LifeLock.com 400 Race Preview

Chicagoland Speedway -- 07/11/2009

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Wednesday Jul 8 2009 12:43pm

It seems there aren’t many tracks left on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit that are limited to just one race date per year, but the site of this weekend’s race is one of them.

Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, has hosted one Cup race a year since 2001, making a total of eight races to date.

The first two races here were won by Kevin Harvick and six of the eight races, including his, have been won by Chevy drivers – two by Tony Stewart (2004, 2007), and one each by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2005) and Jeff Gordon (2006). The only non-Chevy drivers to win here are Ryan Newman in a Dodge (2003) and Kyle Busch in a Toyota last year.

Rain is once again in the forecast this weekend with scattered showers on Thursday and Friday and a 50% chance of rain Saturday. The green flag is scheduled for 8:16 PM EST Saturday night.

Chicago is a 1.5-mile D-shaped oval, an intermediate track (some would say ‘cookie cutter’) with 18 degrees of banking in the turns. It is most often compared to Kansas Speedway, although Sam Hornish Jr. said it reminds him of Charlotte. `Chicagoland Speedway has progressively become a multi-groove track, which provides for much better racing,” said Hornish. “The track is fast and, with the banking, it carries a lot of speed. It reminds me a lot of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, which is one of my favorite tracks.”

Apparently, Goodyear is bringing a new tire to the track this weekend, according to Elliott Sadler’s crew chief, Kevin Buskirk. Sadler’s teammate Kasey Kahne was one of the drivers who participated in tire testing here in May. “The No. 9 team tire tested at Chicagoland and we all share information,” said Buskirk. “The new tire we’re bringing is faster, with more grip than the old tire, but should fall off faster as the race goes on. It’ll make for better racing than we’ve seen in the last couple of trips to Chicago. We only visit Chicago once a year, so it’s always interesting to see what everyone has learned since last time.”

The fact that Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch are the two most recent winners here is interesting, inasmuch as they are the same two drivers who battled for the win at Daytona last week, with Stewart ending up in Victory Lane and Busch ending up in the wall.

Busch won at Chicago in convincing style last year, however, leading 165 of 267 laps from the pole and holding off a late charge by Jimmie Johnson. He is fifth on the list of overall lap leaders here, which is pretty remarkable considering he’s made only half the number of starts as those above him on the list (Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson).

Kevin Harvick leads the average finish category, followed by Ky. Busch, Johnson, Brian Vickers, and Matt Kenseth. In eight Chicago starts, Harvick has two wins, five top 5s, and has never finished outside the top 20. But, looking specifically at the last five races at Chicago, Tony Stewart has accumulated the most driver points, followed by Kenseth, Harvick, Johnson, and Jeff Gordon.

The schedule for this weekend calls for one practice on Thursday afternoon, qualifying on Thursday evening, and two more practice sessions Friday – weather pending, of course. There are 46 cars on the entry list.

Current odds for select drivers for the LifeLock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway:

Jimmie Johnson +500

Tony Stewart +600

Kyle Busch +700

Jeff Gordon +900

Dale Earnhardt Jr. +850

Carl Edwards +1000

Greg Biffle +1200

Kurt Busch +1200

Mark Martin +1350

Matt Kenseth +1450

Denny Hamlin +1650

Ryan Newman +1850

Please check back before the race for our practice and qualifying update.

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