http://www.thatsracin.com/156/index.xml Motorsports News from ThatsRacin.com en-us Copyright 2008 ThatsRacin.com Chicagoland Speedway 60 Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:26 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive Workbench webmaster@thatsracin.com http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/7441.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/7441.html Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:54 EDT Chicagoland Speedway will install lights in time for the 2008 racing season, becoming the 10th current NASCAR Nextel Cup oval to hold night racing, beginning with the race on Saturday, July 12.<p/> “We are very excited to announce the addition of lights to Chicagoland Speedway for the upcoming 2008 season,” said Matthew Alexander, president of the Joliet, Ill., track.<p/>“Other NASCAR tracks with lights have experienced tremendous success when hosting night races and we anticipate similar results at Chicagoland Speedway. This is an exciting step for the growth of racing in the Chicago market.”<p/> Alexander also noted that the lights could be a big factor in making the spectators who attend the races at Chicagoland a lot more comfortable.<p/> “Traditionally, our NASCAR races have taken place during the time of year when excessive heat can become an issue for our fans,” he said. <p/>“By adding lights to our facility, we hope to make the guest experience a more comfortable one.<p/> “In addition, we will now have the flexibility to run events later in the day in the event of inclement weather.”<p/> Chicagoland Speedway and the adjoining Route 66 Raceway are owned by International Speedway Corp., a part of the France family's NASCAR empire, and owns and/or operates 13 tracks. http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/6717.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/6717.html Sat, 08 Sep 2007 20:13 EDT JOLIET, Ill. – Crashes in four straight races have left Dario Franchitti in a vulnerable position heading into the IndyCar Series season-finale with his first open-wheel title in sight.<p/> Franchitti goes into Sunday’s PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway holding a tenuous three-point lead over Scott Dixon, the 2003 series champion who has come on strong in the second half of the 17-race season.<p/> And it’s apparently going to be the farewell to IndyCar for Franchitti, who is expected to join Chip Ganassi’s NASCAR Nextel Cup team in 2008.<p/> But, if the 34-year-old Scotsman is feeling any pressure, you couldn’t tell from watching him Saturday at the suburban Chicago track.<p/> Outside his car and between team meetings, the Andretti Green Racing driver spent his time riding around the garage area on his motorbike, stopping to chat with friends, sign autographs and pose for pictures with an unconcerned smile.<p/> “I’m pretty relaxed about it because, you know, with winning the (Indianapolis) 500 this year, I think it’s taken some pressure off my shoulders,” Franchitti said. “I think I was maybe more nervous three or four races ago than I am now.<p/> “Now it’s pretty simple. It’s just like doing a one-off race. The result of the race is what counts. If I finish ahead of Scott, I’m looking good. If Scott finishes ahead of me, he’s probably looking good.”<p/> In his two previous races on the 11/2-mile Chicagoland oval, Franchitti finished 20th and 12th. Worse, the last two times Franchitti raced on ovals this year, he wound up in high-flying crashes.<p/> At Michigan, the Scotsman was leading when he touched wheels with Dan Wheldon and held his breath as his car pirouetted on its nose and landed upside down.<p/> A week later, at Kentucky, Franchitti crossed the finish line after a mediocre eighth-place finish and, unaware the race was over, ran over the slowing car of Kosuke Matsuura and took another flight. This time, he slammed into the wall.<p/> Franchitti, who walked away from both crashes with only bruises, said the memory of those scary crashes isn’t going to slow him down.<p/> “I think I’ll take the same risks that I’ve always taken,” he said. “I’ll use the same judgment that I did before the last two oval races, just do what I’ve always done.”<p/> The 27-year-old Dixon, who drives for Ganassi Racing, is just as relaxed as Franchitti.<p/> “I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned in those championship battles, you have to treat it as a normal race weekend,” the New Zealander said. “I think any time you start overemphasizing or looking into things a little too much, it just puts a drain on you, maybe adds a little more stress, may pushes you into mistakes.<p/> I think the biggest thing for me is just to keep it as a normal race weekend,” Dixon said. “All is going to play out after the last lap. There’s not too much you can do about it.”<p/> Dixon has surged into this title chase with four wins in the last seven races, and with the help of Franchitti’s misfortunes, including crashes in the road races at Sonoma and Detroit the last two weeks.<p/> “It’s been a very tough season with quite a few ups and downs, some good positives for all of us,” Dixon said. “There’s a lot of pressure on, I think, for a season with the kind of teams that we drive for, the pressure that we put on ourselves to do well, to put ourselves into these situations.<p/> “I’m just looking forward to this weekend being over. However it plays out, it’s going to be the best for one person. They were meant to win.”<p/> Tony Kanaan, Andretti’s teammate, winner of three of the last four races and the only other driver with even an outside shot at the title, agreed.<p/> “I think it’s going to be exciting for the fans,” said Kanaan, who trails Franchitti by 39 points. “To win a championship, you got to do (a better) job than everybody else during the year, but you got to be lucky, too. I guess luck’s going to play a lot in this race. It is what it is. We’ll take it.” http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5552.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5552.html Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:05 EDT <em>Keselowski made his JR Motorsports debut last week in the Busch Series race at Chicagoland and finished a career-best 14th. He also will start Saturday night's race at St. Louis. </em><p/><strong>Q. </strong><em>Talk about your run last weekend. </em>I'm glad for the team. They needed the strong run as they've come off some tough weeks. I wish the race was about 50 laps longer because we were really good on long runs and not too much on short runs.<p/><strong>Q. </strong><em>Did you feel pressure? </em>There's certainly pressure when you're in <strong>Dale </strong>(<strong>Earnhardt</strong>) <strong>Jr.</strong>'s Busch car. It's kind of a tough way to go, but in qualifying, we didn't qualify well at all. You start to loose confidence when stuff like that happens so to run as well as we did in the race gets that confidence back. That's a big deal for me and certainly for the team as well.<p/><strong>Q. </strong><em>What were your expectations? </em>This is exactly what I was hoping for. Being realistic, first time together, new group with (crew chief) <strong>Wes Ward, </strong>and (director of competition) <strong>Tony Eury Sr. </strong>it's a great group of guys and we're starting to build that communication. Every lap we get and every time we talk we just keep building communication, and that's why we got better at the end of the race.<p/><strong>Next Race</strong><p/><strong><span class="subhead">Allstate 400</span></strong><p/><strong>WHAT: </strong>160 laps or 400 miles<p/><strong>WHERE: </strong>Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile paved flat quad-oval located in Indianapolis.<p/><strong>WHEN: </strong>2 p.m. July 29. <strong>TV: </strong>ESPN. <strong>RADIO: </strong>IMS Radio Network<p/><strong>LAST YEAR'S WINNER: </strong>Jimmie Johnson<p/><strong>THIS WEEK: </strong>Gateway 250, NASCAR Busch Series, Gateway International Raceway, 8 p.m. Saturday, ESPN2. http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5513.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5513.html Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:58 EDT When Denny Hamlin refused to quietly take teammate Tony Stewart's criticism, it marked a rare occasion of a young driver not rolling over for the two-time NASCAR champion.<p/> And sending word through the media that he didn't appreciate being publicly blamed for their accident in Daytona showed that Hamlin has the confidence -- or ego -- to go toe-to-toe with his teammate. After all, the budding young star is the future of Joe Gibbs Racing and probably believes he's above being bullied.<p/> The public sniping forced team owner Joe Gibbs to interrupt his vacation and make a pit stop in Chicago, where he gave a 30-minute lecture on playing well with others to his top two drivers.<p/> It was a strong stand by Hamlin. A power-play of sorts.<p/> But when it was over, Stewart took to the track to prove he's still the star of that team.<p/> By driving his way into Victory Lane for the first time this season, and doing it a day after being chastised by Gibbs, Stewart again showed his remarkable ability to thrive during adversity. When the going gets tough, nobody is better than Stewart at ending a controversy by stepping up on the race track.<p/> His resume is checkered with wins that came during controversy, such as the Watkins Glen victory in 2002, which came a week after Stewart punched a photographer, and Chicago in 2004 after he wrecked Kasey Kahne, which led to a fight in the pits between their crews.<p/> Sunday's win at Chicagoland Speedway proved that Stewart does his best work during the most chaotic times.<p/> "You know, there is something to be said for that," team president J.D. Gibbs acknowledged. "Of course, with Tony there's always a lot of chaos going on."<p/> Most of it self-inflicted, including this spat with Hamlin.<p/> The two were running first and second in the early part of the Pepsi 400 at Daytona a week ago when Stewart ran into the back of Hamlin, causing both cars to crash into the wall. Stewart immediately blamed Hamlin for the accident, claiming the lead driver slowed in front of him.<p/> That explanation was ridiculed by rival drivers, and didn't sit well with Hamlin.<p/> "Even if it was a situation where I had wrecked him from behind, he still probably shouldn't have thrown me under the bus as far as he did," Hamlin said. "He's still the leader at Joe Gibbs Racing, without a doubt. He's the guy who really, when I need help, I'll still go to regardless.<p/> "But there's a point where being a leader doesn't make you right."<p/> Perhaps that's the message Gibbs sent after escorting Stewart into a meeting with Hamlin that caused both to miss 30 minutes of valuable practice time on Saturday. Whatever the coach said worked, because the teammates were seemingly best buddies by the time it was over.<p/> They laughed and joked during driver introductions, with Stewart playfully putting Hamlin in a headlock in a show for the cameras. And they worked together on the race track, too, using hand signals to communicate track position.<p/> How long the harmony lasts remains to be seen.<p/> It's not in Stewart's disposition to play second fiddle to anyone, especially a 26-year-old kid with less than two Nextel Cup seasons under his belt. But as Stewart's winless streak stretched to 20 races, and Hamlin beat him to Victory Lane this season by winning at New Hampshire earlier this month, Stewart might have felt a bit threatened.<p/> After all, Hamlin made the Chase for the championship last season and finished third in the points. Stewart missed the Chase and wasn't eligible to defend his 2005 title.<p/> And, Hamlin has spent most of this season locked into second-place in the standings, while Stewart has hovered around sixth.<p/> If Stewart is the slight bit jealous, he'd never admit it. Besides, his handling of the Daytona disaster spoke volumes.<p/> Barring a total collapse, both will be racing for the Nextel Cup title this season and it will be interesting to watch how the two handle the competition. Because when push comes to shove, Hamlin has shown he'll shove back.<p/> Stewart, with two titles and 30 wins, can take it right now. He's earned his spot atop the JGR talent pool, and cemented his position Sunday.<p/> But if Hamlin starts creeping back into Stewart's spotlight, Gibbs might wind up playing mediator again before the season ends. http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5509.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5509.html Mon, 16 Jul 2007 15:01 EDT That's Racin's David Poole ranks the top 40 teams in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series following the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.<p/>(Rankings based on team performance and potential. Each team's previous ranking is in parentheses:)<p/><b>1. (1) Jeff Gordon -- car No. 24</b><p/>How do you build a 300-point lead? You pull out top-10 finishes on "bad" days.<p/><b>2. (4) Matt Kenseth -- car No. 17</b><p/>No team is better and piling up the points while working outside of the spotlight.<p/><b>3. (5) Tony Stewart -- car No. 20</b><p/>After his victory at Chicagoland, Stewart said missing 2006 Chase was "humbling."<p/><b>4. (2) Denny Hamlin -- car No. 11</b><p/>It'd be a mistake for Stewart or anyone to underestimate Hamlin's competitiveness.<p/><b>5. (3) Jimmie Johnson -- car No. 48</b><p/>Tire failure sidetracked what might have been a good battle with Stewart in Joliet.<p/><b>6. (6) Carl Edwards -- car No. 99</b><p/>Edwards was coming fast at end of Chicago race, just like he is as Chase approaches.<p/><b>7. (8) Kevin Harvick -- car No. 29</b><p/>Driver who won Daytona 500 at all-star race already this year has won at Indy before.<p/><b>8. (9) Kyle Busch -- car No. 5</b><p/>Startlingly talented. Emotional development may ultimately determine success level.<p/><b>9. (7) Martin Truex Jr. -- car No. 1</b><p/>Lost some ground with rough run at Chicagoland. Can't afford many more of those.<p/><b>10. (10) Jeff Burton -- car No. 31</b><p/>You keep waiting for this team to put together races where it looks like it might win.<p/>11. (11) Clint Bowyer -- car No. 07<p/>12. (12) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- car No. 8<p/>13. (15) Kurt Busch -- car No. 2<p/>14. (14) Ryan Newman -- car No. 12<p/>15. (13) Jamie McMurray -- car No. 26<p/>16. (17) Casey Mears -- car No. 25<p/>17. (16) Greg Biffle -- car No. 16<p/>18. (18) Mark Martin/Regan Smith -- car No. 01<p/>19. (19) Juan Pablo Montoya -- car No. 42<p/>20. (22) Bobby Labonte -- car No. 43<p/>21. (28) Reed Sorenson -- car No. 41<p/>22. (26) David Gilliland -- car No. 38<p/>23. (24) David Ragan -- car No. 6<p/>24. (20) Robby Gordon -- car No. 7<p/>25. (23) J.J. Yeley -- car No. 18<p/>26. (21) Kasey Kahne -- car No. 9<p/>27. (25) Elliott Sadler -- car No. 19<p/>28. (27) Tony Raines -- car No. 96<p/>29. (29) Jeff Green -- car No. 66<p/>30. (30) Sterling Marlin -- car No. 14<p/>31. (31) David Stremme -- car No. 40<p/>32. (32) Johnny Sauter -- car No. 70<p/>33. (33) Ricky Rudd -- car No. 88<p/>34. (34) Bill Elliott -- car No. 21<p/>35. (40) Kyle Petty/John Andretti -- car No. 45<p/>36. (35) Dave Blaney -- car No. 22<p/>37. (36) David Reutimann -- car. No. 00<p/>38. (38) Paul Menard -- car No. 15<p/>39. (39) Joe Nemechek -- car No. 13<p/>40. (37) Brian Vickers -- car No. 83 http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5501.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5501.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:38 EDT JOLIET, Ill. -- Jimmie Johnson led 82 laps in Sunday’s race and it looked as if he and Tony Stewart might well wind up battling for the victory until Lap 223.<p/>That’s when Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet snapped around and slammed the wall after losing a right-rear tire. “It knocked the wind out of me and I hit my elbow on the seat,” Johnson said after leaving the infield care center. “But I am just disappointed. We had such a great race car and I was trying to have something for the No. 20 (Stewart).”<p/>Johnson said the jolt when his tire blew was violent.<p/>“I thought the drive shaft came out of the car,” he said. “Just going down the back straightaway that sucker exploded.”<p/>Johnson has never won at Chicagoland, but until Sunday he’d never finished worse than sixth here. http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5502.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5502.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:40 EDT JOLIET, Ill. -- Carl Edwards wanted just a little more time in Sunday’s USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.<p/>“We needed about 20 more laps,” said Edwards, who surged after his final pit stop to wind up third in his No. 99 Ford behind Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth. “Tony’s car was faster than ours but we had better tires.”<p/>Edwards had to settle for a duel with Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth for second over the final laps. They got side by side at one point, but Kenseth eventually came out ahead.<p/>“I should have stayed to his outside,” Edwards said. “I tried to put a slide job on him but that didn’t work out.” http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5497.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5497.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:09 EDT JOLIET, Ill. -- Kurt Busch’s engine had no oil pressure when his team tried to start it up for the first time before practice here on Friday, and try as they might they couldn’t find the problem.<p/>So the team changed engines, meaning they had to start at the rear of the field on Sunday. Busch fought his way forward all day and wound up sixth.<p/>“You know that you have to stay on pace and take your time,” said Busch, who picked up one spot to 14th in the standings. He’s now 77 points behind 12th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the battle to make the 12-man Chase. “We really put a maneuverable set-up on the car, one that could go low and one that could go high. It turned out really positive.” http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5500.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5500.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:37 EDT JOLIET, Ill. -- Kevin Harvick brought his No. 29 Chevrolet home fourth in Sunday’s race but kept looking for a little bit more.<p/>“It’s a little challenging due to the fact you want to go better,” said Harvick, who led for 54 laps but always seemed to be just a tick behind Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson for much of the day. “Even when we were leading we didn’t have the car like we needed and we were struggling. But we kept at it.”<p/>Harvick said the main problem was that the race track seemed to change on him.<p/>“The track kind of swapped tendencies on us there and we wound up being too tight,” he said. “At the beginning, we were too loose.” http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5498.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5498.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:23 EDT JOLIET, Ill. -- Casey Mears had three top-five finishes in a four-race stretch before finishing 19th or worse in his past three starts. He bounced back Sunday after starting from the pole with a fifth-place finish.<p/>“We wanted more than that,” Mears said. “We started off really, really loose. The guys worked on the car all day and got it to where it was pretty good there at the end.”<p/>Mears’ previous best finish here had been ninth.<p/>“The first thing you’ve got to do in these races is stick around all day long,” Mears said. “We were consistent and patient and the guys made the right calls at the end. We just keep learning together.” http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5503.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5503.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:44 EDT <B>ELEVATORS<BR><p/>UP – </B>Roush Fenway Racing<BR> Matt Kenseth couldn’t catch Tony Stewart, but the team got second and third and both of those cars beat the best Hendrick Motorsports car.<BR><BR><p/><B>UP – </B>Joe Gibbs<BR> Team owner dropped in on Saturday for a “pep talk” with bickering drivers Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. It seems to have worked, at least for Stewart.<BR><BR><p/><B>UP – </B>Kurt Busch<BR> Weekend started with a puzzling engine problem, but he came from the rear of the field to finish a solid sixth.<BR><BR><p/><B>OBSERVATIONS</B><BR><BR> --The big problem with the Tony Stewart-Denny Hamlin dispute from Daytona last week was that team’s disagreements were aired publicly. For six days the issue festered and the drivers became increasingly irritated when asked about it. So why did it take until Saturday afternoon before team owner Joe Gibbs swooped in for a face to face, air-clearing meeting between his two drivers? Everybody has a jet. Have a meeting Monday, get things settled and get on with it. By waiting a week and then turning the come-to-Jesus gathering into a media event in the Nextel Cup garage, the team blew this story up. Not the media.<BR> --This was a days when several guys who didn’t still did themselves plenty of good. Kurt Busch rallied from the back of the field to finish sixth. Jeff Burton was a very quiet seventh. Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost power steering but soldiered home to finish 19th, last on the lead lap. The points those guys saved will come in handy when it comes to the Chase for the Nextel Cup cutoff.<BR> --A couple of guys (not me, sadly) tried to make it to a Cubs game Saturday, leaving from this track. They drove for a while, then caught a train and finally grabbed a bus on to get to Wrigley Field. But every time there’s a race here, TV acts like Chicago’s landmarks are all right here in the neighborhood. Give it up. – DAVID POOLE<BR><BR><p/><B>KEY MOMENTS<BR><BR><p/>Lap 153</B><BR> Jamie McMurray hits the wall and brings out a yellow, and on that round of pit stops Tony Stewart’s crew gets him back onto the track ahead of Jimmie Johnson. Stewart will not be out of the top two the rest of the day.<BR><BR> <B>Lap 209</B><BR> Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had lined up third on a restart one lap earlier, slows dramatically and is clearing fighting to control the No. 8 Chevrolet. There’s a problem with his power steering, and he falls well back.<BR><BR><p/><B>Lap 223</B><BR> Jimmie Johnson, who’d been running among the leaders all day, loses a right-rear tire. As it disintegrates, it tears the sheet metal loose from the rear of his Chevrolet and sends it sliding hard into the wall. Scratch Johnson as a contender.<BR><BR><p/><B>Lap 232</B><BR> Stewart fends off a frantic bid for the top spot from Matt Kenseth just after a restart. After they battle side by side for nearly two full laps, Stewart finally clears Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford to hang onto the top spot.<BR><BR><p/><B>Lap 256</B><BR> Stewart pulls clear on the final restart, keeping Kenseth easily at bay and going on to win for the first time since a victory at Texas Motor Speedway late last year. Kenseth holds off Carl Edwards for second.<BR><BR><p/><B>NEXT RACE<BR> ALLSTATE 400<BR> Where: </B>Indianapolis (Ind.) Motor Speedway<BR> <B>When: </B>2 p.m., Sunday, July 29<BR> <B>TV: </B>Coverage begins at 1 p.m. on ESPN<BR> <B>Radio: </B>Indianapolis Motor Speedway Network<BR> <B>Last year’s winner: </B>Jimmie Johnson<BR> http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5484.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5484.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 19:59 EDT JOLIET, Ill. – Tony Stewart finally got to victory lane for the first time in the 2007 Nextel Cup season Sunday, winning the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.<p/>Stewart hadn’t gone longer without a win to start any season since his first NASCAR season in 1999. Even though he had 11 top-10 finishes and was in solid shape in terms of making the Chase for the Nextel Cup, the fact he hadn’t was increasingly had become an irritant for Stewart.<p/>One week ago, he and teammate Denny Hamlin wrecked on Lap 14 of the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, and questions about that had offered further angst leading up to Sunday’s race. On Saturday, Stewart and Hamlin had a meeting with team owner Joe Gibbs to settle that dispute.<p/>Then, on Sunday, Stewart ran at or near the front all day long. When Jimmie Johnson crashed out with a cut tire after battling for Stewart in the first two-thirds of the race, all that was left was for Stewart to hold off Matt Kenseth on a couple of late restarts.<p/>On the last green flag with 12 laps left, Stewart pulled away and left Kenseth to hold off Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards for second place. Edwards was third with Kevin Harvick fourth and Casey Mears fifth.<p/>Mears and Martin Truex Jr. led early before Johnson took over on Lap 18. Johnson stayed in front until he made his first pit stop on Lap 50 amid a cycle of green-flag stops.<p/>Dale Earnhardt Jr. inherited the lead, but he was going too fast the first time he tried to make it to pit road on Lap 51 and had to come in the next time by.<p/>Johnson, Truex and Matt Kenseth were the front three when the stops were done while Earnhardt Jr. was back in 12th. Then, on Lap 59, Jeff Green’s No. 66 spun to bring out the day’s first yellow flag.<p/>Pit strategies on that stop shook things up, with several teams taking fuel only. Harvick and Reed Sorenson didn’t stop at all, and they were ahead of Ryan Newman, Stewart and Jeff Gordon for the restart on Lap 64.<p/>The clean air helped Harvick more than tires helped anybody else, because by Lap 75 Harvick was more than 3.3 seconds ahead of Sorenson and pulling away.<p/>As the run went on, however, things started to change a bit. Stewart passed Sorenson for second and was eating into Harvick’s lead. Johnson, who been 11th on the restart after changing four tires, was also back to up fourth.<p/>Just as Stewart caught Harvick on Lap 110, Harvick came in for a green-flag stop. By Lap 117, all of the lead-lap cars had been in and Harvick was first with Johnson and Stewart leading the pack of those in pursuit.<p/>It only took two laps for Johnson to get the lead. Stewart passed Harvick for second two laps later, and that’s how things settled in for the next run.<p/>That run lasted until Lap 153, when last week’s race winner, Jamie McMurray got into the Turn 1 wall in his No. 26 Ford. That caution allowed the teams to make a pit stop, and Stewart got off pit road ahead of Johnson, Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Harvick for the restart on Lap 160.<p/>Robby Gordon’s Ford wiggled and then spun into the wall in Turn 2 on Lap 164. The leaders stayed out, so Stewart was still in front for the restart on Lap 169.<p/>On Lap 187, Johnson swept by on the high side and reclaimed the lead, but Stewart came right back and was the leader at the 200-lap mark.<p/>One lap later, though, Dave Blaney’s Toyota lost a tire, slammed the Turn 1 wall and got drilled by Ward Burton, who had no place to go to avoid Blaney.<p/>The leaders came in for pit stops, and when the green flew again there were 60 laps remaining. That was the outside edge – and most likely beyond – the fuel window for most teams to make it without stopping again.<p/>Earnhardt Jr.’s team got him out third behind Stewart and Johnson, but just after the restart Earnhardt Jr. fell back and told his team over the radio that he had lost power steering. Moments later his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate Truex Jr. came to pit road and to the garage with a problem in his No. 1 Chevy.<p/>Earnhardt Jr.’s problem, as bad as it was, was nowhere near as bad as what happened to Johnson’s Chevrolet on Lap 223 when he shredded a tire and hit the wall in Turn 3, badly damaging his No. 48.<p/> The leaders stopped, mostly for fuel only, and when the green flew on Lap 231 Kenseth tried with all he had to take the lead from Stewart. Stewart moved high to blunt Kenseth’s bid in Turn 1, and after they battled door to door for nearly two full laps Stewart emerged with the lead.<p/>J.J. Yeley, however, hit the Turn 2 wall on Lap 245 and that brought Kenseth, Harvick and a late-charging Carl Edwards back up to Stewart’s rear bumper for a restart with just 18 laps left.<p/>Stewart got away clean, but Joe Nemechek’s spin on Lap 251 brought out another yellow and set things up for one more restart.<BR><BR><p/><B>Slow starter?</B><BR><BR> Tony Stewart got his first Nextel Cup victory of 2007 at Chicagoland Speedway in the season’s 19th race. It’s the longest he’s gone without a win since his rookie season, but Stewart’s record does not include a tremendous amount of early success: <BR><BR> <B>Season: Race of first win<BR> 1999:</B> 25th (2nd Richmond)<BR> <B>2000:</B> 13th (Dover)<BR> <B>2001:</B> 11th (Richmond)<BR> <B>2002:</B> 4th (Atlanta)<BR> <B>2003:</B> 14th (Pocono)<BR> <B>2004:</B> 18th (Chicagoland)<BR> <B>2005:</B> 16th (Infineon)<BR> <B>2006:</B> 6th (Martinsville)<BR> <B>2007:</B> 19th (Chicagoland)<BR> http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5479.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5479.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:52 EDT JOLIET, Ill. -- Team owner Joe Gibbs made an unexpected stop over the weekend to Chicagoland Speedway to attempt to bring some resolution to a festering squabble between Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin.<p/> Gibbs stopped off in the Chicago area Saturday while on a West Coast trip and held a nearly 20-minute closed-door meeting with Stewart and Hamlin, which forced both of the drivers to miss part of Saturday’s final Nextel Cup practice session.<p/> “Obviously, the issue started at Daytona and the biggest thing for us is the longer they go on, the worse they get,” said team president, J.D. Gibbs. “It was more a family situation. We were going to sit down and talk about it behind closed doors and not say a whole lot about it.”<p/> Hamlin and Stewart were running first and second, respectively, in last Saturday’s Pepsi 400 when Stewart hit Hamlin from behind exiting Turn 4 starting an accident that sent both cars to the garage for repairs.<p/> During an interview on TV, Stewart blamed the incident on Hamlin and claimed the younger driver didn’t know how to be a teammate. Hamlin was much less confrontational. Both have been trading barbs in the media since last weekend.<p/> “He didn’t tell anybody he was coming in. He just kind of showed up,” J.D. said of his father. “Until that morning, we had talked about it before, and he said, ‘We’ll do it now.’ I couldn’t come yesterday. So he just (did it). It was OK with me. I just work here.”<p/> J.D. declined to get into specifics with what was said during the meeting, but was adamant the issue “had been put to bed.”<p/> “For us, address it the right way. If you have an issue, let’s talk about it and when you go out, don’t talk about it in the media,” he said. “Talk about it behind go closed doors. If you do that, then you’ll be good to go.” http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5466.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5466.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 19:32 EDT JOLIET, Ill. – Chicago is clearly Kevin Harvick’s kind of town.<p/>Harvick used a late-race pass of Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton and ran away to a dominating victory in Saturday’s USG Durock 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, holding off Matt Kenseth by 1.244 seconds.<p/>The win is Harvick’s second Busch Series win at the 1.5-mile track in suburban Chicago – his other came in 2005. He also won the Nextel Cup Series’ first two races at the track, which opened in 2001.<p/>“When they first built this place, Todd Berrier and all those guys came up here and tested. From that day forward, we’ve always run well here,” said Harvick, who has three wins in 15 starts this year.<p/>Harvick moved into position for victory when several of the lead lap cars elected to pit under caution the race’s final caution, among them Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards who had some of the strongest cars.<p/>Burton inherited the lead and Harvick restarted second on the restart on Lap 171 of 200. Harvick passed him for the lead in Turns 1 and 2 three laps later.<p/>“We struggled a little bit when we first got here. We really had to change a lot of things on the car. We turned it upside down and made things happen,” Harvick said. “We had a really good car in the second half of the race.”<p/>Burton finished third, Clint Bowyer was fourth and Busch finished fifth. Edwards, the series points leader, had to pit under green late in the race for a loose wheel, and finished 20th. <p/>Burton spent much of the race dealing with a problem with the air hoses that provide air conditioning and suffered through sweltering heat in his car.<p/>“We didn’t have the car right there at the end. I thought we had a car that could win the race and I think we needed to be a little more aggressive on our changes. That’s as much my fault as it is anybody else’s,” he said.<p/>Busch seemed unsure why his team had him pit on the last caution. Asked after the race why his team pit, Busch said: “I have no idea, ask Alan Gustafson (crew chief).”<p/>After pitting, Busch restarted eighth and gained three positions in 29 laps. “I had to drive harder than I should have, but that’s part of racing I guess,” Busch said. “Hopefully, it was a good show for the fans.” http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5465.html http://www.thatsracin.com/156/story/5465.html Sat, 14 Jul 2007 17:20 EDT <B>USG SHEETROCK 400<BR> Where: </B>Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill.<BR> <B>When: </B>4 p.m. today<BR> <B>Weather: </B>Partly cloudy, 80 degrees<BR> <B>TV: </B>Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. on TNT.<BR> <B>Radio: </B>Motor Racing Network, WSOC-FM (103.7)<BR> <B>Race distance: </B>400 miles (267 laps)<BR> <B>Track length: </B>1.5 miles<BR><BR><p/><B>THREE THINGS TO WATCH<BR> 1. </B>Chevrolet has won 14 of this year’s 18 races, but only one of the past four. Only two Fords qualified in the top 24 here Friday, but six of them were in the top 13 in Saturday’s final practice. Is this one, at least from a manufacturer’s perspective, up for grabs?<BR> <B>2. </B>After four wins and eight top-five finishes in the first 11 races, Jimmie Johnson has only one top five since May at Charlotte. He’s never won at Chicagoland, but his worst finish here is sixth.<BR> <B>3. </B>Everyone keeps waiting – and hoping – for the second groove to come in at this track. How much two- or even three-wide racing will we see today?<BR><BR><p/><B>PRACTICE UPDATE</B><BR> Mark Martin and Elliott Sadler both lost their primary cars to crashes in Saturday’s Nextel Cup practices. Martin wrecked in the first session and was able to get his backup car out for the final practice. Sadler, though, wrecked late in the final session and didn’t’ get any laps on the Dodge he’ll race today. Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth had the fastest cars in the first practice, while Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr. and Dave Blaney led happy hour.<BR><BR><p/><B>OBSERVER PICKS<BR> David Poole<BR> Matt Kenseth – </B>Wrecked late while leading last year, this year he brings it home.<BR><BR> <B>Jim Utter<BR> Kyle Busch – </B>No teamwork will be necessary for this victory.<BR><BR><p/><B>ELEVATORS<BR><p/>UP – </B>Robert Yates Racing<BR> Ricky Rudd starts 41st and David Gilliland 42nd, but both cars were in the top 11 in the final practice.<BR><BR><p/><B>DOWN – </B>Mark Martin and Elliott Sadler<BR> To the back of the field in back up cars after Saturday crashes in practice.<BR><BR><p/><B>DOWN – </B>ESPN’s “Full Throttle”<BR> Who thought it’d be a good idea to put 20 voices on television will all of them talking at the same time? The last time anybody tried that, it was called “Pit Bulls.”<BR><BR><p/><B>Briefly</B><BR> <span class="bullet">&#149;&nbsp;</span> Beginning today, fans can register to win $1 million in the SprintSpeed Million contest presented by Motorola. Through Sept. 3, fans can select the driver they think will win the Nextel Cup championship at Sprint retail stores, online at www.sprint.com/speed or by texting “Million” to 7777 on any Sprint or Nextel phone. Twelve finalists will be selected and paired with each driver in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. The finalist paired with the driver who wins the title wins $1 million.