Atlanta is the fastest track they log laps at without the restrictor plates. California and Michigan, they will go into Turn 1 around 203-204 mph. Pocono, before the gear rule, they would go into Turn 1 around 207-208 mph. The problem is, they have to slow down so much for the turns. Atlanta: hold'er wide open if ye dare and she just may stick at 200 mph. With the banking being so steep it will hold the car without a problem. Geoff Bodine holds the track record at 197.478 mph, the first qualifying event after the track was repaved. Charlotte could have broke that last year had they not changed the tire compound, teams were testing at 194 mph. Here is a link that is rather interesting on this: http://www.nascarsfastesttrack.com/ As far as the average race speed, Daytona and Talladega will always be the fastest speeds if they run without a caution. 'Dega has the fastest 500 mile race speed when they ran it in 1997 and 2001 caution free. 2001: 2 hours 43 minutes at 184 mph average speed. 1997: 2 hour 39 minutes at 188.345 mph average speed.

16th is good for a rookie at Daytona against 15 Cup guys but that is a restrictor plate track, doesn't take a bunch of skill there, though it did this past weekend. The tire compound was so hard they were having a major problem with the handling. Some would be having a big understeer while others had a big oversteer. It has always been said, Daytona is all about the pagentry and showmanship, the real racing begins in week 2. Actually, he only needs to be in the Top 30 if he is on a team that is full-time which means, attempting every race this year, not just 5 or 6. Being above 25th is better though, gives him some cushion.