400 on Saturday, Cup drivers will make their only appearance of the year there, circling the 18-degree, 1.5 mile, cookie cutter tri-oval 267 times.
As I see it, the following drivers have the best chance of pulling out a top finish this Saturday. I have compiled my ranking by analyzing drivers’ success at this track and other similar tracks such as Kansas, Las Vegas, and Homestead-Miami, then adding momentum into the mix by including results from the last month of racing. I also factor in key driver stats from their most recent run at Chicagoland.
TOP TWENTY-FIVE
1)
48Jimmie Johnson
2)24Jeff Gordon
3)14Tony Stewart
4)18Kyle Busch
5)99Carl Edwards
6)16Greg Biffle
7)29Kevin Harvick
8)11Denny Hamlin
9)17Matt Kenseth
10)83Brian Vickers
11)33Clint Bowyer
12)2Kurt Busch
13)9Kasey Kahne
14)42Juan Pablo Montoya
15)31Jeff Burton
16)5Mark Martin
17)88Dale Earnhardt Jr.
18)00David Reutimann
19)26Jamie McMurray
20)20Joey Logano
21)44A.J. Allmendinger
22)6David Ragan
23)39Ryan Newman
24)19Elliott Sadler
25)07Casey Mears
As the temperatures heat up, so does Tony Stewart. Not only does Stewart top the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, he has two wins under his belt and is moving in on Kyle Busch’s and Mark Martin’s series-best three wins thus far. Seems like a good time to be heading to a track where he has excelled. “It’s a place I like,” Stewart said of Chicagoland Speedway, site of Sunday’s LifeLock.com 400. “This place is really getting racy as far as finally being able to move around and change lines and run anywhere from the bottom to the top. It’s a fun track because of that.”
With a series-high Driver Rating of 105.0 over the next eight events, the highest percentage of laps in the top 15 (75.3) and top average running position (10.3), Stewart seeks to improve his potential Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup seeding. “I don’t watch the stats very much,” he said. “You just take it week to week. Technology in this sport changes so fast. What was good the last time you were here doesn’t mean it’s going to be good the second time around. So you constantly have to work. You’ve got to keep pushing the envelope.”
In only eight years, the track has seen six winners – including Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart, who both have two Chicagoland wins. In fact, Harvick won the first two NASCAR Sprint Cup races the track hosted in 2000 and ’01 and has the best average finish at Chicagoland: 7.375.
One driver who could join Harvick and Stewart as a two-time Chicagoland winner is Kyle Busch, who won both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Chicagoland last season. Currently eighth in the standings, Busch said last year’s sweep was special. “Winning both races at Chicago last year, it was just a great weekend,” he said. “It was special, but there have been several special wins the last couple of years. Winning at Atlanta, Daytona, and Infineon last year, and winning at home in Vegas and on my birthday in Richmond were also great races. But winning Chicago last year and beating Jimmie (Johnson) was definitely neat. Ultimately I have a lot of respect for him, Jeff Gordon, and anybody in this sport since it’s so competitive. To go out and beat guys like that, it's something that's pretty special. I really cherished that … and I know M&M’s did, too.”
SELECTED CHICAGOLAND DRIVER STATS
Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet)
• Five top fives, six top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 8.1
• Average Running Position of 8.6, sixth-best
• Driver Rating of 109.3, fifth-best
• 87 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 168.193 mph, third-fastest
• 923 Laps in the Top 15 (86.2%), fifth-most
• 141 Quality Passes, fourth-most
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)
• One win, four top fives, five top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 10.1
• Average Running Position of 11.8, eighth-best
• Driver Rating of 93.4, ninth-best
• 56 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most
• 232 Green Flag Passes, sixth-most
• 802 Laps in the Top 15 (74.9%), sixth-most
• 146 Quality Passes, second-most
Tony Stewart (No. 14 Burger King Chevrolet)
• Two wins, six top fives, six top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 10.3
• Average Running Position of 6.7, fourth-best
• Driver Rating of 114.3, fourth-best
• 114 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 168.393 mph, second-fastest
• 976 Laps in the Top 15 (91.1%), second-most
• 113 Quality Passes, seventh-most
Kyle Busch (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota)
• One win, two top fives, two top 10s
• Average finish of 7.8
• Average Running Position of 6.6, third-best
• Driver Rating of 115.3, second-best
• 72 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 168.135 mph, fifth-fastest
• 959 Laps in the Top 15 (89.5%), fourth-most
• 142 Quality Passes, third-most
Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford)
• One top five, one top 10
• Average finish of 12.8
• Average Running Position of 12.6, ninth-best
• Driver Rating of 98.2, seventh-best
• 39 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
• Series-high 271 Green Flag Passes
• Average Green Flag Speed of 167.539 mph, seventh-fastest
• 713 Laps in the Top 15 (66.6%), eighth-most
• 114 Quality Passes, sixth-most
Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet)
• Two wins, five top fives, six top 10s
• Average finish of 7.4
• Series-best Average Running Position of 5.6
• Driver Rating of 114.9, third-best
• 37 Fastest Laps Run, ninth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 168.173 mph, fourth-fastest
• Series-high 1,031 Laps in the Top 15 (96.3%)
• 111 Quality Passes, ninth-most
Matt Kenseth (No. 17 R+L Carriers Ford)
• Two top fives, four top 10s
• Average finish of 9.8
• Average Running Position of 6.4, second-best
• Series-best Driver Rating of 120.4
• Series-high 156 Fastest Laps Run
• Series-best Average Green Flag Speed of 168.543 mph
• 976 Laps in the Top 15 (91.1%), second-most
• Series-high 148 Quality Passes
Brian Vickers (No. 83 Red Bull Toyota)
• One top five, two top 10s
• Average finish of 9.3
• Average Running Position of 8.6, fifth-best
• Driver Rating of 104.8, sixth-best
• 31 Fastest Laps Run, 10th-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 167.762 mph, sixth-fastest
• 669 Laps in the Top 15 (83.2%), 11th-most
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy Drink/National Guard Chevrolet)
• One win, two top fives, three top 10s
• Average finish of 15.3
• Average Running Position of 11.5,
seventh-best
• Driver Rating of 95.0, eighth-best
• 55 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
• 226 Green Flag Passes, seventh-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 167.422
mph, eighth-fastest
• 787 Laps in the Top 15 (73.5%),
seventh-most
• 121 Quality Passes, fifth-most
CHICAGOLAND HIGHLIGHTS
• Construction of the Chicagoland
Speedway began in August 1999.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was held on July 15, 2001, won by Kevin Harvick.
• There has been a different pole winner after every qualifying session (qualifying was canceled in 2008).
• Six different drivers have won races out of the eight held, led by Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart, each with two.
• Kyle Busch won the 2008 race from the pole, the first time a driver won from the pole. It was also the first time a driver had won from a top-five starting position.
• Kevin Harvick has a 7.4 average finish in eight races, the best of any driver with more than one start there.
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