Kasey Kahne won the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia today after starting the race from the front row.

Kevin Harvick had his best race for a long time with a second place finish ahead of  the end of season “Mr Consistency”, Juan Pablo Montoya.

Many teams struggled through the night to improve their car’s handling with adjustments during the pit stops as the changes produced unpredictable results.

Ambrose started from 11th position in the #47 Clorox-backed entry of JTG Daugherty Racing, running in the mid-pack all day only to finish in 23^rd spot as the second car one lap down at the fast 1.5-mile speedway.

“This race is really tough and there were times there where we had good car speed and were moving forward and there were times where we struggled,” said Ambrose.

“We did it tough for a lot of the night with our Clorox car and just couldn’t get a handle on it, but we were not the only ones.”

Matt Kenseth had difficult night after putting his Ford Fusion into the wall early in the race. Kenseth and the team fought back for a 12th place finish to keep in the all important top 12 of the series driver’s standings to stay in qualifying position for the driver’s title chase.

“I don’t think we had much idea what we were doing, to be honest with you. We started so far off. We got it really good for one run and tried to change it just a little bit more and made it worse, so I don’t know,” said Kenseth.

“We kept going one way or the other and could never get it really right. We had one run that was really, really good and that’s it. We could never get it to drive like that again and I have no idea why.”

Ambrose and the rest of the drivers are back in action for another night race next weekend at Richmond International Raceway, the final race before the field is set for the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup.

RESULTS: Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race 25 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
1. #9 Kasey Kahne 325 laps
2. #29 Kevin Harvick
3. #42 Juan Pablo Montoya
4. #00 David Reutimann
5. #5 Mark Martin
6. #11 Denny Hamlin
7. #83 Brian Vickers
8. #24 Jeff Gordon
9. #39 Ryan Newman
10. #16 Greg Biffle
23. #47 Marcos Ambrose 324 laps

RESULTS: Sprint Cup Qualifying
1. #1 Martin Truex Jr 30.106
2. #9 Kasey Kahne 30.213
3. #48 Jimmie Johnson 30.236
4. #24 Jeff Gordon 30.296
5. #18 Kyle Busch 30.333
6. #2 Kurt Busch 30.340
7. #5 Mark Martin 30.360
8. #83 Brian Vickers 30.378
9. #12 David Stremme 30.392
10. #11 Denny Hamlin 30.426
11. #47 Marcos Ambrose 30.461

2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver’s Standings – After Race 24 of 36
1. Tony Stewart 3694
2. Jeff Gordon 3457
3. Jimmie Johnson 3404
4. Denny Hamlin 3296
5. Carl Edwards 3162
6. Kasey Kahne 3153
7. Kurt Busch 3152
8. Juan Pablo Montoya 3145
9. Ryan Newman 3138
10. Mark Martin 3126
11. Greg Biffle 3125
12. Matt Kenseth 3077
13. Brian Vickers 3057
14. Kyle Busch 3040
15. David Reutimann 2945
16. Clint Bowyer 2909
17. Marcos Ambrose 2733

THE RACE:

Pep Boys Auto 500
First Atlanta Sprint Cup race staged in 1960
325 laps (500.5 miles/805.5 kilometres)

FORM GUIDE:

2008 October Race Winner: Carl Edwards
2008 October Polesitter: Jimmie Johnson
2009 March Race Winner: Kurt Busch
2009 March Polesitter: Mark Martin

THE TRACK:

Atlanta Motor Speedway
Hampton, Georgia
1.54-mile oval
24 degree banking

MARCOS AT ATLANTA:

Sprint Cup Series Starts: Two
Best Sprint Cup Qualifying: 34th (2009)
Best Sprint Cup Finish: 29th (2008)

Overall NASCAR Starts: Five (One Truck, Two Nationwide, Two Sprint Cup)
Best Overall NASCAR Qualifying: 12th (2006 Truck)
Best Overall NASCAR Finish: 20th (2008 Nationwide)

AUSTRALIAN TV SCHEDULE

Pep Boys Auto 500 Same Day Replay
Monday 7 September 2009
FOX Sports 1
10:30pm AEST

Pep Boys Auto 500 with Intro from Marcos Ambrose
Tuesday 8 September 2009
ONE
10:00pm AEST

Please check local television guides to confirm times and see scheduled replays.