The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the Chicagoland Speedway for the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup opener. All 16 spots for the Chase were determined last week at Richmond.
Brad Keselowski enters the Chase as the number one seed after scoring a dominating victory last weekend for his season-high fourth win. Keselowski won here in 2012 en route to his first Cup championship. The Penske cars have been strong this season, with his teammate Joey Logano right up there. Logano has three wins on the season with his most recent victory coming at Bristol three weeks ago.
Right up there with Penske is Hendrick Motorsports, as all four of their drivers made the Chase for the third straight year. Jeff Gordon is looking for his fifth Cup championship, as Jimmie Johnson looks to tie Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with seven championships apiece.
Chicagoland has eluded Johnson, as the six-time champ has finished runner-up three times at the 1.5 mile track, but has a NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) win there in 2001. Gordon won the 2006 race amidst controversy with Matt Kenseth. The No. 24 team has been fast on all types of race tracks this season. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also has a win at the Illinois track in 2005. Johnson and Kahne are the only Hendrick drivers without a Cup win at Chicagoland. Hendrick has two wins at Chicagoland, with Mark Martin getting the other one in 2009.
Joe Gibbs Racing has started to show some speed on the 1.5 mile tracks lately. The pit crews of Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth were stout in Atlanta, both resulting in top-five finishes. Kenseth heads into Chicagoland as the defending winner of the race and what started two consecutive victories in the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Kyle Busch won there in 2008 and is the only driver attempting to do triple-duty this weekend.
The 2014 Sprint Cup regular season featured 13 different winners in 26 races, including two first-time winners in Aric Almirola and A.J. Allmendinger. Almirola won the July race at Daytona International Speedway, while Allmendinger emerged victorious at Watkins Glen in August with a hard-fought battle with Marcos Ambrose. Both teams will look to advance into the next round at the conclusion of the Dover race.
Three drivers made the Chase on points: Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle. Newman won from the pole at Chicagoland in 2003 during an eight-win season, as Biffle has yet to find victory lane there. Roush-Fenway Racing (RFR) hasn’t won a Cup race at Chicagoland yet.
Don’t forget the two win drivers as well, which includes Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards. Both drivers are in different spots, as Harvick joined Stewart-Haas Racing with Carl Edwards leaving RFR for Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the season. Harvick has shown his No. 4 Chevrolet has been “freaky fast,” resulting in dominating victories at Phoenix and Darlington. It was announced before Chicagoland that the No. 4 and No. 14 teams would swap pit crews to solve Harvick’s pit problems. The California driver won the first two events there.
These last 10 races will be it for Carl Edwards at RFR and long-time crew chief Jimmy Fenning, who is retiring from duties at the end of 2014. RFR has been looking for speed on the intermediate tracks. Edwards scored the only two wins for organization at Bristol in March and Sonoma in June.
The Chicagoland race has yet to produce a first-time winner, as rookies Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon can finally break through. Larson narrowly missed the Chase after some bad luck mid-season. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. has a NNS win there and Sunday could be the day for the two-time NNS champ to go to victory lane.
The green flag for the MyAFibStory.com 400 drops shortly after 2 p.m. ET on Sunday and will be shown on ESPN.
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- Kenseth returns to victory lane, Penske wins owner’s title - November 16, 2014
- Penske powers to top spot, Keselowski on pole - November 15, 2014