Chicagoland Weekend Preview
Sept. 15, 2016
Staff Report
NASCAR Wire Service
Kyle Busch embarks on second leg of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title defense
Kyle
Busch finally realized his massive potential last season, wheeling to
the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship a mere nine months after
breaking his right leg and fracturing
his left foot at Daytona International Speedway.
Busch
will attempt to further etch his name into NASCAR's record books when
he takes the track for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup opener –
Sunday's Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN). A
championship repeat would make him the 15th multi-title winner in the
sport's history.
“I
kind of feel about the same (as I did entering the Chase last year),
actually," said Busch, who is tied for the series lead with four wins
this season. "I feel like we kind
of are right even with where we were last year – kind of doing the same
things – but there are other guys who are better than us, so we’re just
going to have to figure out how to out-race them and out-finish them
when we need to."
In
11 starts at Chicagoland, Busch claims one win, four top-five and six
top-10 finishes. He boasts the second-best average running position
(9.2) and driver rating (106.1) at
the 1.5-mile track as well.
“At
Chicago, we ran really well there in ’08 and, unfortunately, ’09, ’10
and ’11 we kind of a struggled," he said. "We ran well there the last
several years. We had a really
solid top-five run going the last two years. In 2014, we almost pulled
off the win and, last year, things just didn’t pan out for us on a late
restart."
Busch
displayed confidence when asked about the Chase's Round of 16,
consisting of races at Chicagoland, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and
Dover International Speedway. He enters
the Round of 16 with 12 bonus points – one for each regular season win.
"We’ve
been running really solidly at New Hampshire the last few years,” Busch
said. "We did last year in the fall [New Hampshire] race – (though) we
did have a tire failure
and we blew a tire – but Chicago has been good for us. It’s a decent
place to run top-10, for sure. And then, Dover, of course, is a really
good place for us. I like it."
Sadler looking to pad bonus-point total at Chicagoland
With
two wins this season, Elliott Sadler is already locked into the NASCAR
XFINITY Series Chase with six bonus points for the Round of 12 (three
for each victory).
The
No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet driver has come close to winning a
national series championship in the past, finishing runner-up in the
final XFINITY Series standings in both
2011 and 2012. Sadler begins his run at his first title next week at
New Hampshire, but Saturday's Drive for Safety 300 at Chicagoland
Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBC) could be just as important because five of
the 10 tracks in the Chase are 1.5 miles long.
“We
have a lot of mile-and-a-half tracks coming up in the Chase, so this
will be a good opportunity to try some things to make our intermediate
track program even better," Sadler
said. "Kevin and the guys are geared up for the Chase, so this will be a
fun weekend for us to just go out and race.”
Sadler
didn't mention that if he visits Victory Lane at Chicagoland, he would
match Erik Jones for the top spot on the Chase Grid at 2,012.
Technically, Jones would own the No.
1 seed because of the tie breaker (second-place finishes).
Win or else for Custer
Two
turns could be the difference between Cole Custer winning a NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series championship and missing its playoffs
entirely.
Custer
held the lead with only two turns left in the last series race at
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park before John Hunter Nemechek edged him for
the victory in a wild, sheet-metal-bending
finish. A win for Custer would've earned him a berth in the
eight-driver NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase.
Luckily
for the No. 00 Chevrolet driver, he has one more chance to win his way
into the Chase – Friday's American Ethanol E15 225 at Chicagoland
Speedway (8:30 p.m. ET on FS1).
Custer has never raced at Chicagoland Speedway and only has five series
starts at 1.5-mile tracks with an average finish of 13.0. His top
finish at a 1.5-mile track was seventh at Kansas Speedway in May.
"We
have had really fast Haas Automation Chevrolets this season, and we
need another one this weekend to make the Chase," Custer said. "It’s win
or go home, Chase-wise, so we’ve
got to focus on that. The last race is over and we can’t change it, so
we’ll look at the opportunity we have and make the most of it. We ran
well at Michigan, we were fast, and we’re going to bring our best truck
and go all out to get in.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Race: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400
Place: Chicagoland Speedway
Date and Time: Sunday, Sept. 18 at 2:30 p.m. ET
Tune-in: NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps)
What to Watch For:
The 16-driver, four-elimination round Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup
kicks off
this weekend. ... The winner of the opening Chase race has gone on to
win the championship three times: Kurt Busch (2004), Tony Stewart
(2011), Brad Keselowski (2012). ... Defending Chicagoland race-winner
Denny Hamlin goes for his second straight checkered
flag after visiting Victory Lane at Richmond last weekend. ... Tony
Stewart embarks on his final Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. ... Jimmie
Johnson eyes a seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title, which would tie
him with NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt
and Richard Petty for the most championships all-time. ... 2014 NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick enters the Chase leading the
series in average running position (8.2), driver rating (110.3) and
fastest laps run (830). ... Four drivers are set
to compete in their first Chase: Kyle Larson, 24, Chris Buescher, 23,
Chase Elliott, 20, and Austin Dillon, 26.
NASCAR XFINITY Series
Race: Drive for Safety 300
Place: Chicagoland Speedway
Date and Time:
Saturday, Sept. 17 at 3 p.m. ET
Tune-in: NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 300 miles (200 laps)
What to Watch For:
NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers have one more chance to lock up a spot in
the Chase
with a win. ... Blake Koch and Ryan Sieg attempt to hold on to the
final two Chase spots via points. The closest drivers behind them
currently out of the Chase are Dakoda Armstrong (20 points behind Sieg
on the cutoff line) and Jeremy Clements (-29). ... Erik
Jones goes for his second career win at Chicagoland. He won the June
standalone there last year.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Race: American Ethanol E15 225
Place: Chicagoland Speedway
Date and Time: Friday, Sept. 16 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Tune-in: FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 225 miles (150 laps)
What to Watch For:
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers have one more chance to lock
up a spot
in the Chase with a win. If there is no new winner, Daniel Hemric and
Timothy Peters are virtually assured the final two spots in the Chase
via points. ... John Hunter Nemechek hopes to defend his victory from
last year at Chicagoland and win his second consecutive
race after taking the checkered flag at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
two weeks ago. ... Daniel Hemric goes into the race with a streak of
three consecutive top-three finishes.
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