NASCAR - Camping World Truck Series - Atlanta 200 Preview

NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series heads south to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend for the appropriately titled Atlanta 200. Though it is Labor Day weekend, all three of NASCAR’s National Touring Series will be working hard in an action-packed weekend at one of the fastest tracks on the circuit.

Though Bristol Motor Speedway’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 was full of excitement, the points battle remained pretty stable. The fight for the lead at Thunder-Valley played out like a fight for the points lead with Johnny Sauter, James Buescher and Timothy Peters all finishing in the Top 5. Sauter’s lead over Buescher is now a slim 7-points even though Buescher missed a race earlier in the season. His post Phoenix DNQ streak has been a hot one and he leads the series with eight top-5s and 12 top-10s finishes.

Laps: 130

Miles: 200.2

Total purse: $505,804 (2010 figures)

Defending Polesitter: Ron Hornaday Jr (177.721 m.p.h.)

Defending Champion: Kevin Harvick (not defending)

Don’t think that this multi-race string of bad luck for Austin Dillon will slow him down. Dillon has only a 29-point deficit on 1^st position and is ready to fight his way to the top again. He finished 10^th at Atlanta Motor Speedway last season but has proven that he can power the No. 3 to Victory Lane.

Keep an eye out this Friday night for the No. 08 Turner Motorsports truck. Ryan Newman will be piloting a truck for the first time since 2009. Not only that, but it will be in honor of their friend and fellow competitor, Beau Slocumb, who lost his battle to cancer earlier this year. Newman and Slocumb were hunting buddies and the truck will be wrapped in camouflage to pay homage to him.

One Sprint Cup Series regular the Truck Series drivers won’t have to contend with this weekend is Kevin Harvick. In recent weeks, Harvick had become a force to be reckoned with, winning every race in the month of August. He will instead race in Saturday’s Great Clips 300 and Clint Bowyer will race the #2 Bad Boys Buggies Chevy.

Kyle Busch, though, will be racing Friday and has been dominant at this track in the past, winning 4 NCWTS races. He has finished 1^st, 1^st, and 2^nd consecutively for the past three years here. Other previous winners competing include Todd Bodine, Ron Hornaday Jr., and Newman, though Busch is the only driver posting multiple victories.

Sauter, Buescher, Peters, Dillon and Cole Whitt are your Top 5.

Catch the Atlanta 200 this Friday at 8:00pm ET on Speed Channel.

NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series will take a week off before heading to Chicagoland Speedway on September 16th

The entry list is after the jump: