Sixth-place Kyle Busch (No. 18 Snickers Toyota), who has two wins, certainly seeks to solidify his status and move up the standings. No current top-12 driver below Busch has won yet in 2010, and Gordon is the only driver among the current top five who hasn’t won. He’d start sixth if the Chase began now.
Heading toward Saturday’s LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, Gordon, who’s been on the cusp of winning several times this season, also approaches two milestones. He’s due to make his 600th career series start, all consecutive, and if he doesn’t reach Victory Lane, he’ll set a new winless streak mark (48 races). His current streak of 47 races without a victory ties his career longest streak.
Another notable: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet) is back in the top 12, in 11th, after a seventh-place finish last week at Daytona. Earnhardt and his team have struggled at times in 2010, but show recent signs of rejuvenation.
Only seven points behind Earnhardt, Carl -Edwards (No. 99 Aflac Silver Ford) holds the 12th and final Chase-eligible spot. Mark Martin (No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet) trails him by 39 points and the spacing thickens below Martin.
Clint Bowyer, 14th, trails Martin by a mere 10 points. Ryan Newman (No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet) trails Bowyer by 31 points.
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series News & Notes – Chicagoland Speedway
CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR 0 David Reutimann Toyota Tums 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet McDonald's 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite / Vortex 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 6 David Ragan Ford UPS Freight 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Mapei / Menards 9 Kasey Kahne Ford Budweiser 9 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Phoenix Construction 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Ground 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge Penske Racing 13 Max Papis Toyota GEICO 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Old Spice 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M Filtrete 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal Black 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Snickers 19 Elliott Sadler Ford Stanley 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 26 David Stremme Ford Air National 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper 34 Kevin Conway* Ford Extenze 36 Casey Mears Chevrolet Tommy Baldwin Racing 37 David Gilliland Ford Taco Bell 38 Travis Kvapil Ford Long John Silver's 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Haas Automation 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Best Buy's Geek Squad 46 J.J. Yeley Dodge Whitney Motorsports 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Clorox / Kleenex 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 55 Michael McDowell Toyota Prism Motorsports 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports 71 Landon Cassill Chevrolet TRG Motorsports 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull 83 Reed Sorenson Toyota Red Bull 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota FrontRowJoe.com 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard 98 Paul Menard Ford Moen / Menards 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac Silver 132 Mike Bliss Toyota Braun Racing 164 Todd Bodine Toyota Gunselman Motorsports
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