This Week in Auto Racing Sept. 12 - 14
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(SportsNetwork.com) - The 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup championship begins this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. The Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series are also racing here.
NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MyAfibStory.com 400 - Chicagoland Speedway - Joliet, Illinois
After scoring four straight top-10 finishes, Jimmie Johnson is ready to begin the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, in hopes of winning his record-tying seventh championship in NASCAR's premier series.
If Johnson does it, he will tie Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt for most titles.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The "new" Chase begins on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. This year, NASCAR revised its playoff format for the Sprint Cup Series, expanding the field of drivers from 12 to 16 and including a series of elimination rounds to decide the championship. The number of drivers in contention for the title will decrease every three Chase races.
Chicagoland, New Hampshire (Sept. 21) and Dover (Sept. 28) make up the opening round, known as the "Challenger Round."
After Dover, the Chase field will be trimmed to 12 drivers for the next round, referred to as the "Contender Round." It includes the races at Kansas (Oct. 5), Charlotte (Oct. 11) and Talladega (Oct. 19). Eight drivers will remain eligible for the championship heading into the "Eliminator Round," which includes the events at Martinsville (Oct. 26), Texas (Nov. 2) and Phoenix (Nov. 9).
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Nov. 16 season-finale at Homestead will feature just four drivers contending for the championship. The highest finishing driver among the final four in that race will win the title.
Johnson, who won his sixth series championship last year, starts the Chase from the fourth seed. The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports has three victories this season but has not won since June 15 at Michigan (11 races ago). Johnson struggled during the month of July and the first part of August, which included back-to-back 42nd-place finishes at Daytona and New Hampshire as well as a 39th-place result at Pocono and a 28th-place run at Watkins Glen.
But Johnson has bounced back nicely by finishing ninth or better in the previous four races -- Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond. Last Saturday night at Richmond, he had to be treated for dehydration after the cool box in his car malfunctioned during the race.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Johnson has more experience in the Chase than any other driver. He's the only driver who has qualified for it each year since NASCAR instituted a playoff format for its top series in 2004. But Johnson knows he has a tougher task ahead of him in this year's Chase compared to all of his other years in the playoffs.
"Over the ten races, a lot can happen," Johnson said. "You just need to be hot towards the end, if not really hot in one race. We'll just see how it all plays out."
As part of the format change, any driver who wins a Chase race will then automatically advance into the next round. Therefore, the winner at Chicagoland will move on to the Contender Round.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Johnson has yet to win a Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland. His best finish here is second, which occurred three times, most recently in 2012. Johnson has won at New Hampshire three times and at Dover a record nine times, including a victory there in June.
"If you have poor finishes in the first and second races (in either the Challenger, Contender or Eliminator Rounds) and you're not looking strong in points, it's really easy for that third race - you need the 'Hail Mary' to make something happen," he said. "If you get off to a quick start and you're solid in the points, of course you're going to take an opportunity to win. But you know you're covering the base on points.
"I think there are going to be multiple strategies that take place, depending on performance. And then, after three races, you're going to have to re-rack and start it over again. I think that's what makes it interesting right now is that there isn't a clear strategy that you can play out. Winning races does, period, but that's kind of the design of the format to start with. I think it would be a stretch if somebody won three or four races in the Chase. That would be really tough to do. So you're going to have to kind of count on points as well."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the 2013 Chase, Johnson recorded two wins (Dover and Texas), seven top-five finishes and nine top-10s. His worst finish was 13th, which occurred at Talladega. Can Johnson have the same success in this Chase as he did last year?
"It's hard to say, but I'm counting on it," he said. "We've seen a lot of strength out of teams, and it's just amazing to me how every year the competition gets more intense and how much more difficult it is to win and really, that average finishing result just keeps getting to a smaller and smaller number. I'm planning for that, and hopefully we can light it up here."
Forty-three teams are on the entry list for the MyAfibStory.com 400.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nationwide Series
Jimmy John's Freaky Fast 300 - Chicagoland Speedway - Joliet, Illinois
Chase Elliott has had a remarkable rookie season in the Nationwide Series in 2014.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Elliott, the 18-year-old son of former NASCAR Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, is the current points leader and has recorded three wins this season. His most recent victory occurred on July 19 at Chicagoland Speedway.
The series is running at Chicagoland on Saturday, and Elliott is hoping to score a season-sweep here. When Elliott competed in the Nationwide race at this track for the first time, he led a total of 85 laps en route to his win. He also took the points lead from his JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith.
"We had a great run there back in July, but the more I look back on that night, I can see a bunch of things we can improve on," Elliott said. "Hopefully, we are able to improve in those areas this weekend."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With eight races to go, Elliott leads second-place Smith by 19 points. Elliott gained three points on him at Bristol (Aug. 22), and then two at Atlanta (Aug. 30) and four at Richmond (Sept. 5).
"With just a few races left this season, everyone has to be on the same page," Elliott said. "My team has been dialed in all year long, but now it's 'go' time. One mistake can take you out of contention with a snap of the finger, so we have to minimize the risks for mistakes and execute when it matters, like on pit stops and late-race decisions.
"It has been an unbelievable season so far and we have worked well together, but now it's time to get to work and finish strong."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ty Dillon, who is a rookie in the series this season as well, trails Elliott by 42 points. Elliott Sadler is 54 points behind, followed by Brian Scott (-57).
Forty-three teams are on the entry list for the Jimmy John's Freaky Fast 300. Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Paul Menard are those Sprint Cup Series regulars competing in this race. Busch is the defending race winner.
Camping World Truck Series
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lucas Oil 225 - Chicagoland Speedway - Joliet, Illinois
The Camping World Truck Series will kick off NASCAR's triple-header weekend at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday night.
This is the 15th event on the 22-race schedule. Johnny Sauter currently holds a seven-point lead over ThorSport Racing teammate and defending series champion Matt Crafton. Ryan Blaney, the winner of the most recent truck race on Aug. 31 in Canada, is 13 points behind.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Truck teams practiced at Chicagoland on Thursday. Blaney posted the fastest lap in the opening session at 175.234 mph. Sauter was quickest in the second and final session at 176.540 mph.
The series has been running at this 1.5-mile racetrack since 2009. Sauter and Crafton have both competed in each of the previous five races here. Sauter's first career win in the Nationwide Series came at Chicagoland 12 years ago.
"I've liked the track from the first time I got on it, and I won my first Nationwide Series race there in 2002," Sauter said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sauter has finished in the top-10 in four truck races at Chicagoland, including a 10th-place run here last year.
Crafton has scored four straight top-10 finishes at this track, including fourth-place runs in the past two races.
"Chicagoland is definitely not boring to go around in the driver's seat," Crafton said. "The track has got a lot of character because the surface is worn out, and it's a lot of fun to drive because it has multiple grooves. You can run high, low or wherever you have to do to help your truck find speed. It's a fun, fast track. We've had some decent runs here in the past, and hopefully that continues there this weekend."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Blaney finished third in his first truck race at Chicagoland one year ago. He competed in the Nationwide event here in July, placing ninth.
"We ran very well at Chicagoland last year," Blaney said. "Running the Nationwide race there this summer helped me out a lot. The track changed a lot from day to night, and it was good to get a race under our belt to kind of know where the track is going to go. It was very helpful."
Thirty-two teams are on the entry list for the Lucas Oil 225. Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon are those Sprint Cup Series regulars competing in this race. Busch has the most truck wins at this track with three, including a victory last year. Dillon won here during his championship season in 2011.