Check out a short list of favorites for Sunday's NAPA 500 at Atlanta.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

	Earnhardt Jr.

Consistently runs at or near the front at Atlanta, leading 218 laps in six races, but has not reached victory lane; oddities include the 2000 spring race when a telemetry cable for the television broadcast rubbed a hole in a rear brake line, causing Dale Jr. to crash while running second; last season a flat tire knocked him out of a three-wide race of the lead with five laps to go in the spring event; after starting on the pole in this race last year, he led with 30 laps to go when a piece of debris became lodged in his eye, causing him to slow while driving with only one eye open; however, it also is the location where he led his first-ever lap in Winston Cup in 1999 and scored a pole in 2001; "Atlanta is great," he said. "It's not secret that the faster it is, the better I like it. We've always run well here, but crazy stuff kind of cost us a couple of times when we should have won."

Jeff Gordon
His chances for another title have been further reduced after a 36th-place finish at Martinsville; now 291 points out of first place in sixth; tied with Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson for second on the circuit with three wins; made his Winston Cup debut at the track 10 years ago; in 20 starts at the quad-oval, Gordon has piled up three wins, one pole, eight top-five and 11 top-10 finishes; has clinched three of his four NASCAR Winston Cup championships at the track.

Dale Jarrett

	Jarrett

An eighth place finish in the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville brought him back into the top-10 of the points standings; has had inconsistent results over the past several races, fluctuating between ninth and 12th in the standings; in 29 career starts at Atlanta, Jarrett has led 431 laps; 13 of those starts have been with the No. 88 team in which he has score a win, eight top fives and nine top 10s; four of the top-five finishes were consecutive second-place results in the NAPA 500; of the four races remaining on the schedule, Jarrett has won at three of the four: Atlanta, Rockingham and Phoenix. Jimmie Johnson
Interestingly enough, he is in contention for the NASCAR Winston Cup championship just 82 points behind leader Tony Stewart, but trails Ryan Newman by 20 points for the Rookie of the Year chase; Johnson is having an extraordinary initial campaign with a circuit-high 20 top-10s and is one of three drivers with three victories; the reason he trails Newman is because he has eight fewer top-five finishes; first series start at Atlanta in March was a fifth place.

Matt Kenseth
Leads all Winston Cup drivers with four victories this year; one of just three drivers with double digits in top-five finishes and top-10s; owns 10 top-fives and 16 top-10s; however, sits just seventh in the standings some 334 points out of first place Tony Stewart; led race at Atlanta in March and had good run to fourth place finish after starting 32nd.

Bobby Labonte

	Labonte

Even in the worst of seasons, it seems Labonte always manages to come up with solid performances at Atlanta Motor Speedway; can always count on him being a contender when the checkered flag drops; last year's win in the NAPA 500 was thanks to much luck when Jerry Nadeau ran out of fuel on the final lap; in four of the last six NAPA 500s, Labonte has ended in victory lane; and had it not been for an engine failure in 1998, he might have made it five wins; in addition, Labonte has led 496 laps in nine fall races at Atlanta.

Mark Martin
The veteran driver still has a shot at his first Winston Cup championship of his 22-year career; held points lead following the race in New Hampshire, but is now 123 points behind Tony Stewart in third place; only win this season was recorded in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway; two-time winner at Atlanta Motor Speedway, both in the fall race and has finished in the top-10 16 times in 33 starts; finished eighth in the MBNA America 500 in March at Atlanta.

Ryan Newman
Leader in the Rookie of the Year title race by 20 points over Jimmie Johnson; the 15th place finish at Martinsville last Sunday ended a run of seven races with results in the top eight including a win and three runners-up; tied for the circuit lead with Johnson with 20 top-10s and with Tony Stewart at 14 top-five finishes; qualified second in the March race at this track, was one of eight leaders and went on to finish 10th.

Tony Stewart
The current Winston Cup points leader had not accomplished a victory in a 500-mile race prior to his win at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March; his previous 12 wins were in races never more than 400 miles; and his best finish at Atlanta in seven starts was ninth in this race last year; the win in Atlanta was that much sweeter, for Atlanta is home to Stewart's primary sponsor -- The Home Depot; holds an 82-point lead over rookie Jimmie Johnson in the standings and upon a successful outcome, will bring Stewart a step closer to his first Winston Cup championship.

Rusty Wallace
A two-time winner here in the NAPA 500 in 1993 and 1998; made it to victory lane at least once in 16 straight seasons, tying Ricky Rudd for the modern era record; that record is in jeopardy with four races remaining as he is the only driver in the top 13 without a victory; stands fourth, 174 points behind first-place Tony Stewart; qualified poorly at Atlanta in the spring (38th), but made it through the field to finish sixth; in the NAPA 500 last fall he missed a top-10 finish in 12th place.