Chicagoland: A Track Of Firsts For Series Competitors
In 2001, Jimmie Johnson scored his first and only career NASCAR Nationwide Series victory at Chicagoland Speedway, driving a car for Stanley Herzog. Five years later, Casey Mears earned his first career national series win, also in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Needless to say, Johnson – who spent two full seasons in the NASCAR Nationwide Series – has climbed the ladder to great heights in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, having won the last three championships.
Mears, who spent the entire 2002 season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, is in his seventh full season in the premier series and registered his first win in 2007.
Fulltime series-only regulars Johnny Sauter (2002) and Justin Labonte (2004) also won their first NASCAR Nationwide races there.
With so many series firsts at the Joliet, Ill. track, who and what are next? Will a driver register his initial Chicagoland victory, or will someone win their first career NASCAR Nationwide race there?
Kevin Harvick (No. 33 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet) is the only driver to win multiple times at Chicago, winning in 2005 and ‘07, and Ryan Newman (No. 5 Fastenal Chevrolet) is the only driver to win multiple poles there.
Standings leader Kyle Busch (No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota) comes in with five wins on the year, which leads the series. He had four at this stage one year ago and left the Windy City area with a NASCAR Nationwide / NASCAR Sprint Cup weekend sweep.
But the odds may be in favor of first-timers in this one since there has yet to be a driver to post consecutive wins there. The same is true with the pole position. And, no driver has won from the NASCAR Nationwide pole at Chicagoland.
RCR Looking To Daytona Win As Second-Half Catapult
NASCAR has competed at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., since 2001. And for one reason or another, the 1.5-mile track has been kind to Richard Childress Racing, which owns a NASCAR Nationwide Series-leading three victories there, as well as the first two in NASCAR Sprint Cup action.
Friday’s night’s Dollar General 300 comes on the heels of RCR’s first victory in over 15 months, and gives the Welcome, N.C.-based team its first chance at consecutive victories since Clint Bowyer and Scott Wimmer triumphed at Bristol Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway in April 2008.
Bowyer, the 2008 series champion, dominated the Subway Jalapeño 250 last week at Daytona International Speedway in his final series appearance of 2009. His name will be on the car for the remainder of the season now that he’s won the wager with the team’s other two drivers – Jeff Burton (No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet) and Stephen Leicht – as the team’s best performing driver during the first half of the year.
Burton, meanwhile, will compete at Chicagoland. Two of the organization’s victories there were by Kevin Harvick, now driving the No. 33 Chevrolet for his Kevin Harvick Inc. team, and the other by Johnny Sauter.
Around “The Lincoln State”
Several drivers and team members are from Illinois, where NASCAR Nationwide Series competitors will compete in the next two races.
Justin Allgaier (No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge) is from Riverton, about 200 miles from Chicagoland. Another series regular from Illinois is Erik Darnell, who calls Beach Park his home.
Crew members include:
Ramie Jones (Olney) – No. 32 engineer
Nick Odell (Springfield) – No. 18 front tire changer
Joey Forgette (Springfield) – No. 27 rear tire changer
Lee Cunningham (Leaf River) – No. 99 rear tire changer
NASCAR Nationwide Series Car Owner Standings
Rk / Owner No. Points 1 Joe Gibbs 18 2,756 2 Jack Roush 60 2,584 3 Joe Gibbs 20 2,535 4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 2,488 5 Delena Harvick 33 2,395 6 Ralph Braun 38 2,367 7 Jack Roush 6 2,364 8 Jack Roush 16 2,290 9 Richard Childress 29 2,287 10 Todd Braun 32 2,167
In the Loop
Keselowski, Burton Looking To Shine In Chicago
February must seem like a lifetime ago for Brad Keselowski.
In a month he would rather forget, Keselowski racked up three consecutive finishes outside the top 20 – a stark contrast from a 2008 season that resulted in two wins and a third-place finish in the series standings.
But since then, he’s been stellar. Keselowski has posted 12 top-10 finishes in the last 13 races. Prior to his sixth-place run at Daytona last Friday night, Keselowski had five straight top-five finishes (including three consecutive third-place runs).
Keselowski will try to extend the top-10 string at Chicagoland Speedway, where – for all intents and purposes – it all started for him.
The 2007 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland was Keselowski’s first as a JR Motorsports driver. In that race, he finish 14th with a respectable Driver Rating of 72.5. Clearly, he’s flourished in the ride.
Last season at Chicagoland, Keselowski threatened for the win – despite battling against a number of double-duty drivers (he was the only series-only regular in the top five).
Keselowski finished third that race, posting a Driver Rating of 119.5, an Average Running Position of 4.1, 18 Fastest Laps Run and running all 200 laps in the top 15.
Another threat for the win this weekend is Jeff Burton, who could soon lose his place on the NASCAR Nationwide Series all-time victory list. Currently, Burton sits fourth with 27 career series wins. Right behind him is Kyle Busch with 26.
Burton, who has yet to win in the series at Chicagoland Speedway, boasts an incredible average finish of 3.8 at the 1.5-mile track. Burton opened his Chicagoland career with six consecutive third-place runs before finishing eighth last season.
Since the inception of Loop Data in 2005, Burton has a series-best Chicagoland Driver Rating of 117.6, an Average Running Position of 4.5, 57 Fastest Laps Run (which is the third most) and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 98.5.
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