Atlanta Motor Speedway Friday pit notes 4

Atlanta Motor Speedway Pit Notes 4 - Friday, March 5, 2010

CAR CHIEF GOES RACIN: A tremendous roar escaped from Jamie McMurray's NASCAR Sprint Cup crew when their car chief's Whelen Southern Modified car momentarily landed in the top spot for Friday's Atlanta 150 race. The irony was that the car chief, Gary Putnam, was celebrating right alongside them.

Putnam had to stay with his Sprint Cup car through inspection, so he asked Josh Nichols to qualify the modified car for him. Nichols parked the No. 7 Putnam Racing Chevy in the top spot for a time, eventually falling to fourth in the lineup. And even though Putnam will have to start from the rear because he didn't qualify the car himself, it was still a fun moment for the rookie.

"I'm a little too old to turn this into a career, but I'm going to try to do as many races as (my schedule) allows," Putnam said. "I've always wanted to drive one and I finally got the opportunity to put a car together."

As Putnam talks about his new Modified effort, all the while trying to juggle the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops car as it heads toward inspection, another friend comes by to offer congratulations.

"I'm up and down jumping for you and you're not even in the damn car," Tommy Baldwin Jr. said with a hearty laugh as he patted his buddy on the back. "I was up and down jumping and jumping!"

MODIFIED NOTES: Corey Lajoie, the son of two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Randy Lajoie, will run tonight's Whelen Southern Modified Atlanta 150. ... Only one Atlanta 150 competitor has experience on Atlanta Motor Speedway's quarter-mile Thunder Ring: Zach Brewer. Brewer won the 2002 Goody's Dash race at Atlanta. .... James Civali, driver of the No. 79 Hill entry, is the brother of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano's business manager, Joe Civali.

-source: ams