In round one of the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Tony Stewart put his fuel mileage management skills to work in the closing laps of the GEICO 400 to put his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet in victory lane. Kevin Harvick in the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet and Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the No. 88 AMP Energy Chevrolet finished second and third to give Team Chevy a one-two-three finish at Chicagoland Speedway.
The two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) champion started 26th in the 43-car field and led four times for a total of 35 laps. This is his 40th career race win and his third at Chicagoland Speedway. Stewart has won at least one race in each of his 13 years in NSCS competition and now sits second in the standings. Postponed due to rain, the 267-lap NASCAR Sprint Cup feature was 2 hr. and 47 minutes in length and slowed by only six caution flags.
As the end of the race approached and the closing laps wound down, it became a game of strategy as to who had conserved the appropriate amount of fuel and Stewart, who took the lead the final time on lap 253, proved to be the best.
Harvick, who also had to battle from deep in the starting field in 30th position, rallied back to score a strong runner-up finish and take the lead in the standings with nine races remaining in the season.
Earnhardt, Jr., steadily worked his way up through the field from the 19th starting position to finish third and jump from 10th to fifth in the standings.
Carl Edwards (Ford) and Brad Keselowski (Dodge) completed the top-five finishers.
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 2 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 4 99 Carl Edwards Ford 5 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 6 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 7 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 8 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 9 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 11 6 David Ragan Ford 12 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 13 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 14 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 15 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 16 20 Joey Logano Toyota 17 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 18 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 19 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 20 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 21 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 22 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 23 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 24 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 25 32 Mike Bliss Ford 26 16 Greg Biffle Ford 27 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 28 71 Andy Lally * Ford 29 13 Casey Mears Toyota 30 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 31 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 32 0 David Reutimann Toyota 33 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 34 38 J.J. Yeley Ford 35 46 Scott Speed Ford 36 34 David Gilliland Ford 37 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 38 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 39 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 40 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 41 30 David Stremme Chevrolet 42 37 Josh Wise Ford 43 66 Michael McDowell Toyota
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