NASCAR In Atlanta: Kurt Busch Wins, Edwards Sends Keselowski Airborne In Controversial Wreck

It looked like one of those oft-familiar days for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The sport’s most popular driver – occasionally its unluckiest – was headed for a finish outside the top 30 after pitting for what he thought was a loose wheel but wasn’t.

Keselowski, appearing mostly calm but somewhat shaken outside the infield care center following his crash, said Carl Edwards “decided to just wreck me intentionally down the straightaway and about killed me and a couple thousand people in the grandstands.”

“It’s one thing to race somebody hard and get in an accident when you’re going for position,” Keselowski said. “It’s another to just intentionally wreck someone at 195 mph at a track like this.”

Come hang out with a bunch of race fans on the in-race chat thread for the Kobalt Tools 500 from Atlanta.

Be sure to click the “auto-update” box so you don’t have to keep refreshing the page to see new comments.

Our chat has returned for the second week – it was kinda awesome at Vegas last week, so we’ll try it again.

Below, feel free to comment on the Camping World Truck Series race today in Atlanta, or if you have any questions/topics you want to discuss about the Sprint Cup Series, we can do that too.

This is starting to look like another Hendrick Motorsports weekend.

Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson (189.694 mph) and Mark Martin (188.700) led the first of two Sprint Cup practices on Saturday, with the other Hendrick drivers coming in sixth (Jeff Gordon) and seventh (pole-sitter Dale Earnhardt Jr.).

Maybe there’s light at the end of the tunnel for Dale Earnhardt Jr. after all.

On a chilly night at the fast 1.5-mile oval south of Atlanta, Earnhardt Jr. won the pole for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500, meaning he’ll start from the top spot for the first time in nearly two years.

Mark Martin is off to a fast start at one of NASCAR’s fastest tracks.

Martin posted a fast lap of 189.409 mph in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet during the first Sprint Cup practice session on Friday, ahead of Kyle Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (189.260).

Kasey Kahne was fairly outspoken about his cars prior to the Las Vegas race, which is saying a lot for the laid-back, generally quiet guy.

Kahne said in Vegas that while the Ford motors were improved over the ones he had with Dodge, “I wouldn’t say my car is any different than it was last year.”

Raise your hand if you thought Kevin Harvick would be the points leader after three races.

Despite being unable to see through the computer screen to determine if your hand is up or not, let’s just say for argument’s sake that very few people – if any – thought Harvick would rebound from his ugly 2009 (19th in points, only nine top-10s) to lead the Sprint Cup points heading into Atlanta.

It’s not exactly Hot-lanta, but at least sun is in the forecast for the Kobalt Tools 500 weekend here in Atlanta.

Things are getting off to a bit of a late start today, thanks to night qualifying for Sprint Cup teams. The first driver press conference of the day has just kicked off at 11:45 local time, which is a couple hours later than it would be if qualifying were in the afternoon.