Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Joe Gibbs Racing’s teammate rivalry may heat up at Chicago
Recent history at Chicagoland Speedway has a distinctive similarity to the current competitive situation in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch are the most recent Chicago winners – Truex earning back-to-back trophies in 2016-17 and Busch winning last year.
The two drivers come to the Camping World 400 (Sunday, June 30 at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR radio) as the Monster Energy Series’ winningest drivers this season. Truex picked up his fourth victory Sunday in Sonoma to tie Busch in the win count.
Chicagoland Speedway, however, has long been one of Busch’s best tracks – and he’s performed best in the last few years. In addition to his 2018 win at the track, he won from the pole position in 2008 – the only driver in history to win from pole. He has earned an all-time high four pole positions in all.
In just the last six years Busch has won three poles and one race. His 399 laps led during that time frame is 69.9 percent of his career total laps led (573) at Chicago. He has six top-10 finishes in the last seven races. And Busch has three Xfinity Series and five Gander Outdoor Truck Series wins at Chicago, too.
Last year’s Monster Energy Series victory is among the most memorable in Busch’s career as he prevailed in a spirited last lap exchange with Kyle Larson. Larson used a “slide job” maneuver to get by Busch out of Turn 2 and then Busch caught back up to Larson and the two made contact as Busch got around Larson between Turns 3 and 4 en route to the checkered flag. The two shook hands after one of the more exciting finishes of the 2018 season.
That success all lines up well with his current season’s work. He has a series-best 15 top-10 finishes in 16 races, including top-five finishes in his last four races. He finished runner-up to Truex Sunday at Sonoma. He’s led laps in 12 races – double digit laps in nine of those. And he trails reigning series champion Joey Logano by a single point in the championship standings.
“Back when we first started racing there in the summer, it was a night race, so with a hot track now and the surface worn out more now, it certainly tends to play to my strengths and as we saw last year, we can put on a really good race with the heat, combined with the worn-out surface,’’ Busch said.
Its Truex time
Martin Truex Jr. has shown no signs of any transitional snafus moving from the Furniture Row Racing team, where he won the 2017 series championship, to the Joe Gibbs Racing operation this year where he just earned his fourth trophy in the season’s opening 16 races.
And he and his No. 19 JGR Toyota team arrive at Chicagoland Speedway with every reason to feel optimistic about carrying on the good vibes. Truex won back-to-back races in 2016-17 on the Chicago mile-and-a-half oval and finished fourth there last summer.
Truex has led laps in only three of the last seven races at the Chicago track – a career best 77 laps in his 2017 victory. Statistically Truex certainly seems to be getting better with age – scoring three of his five career top-five finishes in the last three races. He has 13 starts total.
Since his first win of 2019 – at Richmond on April 13 – Truex has only gone more than two weeks without a trip to Victory Lane only one time. There were three weeks between his win at Charlotte and last week on the Sonoma, Calif. road course.
He’s led 493 laps in his four wins – that’s 95.1 percent of all his laps led (518) this season.
Interestingly though, in his 23 career victories, Truex has never won back-to-back races on the schedule.
“I think JGR, all of our cars are running good at places throughout the season but for us personally on the 19, the last couple of mile-and-a-halves we’ve really turned a corner,’’ Truex said. “Michigan was a great run for us, Charlotte obviously, winning there was big.
“We started out the year kind of searching a bit on the mile-and-a-halves and the bigger tracks with the 550-horsepower package. For us, I definitely feel like we’ve learned a lot the past month and half and really turned a corner there. That has given us a lot of confidence and we feel like Chicago will be a good race for us.’’
Harvick still waiting on a win
Kevin Harvick won the very first two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races ever held at Chicagoland Speedway and visiting Victory Lane again – for the first time in 17 years since – would be a timely dose of can-do for a team that had already hoisted five trophies by this time last season.
Harvick boasts the most top-five (10) and top-10 (11) finishes in the field this weekend and his 101.1 driving rating is third best among drivers with more than five starts in Chicago.
He’s finished top-five in four of the last six races and third both in 2017 and 2018. He’s led an impressive 471 laps at the track and led laps in four of the past five races. He’s started in the top-five in three of the last four races, including from the pole position in 2015. And . …. Harvick has never suffered a DNF at Chicago.
This time last year Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing team had won seven of the opening 16 races – nearly half. This year SHR is still contending for its first win. Although the team has certainly been close. Harvick has 11 top-10 and five top-five finishes – five times finishing a season best fourth place.
And that work – even without a win – has been good enough to place him third in the driver points standings. He trails leader Joey Logano, a two-time winner in 2019 by 70 points. But he’s got a four-point advantage over three-race winner Brad Keselowski in fourth place and a 70-edge over four-race winner Truex, who is in fifth place.
Logano continues his reign
Reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano has won half as many races (two) as Kyle Busch and last week’s Sonoma champion Martin Truex Jr., but he has been good enough to maintain his position atop the points standings – by a single point over four-time winner Busch.
Logano’s 23rd-place finish at Sonoma matched his worst finish of the season – at Atlanta in February – and snapped a three-race top-10 run. But he still maintains a one-point edge over four-race winner Kyle Busch atop the points standings.
Logano has only led laps in one of the last five races (163 of 203 laps in his Michigan win two weeks ago). The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford has never won at Chicago before, but earned the pole position for the 2013 race and has top-10 finishes in six of the last seven races – including the last five consecutively. His best showing at Chicago is runner-up to Martin Truex Jr. in 2016.
Keselowski is a good bet at Chicago
Brad Keselowski is one of only four multi-time winners (also Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick) at this week’s Chicagoland Speedway venue – taking the trophies in 2012 and 2014. He shows up with eight consecutive top-10 finishes there and a pair of front row starts (outside pole in 2013 and 2016). His 9.2 average finish is best among active drivers with more than five starts. And he’s led laps in seven of his 10 starts.
It’s been five races since Keselowski earned his third win of 2019 – at Kansas. Two of this three victories (at Atlanta and Kansas) and one of his two runner-up finishes (at Las Vegas) have come on 1.5-mile tracks similar to Chicagoland.
Newman is a new man
Ryan Newman’s move to Roush-Fenway Racing this season has been a revitalization of his competitive spirit and talent can-do. He’s been making an especially impactful run at the Playoff 16 in recent weeks and shown no signs of letting up.
Newman’s sixth place showing at Sonoma, Calif. on Sunday was his second straight top-10 finish and fifth of the season. And it was good enough to move him into the 16th place – final cutoff position – in the series driver standings. He trails 15th place Kyle Larson by nine points and holds a one-point edge on 17th place Jimmie Johnson. It’s Newman’s first time back inside the top 16 since the first week of May.
The native Midwesterner, Newman, shows up in Chicago fresh off back-to-back top-10 finishes – eighth at Michigan and sixth place at Sonoma – his best showing at the California road course venue since a seventh place in 2008.
The driver of the No. 6 Roush-Fenway Racing Ford is one of only six active drivers with a previous win at this week’s Chicagoland Speedway venue. He won the pole position in his very first start (2002) and he won the race in his second start (2003). And he’s one of only two drivers (also Kyle Busch won race from pole in 2008) to win a pole position and also a race at the track.
Stats and Facts: 2019 has delivered for the fans
The 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has experienced record numbers statistically in key competitive categories.
The average number of lead changes per race (18.69) through the opening 16 races is the highest since 2015 (19.50). Nine of the 16 races have had a margin of victory less than one-second. And this season has also had the most green flag passes for the lead in the last five years. It’s up an impressive 57.8 percent from 2018. The numbers were up in 11 of 16 races so far and three times a new record has been set (Las Vegas, 47, Bristol, Ten., 47 and Kansas, 41). So far Daytona’s 110 passes for the lead is most.
There have been six race winners representing three organizations – Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports. All the winners have won multiple times, with the exception of Chase Elliott who won at Talladega, Ala.
Parade Laps: Insights ahead of this week’s driver media rotations
Six drivers from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series – Roush-Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Germain Racing’s Ty Dillon, JTG Daugherty Racing’s Chris Buescher, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola and Richard Childress Racing’s teammates Austin Dillon and Daniel Hemric, and will be participating in this week’s media rotations at Chicagoland Speedway in advance of Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race the Camping World 400 (at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang)
Birthdate: October 2, 1987
Driver’s Age: 31
Hometown: Olive Branch, Mississippi
Hobbies: Golf, racquetball, basketball, Cross Fit, country music
Team: Roush Fenway Racing
Crew Chief: Brian Pattie
2019 Quick Highlights: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 31, of Olive Branch, Miss., would love for Chicago to represent a turning point in his season. The driver of the No. 17 Roush-Fenway Racing Ford has two top-10 finishes, including a best finish of fifth at Charlotte’s 600-miler. He’s led 50 laps and has six top-10 starts, but the two-time winner in 2017 is ranked 20th in the standings and hoping upcoming tracks such as Daytona in two weeks, may be the ideal venue to score his first win of the year. He has only one top-10 finish in six starts at Chicagoland Speedway – a fifth in his first race there in 2013. He was 16th last year.
Ty Dillon (No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1)
Birthdate: February 27, 1992
Driver’s Age: 27
Hometown: Lewisville, North Carolina
Hobbies: Hunting, fishing, fantasy sports, Carolina Panthers, spending time with family
Team: Germain Racing
Crew Chief: Matt Borland
2019 Quick Highlights: Ty Dillon, 27, of Lewisville, N.C. earned his best showing of the season in the first race of the season – a sixth place run in the Daytona 500. The driver of the Germain Racing No. 13 Chevrolet has led 13 laps on the season, including a best of seven laps at Talladega, last month. His last top-20 finish was at Talladega (17th). In three starts at Chicago, he has finishes of 27th, 28th and 28th.
Chris Buescher (No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1)
Birthdate: October 29, 1992
Driver’s Age: 26
Hometown: Prosper, Texas
Hobbies: Fishing, ATVs, motocross, movies, any fabrication work
Team: JTG Daugherty Racing
Crew Chief: Trent Owens
2019 Quick Highlights: Chris Buescher, 26, of Prosper, Texas, has earned two of his seasons’ three top-10 finishes in the last month. He scored back-to-back finishes of 10th-place at Kansas and sixth at Charlotte in May, leading 10 laps at Kansas. The driver of the No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet has finished 16th or better in the last five races. The 2016 Pocono winner has made three starts at Chicago posting finishes of 28th, 27th and 22nd.
Aric Almirola (No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang)
Birthdate: March 14, 1984
Driver’s Age: 35
Hometown: Tampa, Florida
Hobbies: Road and mountain biking, hiking, snow skiing
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
Crew Chief: John Klausmeier
2019 Quick Highlights: Aric Almirola, 35, of Tampa, Fla., has picked up in 2019 exactly where he left off in 2018 – as a serious championship contender. The driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford has nine top-10 finishes through the opening 15 races, including two in the past three weeks. His best showing on the year is a fourth place at Phoenix. He’s started on the front row five times (a third of the season) – winning the pole position at Atlanta and starting second at Martinsville, Va., Talladega, Charlotte and Michigan. Almirola has one top-10 in seven Chicago starts – a 10th in 2015. Last year he started sixth, led 70 laps but finished 25th.
Austin Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1)
Birthdate: April 27, 1990
Driver’s Age: 29
Hometown: Lewisville, North Carolina
Hobbies: Hunting, paintball, physical training, fantasy sports
Team: Richard Childress Racing
Crew Chief: Danny Stockman Jr.
2019 Quick Highlights: Austin Dillon, 29, of Lewisville, N.C., has shown plenty of promise in 2019 – scoring a pair of top-10 finishes in the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet, including a best of sixth place at Richmond. He won the pole position at Talladega but has crashed out in two of the last four races (at Charlotte and Pocono, Pa.) and is now ranked 22nd in the championship. Dillon has three top-20 finishes at this week’s Chicago venue, with a best finish of 14th in 2016. His best start was fifth place in 2015. Last year he suffered his first DNF at the track, finishing 37th with a wheel hub problem.
Daniel Hemric (No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1)
Birthdate: January 27, 1991
Driver’s Age: 28
Hometown: Kannapolis, North Carolina
Hobbies: Golf and snowboarding
Team: Richard Childress Racing
Crew Chief: Luke Lambert
2019 Quick Highlights: Daniel Hemric, 28, of Kannapolis, N.C., is starting to show the signs that he’s ready to start making some noise in his Sunoco rookie Cup season. He has four top-20 finishes in this last five races including a highly respectable 15th- place in his Sonoma, Calif. road course debut last weekend. His best finish of the year in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet is fifth at Talladega. He must feel optimistic rolling into Chicago this week. He has two top-five finishes in the Xfinity Series at Chicago (in 2017, 2018) and was runner-up to Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race on the track in 2016.
