NASCAR - Sprint Cup - GEICO 400 Preview
From The Sports Network
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| DATE: Sunday, September 16th |
| SITE: Chicagoland Speedway (2001) -- Joliet, Illinois |
| TRACK: 1.5-mile tri-oval - 2,400 feet (Frontstretch); 1,700 feet (Backstretch) |
| ANNUAL: 12th |
| CAPACITY: 69,000 (Grandstand Seating) |
| TELEVISION: ESPN |
| ANNOUNCERS: Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree |
| RADIO: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio |
| START TIME: 2 p.m. (ET)/Green Flag: 2:16 p.m. (ET) |
| DEFENDING CHAMPION: Tony Stewart |
| RUNNER-UP: Kevin Harvick |
| POLE WINNER: Matt Kenseth (Finished 21st) |
| LAPS: 267 |
| MILES: 400.5 |
| QUALIFYING RECORD: Jimmie Johnson, 2005 (188.147 m.p.h.) |
| RACE RECORD: David Reutimann, 2010 (145.138 m.p.h.) |
| TOTAL PURSE: $5,906,054 (2011 figures) |
| PAYOUTS: 1st Place - $332,308; 2nd Place - $252,861; 3rd Place - $175,950 |
| 2011 Finish |
| Finish | Driver | Start | Finish | Driver | Start |
| 1 | Tony Stewart | 26 | 6 | Kurt Busch | 3 |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | 30 | 7 | Clint Bowyer | 21 |
| 3 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 19 | 8 | Ryan Newman | 4 |
| 4 | Carl Edwards | 5 | 9 | Mark Martin | 25 |
| 5 | Brad Keselowski | 6 | 10 | Jimmie Johnson | 12 |
| 2011 GEICO 400 Facts and Figures |
| AVERAGE SPEED: 143.306 m.p.h. |
| TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 47 minutes, 41 seconds |
| MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.941 second |
| CAUTION FLAGS: 6 for 25 laps |
| LEAD CHANGES: 22 among 10 drivers |
| POLE WINNER: Matt Kenseth (183.243 m.p.h.) |
| Past GEICO 400 Winners (Starting Position) Car -- Speed |
| 2011 -- Tony Stewart (26th) -- Chevrolet -- 143.306 m.p.h. |
| 2010 -- David Reutimann (7th) -- Toyota -- 145.138 m.p.h. (race record) |
| 2009 -- Mark Martin (14th) -- Chevrolet -- 133.810 m.p.h. |
| 2008 -- Kyle Busch (1st) -- Toyota -- 133.996 m.p.h. |
| 2007 -- Tony Stewart (19th) -- Chevrolet -- 134.258 m.p.h. |
| 2006 -- Jeff Gordon (13th) -- Chevrolet -- 132.077 m.p.h. |
| 2005 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr (25th) -- Chevrolet -- 127.638 m.p.h. |
| 2004 -- Tony Stewart (10th) -- Chevrolet -- 129.507 m.p.h. |
| 2003 -- Ryan Newman (14th) -- Dodge -- 134.059 m.p.h. |
| 2002 -- Kevin Harvick (32nd) -- Chevrolet -- 136.832 m.p.h. |
| 2001 -- Kevin Harvick (6th) -- Chevrolet -- 121.200 m.p.h. |
| NOTE: Formerly called Tropicana 400 (2001-04), USG Sheetrock 400 (2005-07), |
| LifeLock.com 400 (2008-10). |
| Past GEICO 400 Pole Winners (Finish) |
| 2011 -- Matt Kenseth -- 21st |
| 2010 -- Jamie McMurray -- 5th |
| 2009 -- Brian Vickers -- 7th |
| 2008 -- None -- Weather |
| 2007 -- Casey Mears -- 5th |
| 2006 -- Jeff Burton -- 2nd |
| 2005 -- Jimmie Johnson -- 3rd |
| 2004 -- Jeff Gordon -- 4th |
| 2003 -- Tony Stewart -- 2nd |
| 2002 -- Ryan Newman -- 5th |
| 2001 -- Todd Bodine -- 14th |
| Last Race Results |
| RACE: Federated Auto Parts 400 (September 10th) |
| SITE: Richmond International Raceway -- Richmond, Virginia |
| MILES: 300 |
| LAPS: 400 |
| WINNER: Clint Bowyer |
| RUNNER-UP: Jeff Gordon |
| THIRD: Mark Martin |
| FOURTH: Tony Stewart |
| FIFTH: Matt Kenseth |
| POLE WINNER: Dale Earnhardt Jr (Finished 14th) |
| TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 59 minutes, 58 seconds |
| AVERAGE SPEED: 100.019 m.p.h. |
| MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.198 seconds |
| CAUTION FLAGS: 6 for 41 laps |
| LEAD CHANGES: 17 among 10 drivers |
| LAP LEADERS: D. Earnhardt Jr. 1-6; J. Gordon 7-8; D. Earnhardt Jr. 9-47; M. |
| McDowell 48; D. Earnhardt Jr. 49-58; D. Hamlin 59-84; D. |
| Earnhardt Jr. 85-93; D. Hamlin 94-155; D. Earnhardt Jr. 156-158; |
| D. Hamlin 159-231; J. Johnson 232-233; D. Hamlin 234-241; M. |
| Truex Jr. 242-248; D. Hamlin 249-281; K. Kahne 282-284; T. |
| Stewart 285-299; R. Newman 300-312; C. Bowyer 313-400. |
| GEICO 400 Entry List |
| Car | Driver, Hometown | Car/Name |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray (Joplin, MO) | Chevrolet/McDonald's |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski (Rochester Hills, MI) | Dodge/Miller Lite |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne (Enumclaw, WA) | Chevrolet/Farmers Insurance |
| 9 | Marcos Ambrose (Launceston, Australia) | Ford/Stanley |
| 10 | Danica Patrick (Roscoe, IL) | Chevrolet/GoDaddy.com |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin (Chesterfield, VA) | Toyota/FedEx Ground |
| 13 | Casey Mears (Bakersfield, CA) | Ford/Geico |
| 14 * | Tony Stewart (Columbus, IN) | Chevrolet/Mobil 1/Office Depot |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer (Emporia, KS) | Toyota/5-Hour Energy |
| 16 | Greg Biffle (Vancouver, WA) | Ford/Scotch Blue |
| 17 | Matt Kenseth (Cambridge, WI) | Ford/Best Buy |
| 18 | Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, NV) | Toyota/Wrigley |
| 19 | Mike Bliss (Milwaukie, OR) | Toyota/Plinker Tactical |
| 20 | Joey Logano (Middletown, CT) | Toyota/Dollar General |
| 21 | Trevor Bayne (Knoxville, TN) | Ford/Good Sam/Camping World |
| 22 | Sam Hornish Jr. (Defiance, OH) | Dodge/Shell/Pennzoil |
| 23 | Scott Riggs (Bahama, NC) | Chevrolet/North Texas Pipe |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon (Vallejo, CA) | Chevrolet/DuPont |
| 26 | Josh Wise (Riverside, CA) | Ford/MDS Transport |
| 27 | Paul Menard (Eau Claire, WI) | Chevrolet/Menards/Libman |
| 29 | Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield, CA) | Chevrolet/Budweiser |
| 30 | David Stremme (South Bend, IN) | Toyota/Inception Motorsports |
| 31 | Jeff Burton (South Boston, VA) | Chevrolet/Caterpillar |
| 32 | T.J. Bell (Sparks, NV) | Ford/TBA |
| 33 | Stephen Leicht (Asheville, NC) | Chevrolet/littlejoesautos.com |
| 34 | David Ragan (Unadilla, GA) | Ford/distraction.gov |
| 36 | Dave Blaney (Hartford, OH) | Chevrolet/Tommy Baldwin Racing |
| 37 | J.J. Yeley (Phoenix, AZ) | Chevrolet/TBA |
| 38 | David Gilliland (Riverside, CA) | Ford/1800loanmart |
| 39 | Ryan Newman (South Bend, IN) | Chevrolet/Haas Automation |
| 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya (Bogota, Colombia) | Chevrolet/Target |
| 43 | Aric Almirola (Tampa, FL) | Ford/Farmland |
| 47 | Bobby Labonte (Corpus Christi, TX) | Toyota/Bubba Burger |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon, CA) | Chevrolet/Lowe's/Kobalt Tools |
| 49 | Jason Leffler (Long Beach, CA) | Toyota/TBA |
| 51 | Kurt Busch (Las Vegas, NV) | Chevrolet/hendrickcars.com |
| 55 | Mark Martin (Batesville, AR) | Toyota/Aaron's Dream Machine |
| 56 | Martin Truex Jr. (Mayetta, NJ) | Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts |
| 78 | Regan Smith (Cato, NY) | Chevrolet/Furniture Row |
| 83 | Landon Cassill (Cedar Rapids, IA) | Toyota/Burger King |
| 87 | Joe Nemechek (Lakeland, FL) | Toyota/AM FM Energy Wood&Pellet |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Kannapolis, NC) | Chevrolet/AMP Energy/Nat. Guard |
| 91 | Reed Sorenson (Peachtree City, GA) | Toyota/Plinker Tactical |
| 93 | Travis Kvapil (Janesville, WI) | Toyota/Burger King |
| 95 | Scott Speed (Manteca, CA) | Ford/JTS |
| 98 | Michael McDowell (Glendale, AZ) | Ford/Phil Parsons Racing |
| 99 | Carl Edwards (Columbia, MO) | Ford/Fastenal |
| Leading Contenders (Finish the last nine years) |
| Driver | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Tony Stewart | 2nd | Won | 5th | 32nd | Won | 5th | 4th | 9th | Won |
| Kevin Harvick | 17th | 10th | 19th | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 19th | 34th | 2nd |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr | 38th | 22nd | Won | 5th | 19th | 16th | 15th | 23rd | 3rd |
| Carl Edwards | --- | --- | 39th | 20th | 3rd | 32nd | 14th | 2nd | 4th |
| Brad Keselowski | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 32nd | 18th | 5th |
| Clint Bowyer | --- | --- | --- | 9th | 10th | 22nd | 9th | 4th | 7th |
| Ryan Newman | Won | 34th | 29th | 36th | 8th | 10th | 6th | 22nd | 8th |
| Mark Martin | 14th | 24th | 10th | 18th | 14th | 17th | Won | 15th | 9th |
| Jimmie Johnson | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | 6th | 37th | 2nd | 8th | 25th | 10th |
| Kasey Kahne | --- | 36th | 41st | 23rd | 32nd | 15th | 3rd | 6th | 12th |
| Joey Logano | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 18th | 19th | 16th |
| Martin Truex Jr | --- | --- | --- | 16th | 39th | 9th | 16th | 11th | 18th |
| Marcos Ambrose | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 11th | 28th | 19th |
| Paul Menard | --- | --- | --- | --- | 42nd | 26th | 35th | 10th | 20th |
| Matt Kenseth | 12th | 12th | 2nd | 22nd | 2nd | 7th | 23rd | 13th | 21st |
| Kyle Busch | --- | --- | 24th | 3rd | 13th | Won | 33rd | 17th | 22nd |
| Jeff Gordon | 4th | 4th | 33rd | Won | 9th | 11th | 2nd | 3rd | 24th |
| Greg Biffle | 20th | 20th | 11th | 11th | 11th | 4th | 31st | 35th | 26th |
| Denny Hamlin | --- | --- | --- | 14th | 17th | 40th | 5th | 8th | 31st |
| Mover of the Week |
| Tony Stewart - Started in the 28th position and finished 4th |
| Sports Network Selections |
| Pick to Win - Jeff Gordon |
| Darkhorse - Kyle Busch |
| Last Week's Pick to Win (Denny Hamlin) - Finished 18th |
| Last Week's Darkhorse (Regan Smith) - Finished 24th |
| NOTES: |
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It's time for the Chase to begin, as NASCAR heads to Chicagoland
Speedway. After 26 regular season races and 14 different winners, it comes down
to the final 10 events of the season, as the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins
this week.
Last year, Tony Stewart started the Chase in impressive fashion, as he posted
the first of five Chase wins en route to the Sprint Cup Championship.
Stewart, one of the 12 drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship,
conserved enough fuel and held off Kevin Harvick during the closing laps to win
the rain-delayed GEICO 400 last year. He finished 0.9 seconds ahead of Harvick.
The three-time series champion had struggled during the latter part of the
regular season, squeaking his way into the 10-race playoffs with the ninth
seed. His most recent win in NASCAR's premier circuit had come in October of
2010 in Fontana, CA -- a Chase race at the time.
This time around, Stewart is tied for the second spot, just three points behind
Denny Hamlin. Hamlin has had an impressive season thus far, posting four wins
and 13 top-10 finishes in 26 starts. In the eight previous seasons, the top
seed has captured the Chase just twice (Tony Stewart in 2005 and Jimmie Johnson
in 2007). The remaining breadown has the number two and three seeds winning
twice each, the number seven seed winning once (2004) and the ninth seed once.
After failing to crack the top-10 in four previous trips at Chicagoland,
David Reutimann won for the second time in his career, as he defeated Carl
Edwards by 0.727 seconds in 2010.
Reutimann drove past Jeff Gordon for the lead with 54 laps remaining, and then
after reclaiming the top spot following a late-race round of green-flag pit
stops, held off Edwards in the closing laps for his first win in a Sprint Cup
race that went the scheduled distance. His maiden victory in NASCAR's top
circuit came at Charlotte, where the May 2009 event was cut 173 laps short of
its 400-lap distance due to rain. Reutimann led 52 of the final 67 laps.
Mark Martin gave his boss, Rick Hendrick, a huge birthday present in 2009,
after he held off teammate Jeff Gordon in a double-file restart with two laps
to go to win the then LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Martin set a track record for leading the most laps at Chicagoland with 195,
but gave up the lead to his other teammate, Jimmie Johnson, after a restart
with less than 40 laps remaining. Denny Hamlin pushed Johnson out of position
on the following restart. Hamlin and pole sitter Brian Vickers then got
together and slowed each other down, allowing 50-year-old Martin to pass
underneath the two to reclaim the lead with 16 laps to go.
An incident involving Kyle Busch in the closing laps set up the final restart.
Martin pulled away from Gordon and went on to capture his fourth of five wins
that year and the 39th of his career.
As he did on the Nationwide circuit in 2008 at Chicagoland, Kyle Busch
dominated the Sprint Cup race, as he led 165 of the 267 laps en route to the
11th of his 24 career titles. Busch started on the pole and clipped Jimmie
Johnson by 0.159 of a second.
Starting from the 19th position in 2007, Tony Stewart slowly moved into
contention and then grabbed the lead for the first time on lap 110. After
trading the top spot with several drivers, Stewart regained the advantage for
the sixth and final time on lap 232 and held on the rest of the way to edge
Matt Kenseth for his 30th career Sprint Cup title. Stewart, who now totals 47
career wins, led for a race-high 108 laps. Pole sitter Casey Mears led the
first five laps, and finished fifth. Stewart's margin of victory was 1.727
seconds.
Chevrolet, Stewart and Kevin Harvick have dominated at Chicagoland. Chevy has
won this race eight of the 11 years, while Stewart (3 wins) and Harvick (2) are
the only multiple champions of this race.
In 2006, Jeff Gordon knocked Matt Kenseth out of the way late in the race and
captured the then USG Sheetrock 400. The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
crossed the finish line 0.461 of a second ahead of Jeff Burton. The victory was
Gordon's second of the 2006 season and 75th of his Sprint Cup career. Gordon,
who now stands third on the all-time list with 86 victories, reclaimed the lead
with only seven laps remaining to clip pole sitter Burton. Kenseth dominated
the race leading four times for a total of 112 laps, however he faded down the
stretch and placed 22nd.
Dale Earnhardt Jr defeated Kenseth in 2005 by less than a second for his 16th
career Sprint Cup title and the first of that season. Kenseth dominated the
race, leading a whopping 176 laps, but it was Earnhardt Jr who took the lead
on lap 257 and held on the rest of the way for the win. Jimmie Johnson, who
started on the pole, finished third. Earnhardt Jr started from the 25th
position.
The furthest a driver has come from to capture the race was 32nd in 2002 by
Kevin Harvick. This race has been won from the top five only once (2008) and
just four times from the top-10
Although Jimmie Johnson has seven top-10 finishes in ten trips around
Chicagoland, he is winless at the track (0-for-10). Chicagoland is one of just
five Sprint Cup tracks that Johnson is winless at. Watkins Glen, Michigan,
Kentucky and Homestead are the others.
The construction of Chicagoland Speedway began in August of 1999, with the
first race, a Nationwide event being staged July 14, 2001. The following day,
the Sprint Cup Series debuted at the track. 11 drivers have competed in all 10
races at Chicagoland. Tony Stewart (8.7), Jeff Gordon (10.0) and Jimmie Johnson
(10.0) are active drivers who average a top-10 finish at Chicago. Six of the
last seven races have ended with a margin of victory under one second. The
closest margin of victory at Chicago was 0.159 seconds in 2008.
The Chase for the Sprint Cup championship continues with the September 23
Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Tony Stewart is the defending
race winner.
09/11 17:34:45 ET
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As of September 11, 2012, at 05:35 PM ET
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