Chicagoland 400 Qualifying Update

Chicagoland Speedway -- 07/12/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Friday Jul 11 2008 11:48pm

It's hard to say just how much of the information gleaned over the course of three practice sessions at Chicagoland will confer to Saturday night's race.

The big unknown will be track condition at race time, along with two interrelated factors - the weather, and the starting time of the race.
It was cool and rainy in Joliet on Thursday, which was scheduled to include one practice session and qualifying - so much so, in fact, that qualifying was rained out. Cars will once again line up according to owner points.

Two practices were held on Friday, but the weather was much warmer and muggier. Combined with the prior day's rain, it made for a very hot, slick racing surface.

The weather forecast calls for a 40% chance of rain on Saturday. If it should rain in the afternoon, whatever rubber was laid down today will be gone tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the race itself will start later than any of the three practice sessions, as this is the first nighttime Cup race held at this track.

So, let the buyer beware when it comes to the importance of practice results this week.

Nevertheless, Thursday's practice session was paced by Roush-Fenway's Greg Biffle with a 30.042, 179.748 mile per hour lap. The session was halted at one point for lightning in the area and ended early as storms moved in.

Biffle was the only Ford driver to make the top 10 in Thursday's practice, while Denny Hamlin was the only Toyota driver at 7th. The remainder consisted of five Chevy's and three Dodges.

Following Biffle in the top five were Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kasey Kahne.

Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards ran 1-2 in Friday's first practice and swapped positions in Happy Hour with Edwards on top. Biffle was 3rd and 5th in the two Friday practice sessions.

Biffle and Johnson were the only drivers to run in the top 10 in all three practices.

Six of the top seven cars in Happy Hour were Fords, including all five of the Roush-Fenway teams.

Oddly enough, not a single Cup race at this speedway has been won from a top-5 starting spot, and only two of seven have been won from the top 10.
Six of the previous seven races here were won by Chevy drivers, with the other a Dodge (Ryan Newman). Of course, Toyota was not a real factor in the Cup series until this year.

With teams lining up by owner points, the top-10 starting grid will be: Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, and Clint Bowyer.