burton 92.8
Clint Bowyer 89.4
Kyle Busch 88.5

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

JGR Future On Display At Memphis
Marc Davis and Joey Logano, both 18, will comprise the Joe Gibbs Racing team at Memphis this weekend. Logano is the “seasoned veteran” of the two, having started 15 races this year including his series debut.

Davis, meanwhile, seeks his first series start after making his NASCAR national series debut last month at Gateway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (he finished 16th). He’ll have to qualify on time to make the race at Memphis, but will have a stout ride in a No. 18 Toyota that’s totaled nine wins with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin this year. Davis finished sixth in the NASCAR Camping World Series East this season; Logano was the champion of that series last year.

Memphis Home To Young Talent, Series Debuts
Davis and Logano will have plenty company in the youth movement this weekend at Memphis. Fellow 18-year-olds Austin Dillon and James Buescher are in the mix along with Landon Cassill, 19, who trails Bryan Clauson by two points in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings. Chase Miller, 21, and Cale Gale, 23 are entered along with Steve Wallace, 21, who made his series debut in 2005 at Memphis. Other notable series debuts at the track are Juan Pablo Montoya (2006) and Dario Franchitti (2007).

Last Stand-Alone Of Season
Memphis is the last of nine stand-alone races on the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule and the final time this year double-duty drivers will make the back-and-forth trek, this time from Atlanta. Series-only regulars have won three of the previous eight stand-alone races this year. David Reutimann is the defending winner at Memphis, his first NASCAR national series win.

Elvis Fan Bowyer Seeks Title “Unification”
Four races are left and Clint Bowyer’s lead over Carl Edwards in the driver championship is at 196 points. Brad Keselowski remains in the hunt, 286 points behind in third. The largest deficit overcome to claim the driver championship with four to go is 127 points by Rob Moroso (who was in fifth place) in 1989.

Bowyer – a huge Elvis Presley fan – has the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet back in first place in the owner point standings over the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for the first time in 21 races. After a split decision in the driver and owner championships last year, RCR looks to unify the title and claim its third consecutive owner crown. Childress and Teresa Earnhardt are tied at four.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES

Benson Back on Top
Johnny Benson carries a 65-point lead into the E-Z-Go 200. That’s the sixth-largest lead after 21 races in series history. When Benson won for the fifth time of the year at Martinsville Speedway this past weekend, it marked the ninth time in 2008 the No. 1 spot has changed hands. Ron Hornaday Jr. entered the race with a lead of 39 points and finished 29th. He also lost the lead at Martinsville a year ago but recovered to win his third championship.

Busch Looks for Atlanta Record
Kyle Busch goes for his third consecutive victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway and fourth overall, which would match the series’ single-track record. His owner, Billy Ballew, is from the Atlanta area and still has a chance to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owners’ title. Ballew currently is third, 209 points behind leader Gail Davis.

Newman Makes NCTS Debut
Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman set to make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut this weekend, driving the No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet. His new boss, Harvick, won the 2007 Daytona 500.