Check out a short list of favorites for Sunday's Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway:

Dale 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; after starting on the pole this race in 2001, 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; fourth place finish at Martinsville was his fourth top-10 in last six races; remained third in standings for the fourth consecutive race week and closed to 43 points on Kevin Harvick; registered top-10 finishes in his last four appearances at Atlanta, including his last three being among the top five; best effort was second in last season's spring, followed by a fifth-place finish in this event in 2002; added a third in March of this season.

Bill Elliott: Moved into the top 10 in points for the first time this year thanks to a ninth-place effort at Martinsville, his third straight top-10; a native of Dawsonville, Georgia, this is a home coming sorts of race; owns five career victories at the track and 18 top-10s in 53 starts;but has struggled in recent seasons with just one top-10 finish in last 14 starts (10th, spring 2000).

Jeff Gordon: Made Winston Cup debut at the track 11 years ago (started 21st, finished 31st); in 22 starts at the quad-oval, has piled up three wins, one pole, eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes; recorded top-10 finishes in eight of last 10 starts, including back-to-back wins that came in the fall 1998 and spring 1999; has clinched three of his four Winston Cup championships at the track; most recent effort in March was runner-up to Bobby Labonte; completed a season sweep of Martinsville with Sunday's win in the Subway 500; was second win of the season and 63rd career; was 13th top-five effort of the season, which is second most in the series behind Ryan Newman (15), and fifth in a row.

Kevin Harvick: Finished a solid seventh at Martinsville for his fifth straight top-10; chipped 27 points off Matt Kenseth's lead to 240 points behind entering Sunday's race; has made a dramatic charge with his run of five top-10 finishes in a row, coupled with Kenseth's finishes during that span, allowing him to trim 223 points off the deficit during that stretch; maintains career-best second in points for the fifth consecutive race week; was outstanding in first two career starts at Atlanta with a pair of top-three finishes, including his emotionally charged first Winston Cup win in March 2001, but has not been able to manage a top-15 effort in his three starts since; had two DNFs at Atlanta last season (39th in March, 40th in October), but improved in his most recent appearance with a 19th-place effort in March.

Jimmie Johnson: Finished runner-up to teammate Jeff Gordon at Martinsville for his fifth top-10 performance in the last six races; was third at Charlotte the week before; fifth in standings, six points behind No. 4 Ryan Newman and 23 back of No. 3 Dale Earnhardt Jr.; only driver to remain in the top 10 for the entire season and enters Atlanta having been among the top 10 in the championship for 65 consecutive race weeks, dating to last season; the streak is tops among active drivers; finished outside the top 20 in three of four career starts at Atlanta, including 32nd in most recent visit in March; lone highlight was third-place last March.

Matt Kenseth: Respectable 13th at Martinsville gets him four races closer from earning his first Winston Cup series title, the final title under the R.J. Reynolds Winston sponsorship; owns wins at two of the four tracks remaining on the schedule (Phoenix and Rockingham, North Carolina) and finished fourth at Atlanta this past March; previous best championship finish was eighth last season when he led the series in wins with four; leads circuit with 23 top-10 finishes; holds the top ranking for the 29th consecutive week, dating to the spring race in Atlanta; has four top-10 efforts in seven career starts here.

Bobby Labonte: The 41st-place finish at Martinsville matched his season-worst result from the Daytona 500; still in eight place, 131 points behind Tony Stewart (7th); solid record at Atlanta, particularly in the fall race; won four of the last seven October races here and has six wins overall which ranks first among active drivers; most recent victory was in March when he started fourth and led 172 laps en route to the checkered flag; scored total of 11 top-five finishes in 21 career starts, including in six of the last nine appearances.

Terry Labonte: Ended a five-race streak without a top-10 finish with a sixth at Martinsville for best showing since victory at Darlington on August 31; recorded 24 top-10 finishes in 50 career starts at Atlanta, but has managed only one (5th, spring 2001) in last nine appearances; best finish was a runner-up effort in March 1996; Atlanta also provides a historical footnote for the two-time Winston Cup champion as he won his first career NASCAR pole here on March 15, 1981.

Jamie McMurray: Eighth-place finish last week made him the highest finishing rookie for the 18th time this year; posted five top-10s in last six races; scored five top-five and 12 top-10 finishes during this rookie season; comes to Atlanta 15th in NASCAR Winston Cup Series points.

Ryan Newman: Stretched top-five finish streak to five races with a fifth-place showing in Martinsville and sixth in last seven races including three victories; knocked 31 points off his deficit to Kenseth, but trails the Roush Racing driver by 300 points with four races remaining on the schedule; has gained an impressive 317 points on Kenseth over the past four weeks; also stands 17-points behind the third-place Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and 60 points behind the second-place Kevin Harvick; has been model of consistency to the extreme at Atlanta as he has finished 10th in all three of his career appearances; also led in all three starts and has started among the top six in each, including the pole in March.

Tony Stewart: A good streak at Atlanta where he scored top-10 finishes in last four starts, including top-five in three straight; won spring race in 2002 and has led minimum of 17 laps in each; finished fifth in March; third place last week was fifth straight top-five finish, a run which propelled him from 11th to seventh in the standings; trails Jeff Gordon (6th) by 231 points.