Chase (P)review: Race 1 (Chicagoland) & Race 2 (Loudon)

Last Sunday’s Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway was described as the first round of a heavyweight fight. Brad Keselowski struck first, winning at chicagoland after an excellent final pit stop and out-lap. Keselowski had run either first or second all afternoon, with he and Jimmie Johnson proving to be a notch above the rest of the field.

Johnson, who was trying to check Chicago off the short list of tracks he’s yet to win at, led throughout the second half of the race, but was bested by Keselowski on the last run. After Brad found himself in the lead following the final pit stop, he was able to stretch out a gap that Johnson was never able to overcome. With his victory, Keselowski takes a three point lead over Johnson.

The rest of the Chase field had mixed results. Kasey Kahne, who entered the Chase as one of the two “Wild Card” drivers, finished third, a position he held nearly the entire day. Despite having an excellent race car, Kahne and his crew chief Kenny Francis were unable to improve the number five to the level of Keselowski or Johnson. With his strong run, Kahne jumps from 11th to 5th in the points standings, trailing Keselowski by 15.

Tony Stewart was also able to join Kahen with an impressive run in Chicago finishing sixth after a poor, 29th place qualifying effort. After a botched early pit stop, where he lost all the early track position he had gained, Stewart was able to recover having one of the fastest cars on the track. He remains third in points, trailing Keselowski by just eight.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who originally qualified fourth, started at the rear of the field following a post-qualifying engine change. He, like Stewart, was able to run positively all day, winding up with an eighth-place finish. It was not enough for him to make up any ground in the championship hunt, as he remains seventh, trailing the lead by 17 points.

Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Martin Truex, Jr. and Clint Bowyer also had decent runs, finishing 9th and 10th, respectively. Kevin Harvick (12th), Greg Biffle (13th), and Matt Kenseth (18th) had disappointing days, but not in comparison to Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon. Hamlin, the points leader heading into the race, ran very well all day, but was forced to save fuel near the end of the race landing him at 16th. As for Jeff Gordon, he too had a strong run going, but was undone by a partially stuck throttle that caused him to crash with 80 laps remaining. He would finish just 35th. Hamlin sits fourth in points, 15 back of Keselowski, while Gordon is 12th, 47 in arrears.

Overall, the top-10 finishers were Keselowski, Johnson, Kahne, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Stewart, Joey Logano, Earnhardt, Truex, and Bowyer. Leading laps were Keselowski, Johnson, Stewart, Bowyer, Hamlin, Aric Almirola, Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, and David Ragan. Johnson led the most laps. 16 cars finished on the lead lap. There were four cautions for 23 laps. There were also 16 lead changes.

he points look like this heading to Loudon, New Hampshire:

The next race on the schedule is Sunday’s Sylvania 300 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH. This will be the second race held there this season, with Kasey Kahne winning the event held at the track in July. Also in that July race, each of the 12 drivers who would eventually make the Chase finished in the top-13. Expect more of the same this week. Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon each have three wins at the track, while Clint Bowyer has two. Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, and Kevin Harvick all have one victory there.

Last year’s race was won by Tony Stewart, his 2nd consecutive Chase victory at that time. Look for him to be strong again. Both Stewart-Haas Racing cars, Stewart and Ryan Newman, run very well at Loudon. As was said above, however, all the Chase drivers are good at the track nicknamed “The Magic Mile,” so expect a dogfight.

Passing is difficult to say the least at New Hampshire, so a premium will be put on qualifying well. Anyone who has been watching races this season will tell you that track position is everything. I expect a hard-fought race. I also expect that some Chase drivers may be involved in crashes, which is another characteristic of this particular event. Television coverage of the Sylvania 300 starts at Noon on ESPN.