CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY

TRACK FACTS

Opened: 2001

Location: Joliet, IL.

First NASCAR Cup Series Race: July 15, 2001 (Kevin Harvick, Winner)

Qualifying Record: Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet; 188.147 mph (28.701 seconds), July 8, 2005

Race Record: Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet; 136.832 mph (2:55:37), July 14, 2002

Distance: 1.5 Miles

Front Stretch: 2,400 Feet

Back Stretch: 1,700 Feet

Banking in Turns 1-4: 18 degrees

Banking in Trioval: 11 degrees

Banking on Back Stretch: 5 degrees

Miles/Laps: 400 Miles/267 Laps

Grandstand Seats: 75,000

Tickets: 815-727-7223

Website: www.chicagolandspeedway.com

Did You Know?  One million bottles of water and 60,000 hot dogs are sold during race weekend at Chicagoland.

Track Report: A cookie-cutter racetrack, copied from Lowe's.  Very similar to Kansas.  It has become much better in the last few years, thanks to the track being weathered and raced on.  It's got a high groove and a low groove now.  It's a great facility.  Fans like it.  Drivers and teams enjoy coming to it.

Hot Spots: Most incidents here seem to happen coming off of Turn 4 and involve spinning across the freshly painted front stretch grass.

Last Year: It took some time but Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally found a reason to smile in '05 with his first win of the season.  Dale Jr. took two tires on his final pit stop and held off a very disappointed Matt Kenseth,  who had dominated the day and took on four tires. 

Who To Watch: Kevin Harvick has won twice and finished in the Top 10 three times in the five races here.  He didn't run well last year, but this is a good place for him to break out of his recent slump. Tony Stewart has one win and tree top fives.  Look for good runs from Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, and Ryan Newman.  Rookies to watch here include Denny Hamlin, J.J. Yeley, and Clint Bowyer.  Jimmie Johnson has not won at Chicagoland yet, but he has yet to finish worse than fourth.  He just happens to head up the Top 10 (below) as all of these drivers deserve your consideration.

Tracking The Top 10

Best active drivers at Chicagoland based on average finish (minimum of three starts)

Driver                   Races   Avg Fin   Wins   Top 5s   Top 10s   DNF   Avg Start  Poles

Jimmie Johnson        4          3.0         0         4            4           0         11.8         1

Tony Stewart            5          8.8         1         4            4           1         11.4         1

Bill Elliott                 3          9.3          0         0            2           0          3.3          0

Matt Kenseth            5         9.4          0         1            2           0         21.4         0

Kevin Harvick            5          9.6         2          2           3            0        15.0         0

Jeff Gordon               5         12.0         0         3           3            1         12.0         1

Mark Martin              5         12.6         0         0           3            0         16.4         0

Dale Jarrett               5         13.2         0         2           2            0         18.4         0

Jamie McMurray       3          14.3         0         0           1            0         20.0         0

Dale Earnhardt Jr.     5          16.4         1         1           2            1         22.2         0