CUP: Johnson, Stewart Will Be Tough At Chicagoland

Sprint Cup

CUP: Johnson, Stewart Will Be Tough At Chicagoland

Jimmie Johnson will be one of the drivers to watch Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway...

Tom Jensen | Posted July 09, 2009 Joliet, IL

Jimmie Johnson will be the first to tell you he should have won at Chicagoland last year, but got outfoxed on the end of race re-start by Kyle Busch. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Last year at Chicagoland Speedway, Kyle Busch passed Jimmie Johnson on a green-white-checkered restart to win the LifeLock.com 400. This year, those two likely will have some tough company up front in the form of Tony Stewart.

Chicagoland is a 1.5-mile track with 18 degree banking, an intermediate facility that most drivers liken to Kansas Speedway. Stewart is a two-time winner here, along with Kevin Harvick, who claimed the first NASCAR Sprint Cup races run here in 2001 and ’02.

Saturday night’s race will be the second run under the lights at Chicagoland Speedway, and unlike most other tracks, the racing surface doesn’t seem to change radically from day to night here.

As always, pit selection and track position will be critical. Stewart gained a huge advantage last weekend at Daytona International Speedway, when he got the No. 1 pit stall after qualifying was rained out. That allowed him to hang on to first place during every pit stop he made, one of his keys to victory.

Here’s this week’s list of Five To Watch at Chicagoland Speedway:

1. Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS — Johnson will be the first to tell you he should have won this race last year, but got outfoxed on the end of race re-start by Kyle Busch. Still, his statistics here are mighty impressive: In seven Chicagoland starts, Johnson has finished second twice, third twice, fourth and sixth. Even with a 37th-place finish in 2007, that translates to an average finish of 8.143.

And over the last eight races of this season, Johnson has been on fire, with one victory, two runner-up finishes, four top-five and six top-10 finishes. During that time, the three-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion has led 576 laps.

2. Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet — Speaking of hot, no one loves hot weather more than Tony Stewart, a two-time Chicagoland winner, who has six top-five finishes in eight starts here.

Stewart’s been equally red hot this season. Over the last six races the two-time Cup champion has won at Pocono and Daytona, finished second at Dover and Infineon, fifth at New Hampshire and seventh at Michigan. That’s an average finish of 3.0 over six races, damned impressive any way you look at it.

3. Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry — In just four starts at Chicagoland, Busch has a victory and a third-place finish, as well as respectable runs of 13th and 14th, netting an average finish here of 7.750, second only to Kevin Harvick.

The big question is, how well will Busch respond from last weekend’s hard crash at Daytona? It’s entirely possible that he’ll lead 165 laps and win like he did last year, and it’s equally possible that he’ll have a mediocre finish, given that he’s finished 13th or worse in six of the last seven Cup races this year.

4. Matt Kenseth, Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion — In the last four Chicagoland races, Kenseth has posted two runner-up finishes, a seventh and a 22nd. But the 22nd came in 2006, when he led 112 laps, only to get turned around late in the race by winner Jeff Gordon. So there’s no question he knows his way around this track.

Kenseth, of course, opened the 2009 season with consecutive wins at Daytona and the Auto Club Speedway, though he’s cooled considerably since then. This would be a good weekend for him to get back on track.

5. Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet — OK, do you go by history at the track or history this season? If you go by history at the track, Harvick certainly has to be considered a favorite here, having won twice and finished third here last year and fourth in both 2006 and ’07. His average Chicagoland finish of 7.375 is best in the field.

That said, Harvick is having a wretched season, at least relative to what he’s used to. Harvick currently sits 26th in the points, hasn’t had a top-10 finish in the last 14 races and hasn’t even finished in the top 25 in the last three weeks.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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