Layout: Chicagoland is a 1.5 mile asphalt "Tri-oval". The track's four turns feature 18 degrees of banking. The backstretch has a slight curve to it, making it the only track in NASCAR where there is no true straightaway.
Current Sprint Cup Races:
September 20, 2015 - MyAFibStory.com 400, a 400.5 mile, 267 lap Chase race. It is the first race of the Challenger Round and the first out of ten races in the Chase overall. This is a Sunday afternoon event.
Most Wins:
All-Time: Tony Stewart, 3 wins
Active: Tony Stewart, 3 wins
Latest
Winner:
2014 MyAFibStory.com 400: Brad Keselowski
Description: Chicagoland is one of three tracks that have been added to the NASCAR schedule since 2000 (along with Kansas and Kentucky). Like the other two tracks, Chicagoland is still writing its early history and finding its identity. It has been a very flexible track in terms of its dates since its inception. Chicago started as a day race, moved to a night race, and back to a day race one it moved from its former summer date to the first race in the Chase a few seasons ago.
The track has already shown it can create great racing, however, with the build of the track allowing for those great multiple racing grooves. Brad Keselowski proved that much with his great move for the win in last season's Chase opener.
As long as the track doesn't plan on a repave soon, it should serve as a good opening track for the Chase for years to come.
Fun Facts: When the juice company Tropicana used to sponsor events at the track, a gigantic inflatable orange got loose on the track on a windy day and caused a stoppage in qualifying.
Layout: Richmond is a .75 mile, "D-shaped" asphalt oval with four turns that are all banked at 14 degrees. Richmond is one of three true short tracks (under 1 mile in length) left on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule. The track was only half a mile in length until reconfiguration in 1988.
Current Sprint Cup Races:
April 25, 2015 - Toyota Owners 400, a 300 mile, 400 lap regular season points race. This is a Saturday night event.
September 12, 2015 - Federated Auto Parts 400, a 300 mile, 400 lap regular season points race. This is a Saturday night event and is also the final race before The Chase commences.
Most Wins:
All-Time: Richard Petty, 12 wins
Active: Kyle Busch, 4 wins
Latest
Winner:
2015 Toyota Owners 400: Kurt Busch
2014 Federated Auto Parts 400: Brad Keselowski
Description: Richmond International Raceway is always a welcome sight on the Sprint Cup schedule as it is a track that provides the much yearned for short track style racing, along with enough speed to make getting the correct car setup a necessity for a chance of victory. The track has enough banking in the turns to allow multiple racing grooves (a.k.a. multiple lanes to make a pass), but is just short enough to keep cars bunched up, which can lead to great finishes, as seen in last spring's Richmond race. Kenseth, Keselowski, Gordon, and Logano all had a hell of a shot to win this one:
Richmond also has the enviable spot of holding the final race before NASCAR's playoff known as The Chase begins. It is the last chance for drivers to vault their way into The Chase if they aren't qualified yet, and there have been some insane late race charges by drivers to get into The Chase. Such as the case of Jeff Gordon in 2012 needing to beat out Kyle Busch for the final spot and doing so with two laps to go. As well, Jeremy Mayfield had to win to get in in 2004 and did just that. It seems every year there is drama unfolding at Richmond and, quite frankly, it is fantastic.
Notable Races:
2013 Federated Auto Parts 400 - For as much great racing drama that comes at Richmond with having the final race before The Chase, the 2013 regular season finale became a debacle. With the laps winding down, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman were in position to make the cut, while Martin Truex Jr. was on the outside looking in. Truex's teammate, Clint Bowyer (who was solidly in The Chase already), suddenly spun out with less than ten laps to go, causing everyone to make a pit stop. Newman, who had the lead when Bowyer spun, lost it on pit road and then lost his spot in The Chase after Carl Edwards went on to win. Gordon also lost his spot in the shuffling of positions and Truex made The Chase. NASCAR determined a few days after the race that Michael Waltrip Racing (who owns Bowyer and Truex's cars) intentionally ordered Bowyer to spin out in an attempt to give Truex one last shot. The fallout was severe as Truex was booted out of The Chase before it started, Newman was supplanted in for Truex, and Gordon was added to The Chase as well.
Fun Facts: Fun isn't the best word to describe this fact, but Jerry Nadeau recorded the hardest registered crash in NASCAR at Richmond in 2003. The force at which he hit the wall was recorded at 128 Gs (G-forces). To put that in perspective, Apollo 16 recorded 7 Gs on its re-entry to earth. Nadeau sustained a skull fracture, concussion, collapsed lung, and several broken ribs. He was given a 6% chance of survival, but did recover. However, he hasn't raced in NASCAR since.
Teammates: Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Best Career Points Finish: 1st (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001)
Career Victories: 92
Notable Wins:
Daytona 500 (1997, 1999, 2005)
Brickyard 400 (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2014)
Southern 500 (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2007)
Coca-Cola 600 (1994, 1997, 1998)
All-Star Race (1995, 1997, 2001
Description: It's hard to believe that Jeff Gordon's racing career will come to a close at the end of the 2015 season. In a career that has spanned 22 years, Jeff Gordon has cemented himself as one of the greatest drivers that the sport has ever seen.
Gordon started out racing quarter midgets at the age of five and simply dominated races he participated in until the age of 12. By the time he was 16, Gordon was granted a sprint car license, the youngest person to do so at the time. California did not allow racers that young to drive sprint cars, so Gordon and his family moved to Pittsboro, Indiana to further his career.
It didn't take long for Gordon to start tearing up the sprint car scene, leading to offers from Formula 1 over in Europe, however, Gordon decided to take a different approach. Gordon scored an XFinity (Busch Series then) ride in 1990 and turned enough heads to make that ride become a full-time one in 1991. Gordon won Rookie of the Year in 1991 and ran one more season in the Busch Series in 1992, winning three races and scoring a record 11 pole positions that year.
By the time 1993 rolled around, Jack Roush had attempted to sign Gordon since he ran Fords in the Busch Series, but wouldn't sign Gordon's crew chief Ray Evernham as well. So that led Gordon to being signed by Rick Hendrick, where he began driving the now iconic #24 DuPont Chevy in its traditional rainbow colors. After that, the rest, as they say, is history or at least it will officially be at the conclusion of this season.
It would take a book at this point to go into all of the success Gordon has achieved in his 22 year career, so I'll sum it up as best as I can. Gordon has the 3rd most wins in NASCAR all-time with 92, only trailing Richard Petty with 200 and David Pearson with 105, both of whom are Hall-of-Famers. Gordon has four championships which puts him 4th all-time behind Petty and Dale Earnhardt with seven a piece and his current teammate Jimmie Johnson who has six. He has the record for most consecutive seasons with a pole position at 23 years (aka he's won at least one every season in his career). He has won all of the biggest races in NASCAR multiple times. And perhaps the most impressive thing of all is that Gordon has managed to win in every form of car that NASCAR has dealt out over the last 20 years.
Gordon may not have had the smashing success he had in the 90s and early 2000s over the last eight years or so, but his focused has shifted considerably you could say. He now has two children who he wants to spend time with, something that was not a part of his life back when he was dominant.
Despite Gordon's impending retirement, he will still be around NASCAR, serving as a commentator for FOX beginning at Daytona next February. But it will be odd to see NASCAR's final remaining driver from the 1990s bow out. At least he's doing it while he's still a damn good racer.
Fun Facts: Jeff Gordon is arguably the reason NASCAR is now in the public eye to this day, and his list of things done outside of racing makes it easy to see why. He's the only NASCAR driver to ever host Saturday Night Live. He's hosted Live! With Regis (now Michael) and Kelly ten times. He's been on too many other television shows to name. He's appeared in films such as Looney Tunes, Taxi, Herbie: Fully Loaded, and Cars. He's done so much philanthropic work, including having his own foundation, The Jeff Gordon Foundation and donating tons of money to Riley Hospital in Indianapolis. That's all I'll name here, but you can find a full list on his Wikipedia page.
Nicknames: "Thunder Valley", "The Bullring", "The World's Fastest Half-Mile"
Location: Bristol, Tennessee
Capacity: 160,000
Date of First Race: July 30, 1961
Layout: Bristol is a .533 mile concrete oval with four turns that have banking from 26 degrees at the bottom to 30 degrees at the top. Bristol is the second shortest track on the Sprint Cup tour, but boast high speeds due to large amount of banking in the turns. Bristol is also the only track to currently have two separate pit roads, one on the front stretch and one on the backstretch.
Current Sprint Cup Races:
April 19, 2015 - Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes, a 266.5 mile, 500 lap regular season points race. This is a Sunday afternoon event.
August 22, 2015 - Irwin Tools Night Race, a 266.5 mile, 500 lap regular season points race. This is a Saturday night event.
Most Wins:
All-Time: Darrell Waltrip, 12 wins
Active: Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, 5 wins
Latest
Winner:
2015 Food City 500: Matt Kenseth
2014 Irwin Tools Night Race: Joey Logano
Description: Bristol Motor Speedway has to be considered one of the crown jewel tracks of NASCAR. It is one of the few true short tracks left in NASCAR's top series, and it never fails to produce action. Thanks to the high banking, Sprint Cup cars are able to turn a lap at the track in a mere 15 seconds. 15 seconds to travel half a mile! Of course, with Bristol being only half a mile, that brings traditional short track racing elements into play, specifically how to pass under such tight circumstances. Cue the "bump-and-run". The "bump-and-run" is a maneuver that is exactly what it sounds like. You "bump" the bumper of the car in front of you, he washes up the track, and you drive like hell away from him so that he can't do the same thing to you in the next turn. When executed right it is an acceptable move:
But when done wrong, well, that is when tempers become an all too familiar sight at Bristol:
That was the type of racing Bristol had been known for for years and fans absolutely loved it. Then came the repave in 2007. The single-file, bottom line only racing that was the staple of the track forever went away when the 2007 repave added progressive banking to the turns. Since then, the preferred line became all the way up at the top of the track and the "bump-and-run" style of racing disappeared, rendering passing extremely difficult. Fortunately, passing is becoming incrementally easier every season, though the dominant groove remains at the top of the track and may stay there for some time.
Notable Races:
2010 Irwin Tools Night Race - Kyle Busch became the first driver ever to win in all three of NASCAR's top series in the same race weekend. Busch was able to win the Truck Series race on Wednesday night, the Nationwide race on Friday night, and completed the Bristol sweep with a Sprint Cup win on Saturday night. Busch led a total of 514 out of 956 laps across all three races that weekend.
Fun Facts: With a seating capacity of 160,000, Bristol is the world's largest true colosseum (meaning seating that totally encloses an amphitheater). It is three times bigger than the world famous Roman Colosseum.
What went down: NASCAR tried and pretty much failed. But that didn't bother Matt Kenseth at all.
He, and all of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, dominated at Michigan all day Sunday, with Kenseth leading 75% of the laps in the race. Only Austin Dillon was able to briefly challenge Kenseth for the lead, but Kenseth was quickly able to quell the attempted pass for the lead and drove away, easily winning over Kevin Harvick.
At Michigan this past weekend, and at Indy a few weekends ago, NASCAR tried a "high drag package" with the notably large rear spoiler, in an attempt to create better drafting. What happened was that passing was damned near impossible at two track where passing is difficult anyways.
In the end, many drivers were coy on wether they liked the package or not, but the nasty looks on their faces said it all. Of course, Matt Kenseth and Joe Gibbs Racing were smiling regardless of wether they liked it or not.
What it means for Kenseth: This was Kenseth's third win of the season, third win at Michigan, and second win in three races. Kenseth now moves into 3rd place on the Chase Grid with the three wins, only trailing Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson.
What it means for everyone else: Joe Gibbs Racing continues to destroy.
Kevin Harvick continues to score top-5's.
Austin Dillon scored a career best 4th place finish. Good job, Mr. Dillon.
Clint Bowyer suffered a setback in his Chase hopes with a crash and poor finish at Michigan despite running well early. Bowyer is still in the Chase for now, but must continue to run well and hope that no new winners emerge in the final three races before the Chase.
What’s next: One of the best races of the year is on tap, the night race from Bristol!
First Career Start: September 14, 2008 (New Hampshire)
Car Number and Make: #22 Ford Fusion
Primary Sponsors:
Shell/Pennzoil
AAA
AutoTrader.com
Team: Team Penske
Teammates: Brad Keselowski
Best Career Points Finish: 4th (2014)
Career Victories: 10
Notable Wins:
Daytona 500 (2015)
Description: When Joey Logano turned 18 years old and became eligible to race in the Sprint Cup Series, he was expected to immediately produce great results and was essentially thought of as the next Jeff Gordon. That's some enormous pressure for an 18-year-old, more than any up-and-coming driver has ever dealt with.
Logano began racing at the age of six up in his home state of Connecticut and was already the holder of several racing championships by the time his family moved to Georgia at the age of 10. Logano was quickly touted by NASCAR veteran Mark Martin as a driver who could be one of the greatest all-time in NASCAR, and this was when Logano was only 15.
NASCAR moved up the age eligibility for its lower series from 18 to 16 in 2007 and Logano was immediately thrown into XFinity races at the age of 17 for Joe Gibbs Racing. Logano would become the youngest winner in XFinity Series history when he won at Kentucky at the age of 18, in 2008. By then, Gibbs was putting Logano into some Sprint Cup races, but success there was little to none.
Logano moved up to the Sprint Cup Series full-time in 2008 for Joe Gibbs, replacing NASCAR champion Tony Stewart in the #20 Home Depot car. His rookie season was fairly lackluster, however, Logano did score one victory, a rain shortened race at his hometown track of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Logano became the youngest winner in Sprint Cup history at the age of 19.
Logano would struggle for the next three years, he failed to win in 2009 and 2010, and struggled in 2011 as well, though he did win at Pocono for his second career win, proving he could win a race without help from Mother Nature. Logano's lofty expectations were not panning out at Joe Gibbs, so Logano and the team decided not to negotiate another contract, leaving Logano in limbo for the 2013 season.
However, after Kurt Busch's issues at Team Penske, Busch was let go and Logano was brought in to fill his seat. Logano immediately began to flourish at Penske and was able to string top-10 finishes together like he never had before and also scored a win at Michigan in his first year with the team and made the Chase for the first time ever.
2014 saw Logano become one of the best drivers on tour, winning five races and making it to the Championship race. Though he finished last among the Championship race competitors, Logano was able to back up Martin's statement from so many years prior and now appears to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
And so far in 2015, Logano has two victories, including the biggest one of them all, the Daytona 500 back in February:
Fun Facts: Logano has appeared on television shows such as Man v. Food Nation, American Idol, and also made his first motion picture appearance in Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
Layout: Michigan is a 2 mile asphalt "D-shaped" oval that features four turns with 18 degrees of banking. It has a curved, sweeping frontstretch and a straight backstretch. This track's design was used for the building of Auto Club Speedway.
Current Sprint Cup Races:
June 14, 2015 - Quicken Loans 400, a 400 mile, 200 lap regular season points race. This is a Sunday afternoon event.
August 16, 2015 - Pure Michigan 400, a 400 mile, 200 lap regular season points race. This is a Sunday afternoon event.
Most Wins:
All-Time: David Pearson, 9 wins
Active: Greg Biffle, 4 wins
Latest
Winner:
2015 Quicken Loans 400: Kurt Busch
2014 Pure Michigan 400: Jeff Gordon
Description: Located in the scenic, middle-of-nowhere Irish Hills of Michigan, Michigan International Speedway sits in amongst a couple of fields. But this quiet area lends itself to having the current fastest speeds in NASCAR. Jeff Gordon set the track record last August with a lap that averaged a speed of 206 miles per hour. 206! Since the track's repave a few years ago, cars have been going off into turn one at speeds of 220 before backing off about 30 mph to navigate Michigan's long turns. Simply put, those speeds are crazy for a stock car.
The only drawback with the repave is that passing (yet again) is difficult, but it is coming back around. Just this past August saw Gordon make a pass of Joey Logano on the restart, only to temporarily lose the lead and gain it back. It was pretty damn entertaining.
The sheer size of the track will never showcase nose-to-tail racing, but side-by-side racing is working its way back year after year. Both of the track's summer races will continue to provide key chances for someone to capitalize and win the race to secure their spot in the Chase.
Fun Facts: On race weekends, the city of Brooklyn booms from 1,200 to 170,000 in population, making it the third biggest city in Michigan for the weekend.
Layout: Watkins Glen is a 2.454 mile asphalt road course. The track features 11 turns and a significant elevation change going down the main straightaway and up through the "esses". The track has a longer course for other racing disciplines.
Current Sprint Cup Races:
August 9, 2015 - Cheez-It 335 at the Glen, a 220.5 mile, 90 lap regular season points race. This is a Sunday afternoon event.
Most Wins:
All-Time: Tony Stewart, 5 wins
Active: Tony Stewart, 5 wins
Latest
Winner:
2014 Cheez-It 335 at the Glen: A.J. Allmendinger
Description: The other road course on the NASCAR schedule, Watkins Glen offers a significant change-up from its Sonoma counterpart. Whereas Sonoma is a much slower, technical track, Watkins Glen is capable of producing racing at much higher speeds, allowing drivers to operate with a much more attacking style.
The track features some notable turns, such as the 90 degree right hander that is turn 1, the sweeping "esses" that run uphill, the 4 quick turns "bus stop" chicane, and the half-circle "carousel" turn. The track has quite the personality, and in turn, it has produced some of the most outstanding finishes in all of NASCAR in the last three seasons, including the mind blowing finish between Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Marcos Ambrose in 2012.
The track has also produced some horrific crashes in recent seasons, such as these examples:
Racing here has been spectacular as of late, and Watkins Glen has become one of the best races to watch on the NASCAR schedule.
Fun Facts: Watkins Glen has a greater economic impact for the state of New York than the Buffalo Bills of the NFL.
What went down: Kyle Busch is running away with the season at this point.
Four wins in five races. And he just captured the biggest win of his career. It seems he can do no wrong at this point.
Busch was able to avoid trying any crazy fuel strategy and out dueled Kevin Harvick for the lead on one of the final restarts of the day to gain the lead for good. Even when there was a late caution, Busch was able to continue to fend off Joey Logano on the restart and pulled away with ease.
There's not much else to say. Yes, Kevin Harvick dominated the majority of the day and Brad Keselowski may have had the best car, but Harvick lost the lead and Keselowski's fuel strategy was right. Busch kept himself up at the front all day, avoided shenanigans and nailed the restarts when he had to.
The man is looking like the man to beat for the title at this point.
What it means for Busch: This is Busch's fourth win of the season, fourth in five races, and fourth in only nine races in 2015. It's his 33rd career win and first ever at Indianapolis. Busch now only sits 20 or so points outside of the top-30, and will be in the Chase once he moves into the top-30.
What it means for everyone else: Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski once again squandered their chance at a win. In Harvick's case, the chance I'm referring to is last year's Brickyard, where he started on pole and had a strong car, but couldn't seal the deal. In Keselowski's case, this is about the third week in a row that he's had an outstanding car and hasn't won, due to strategy and pit miscues. Both still scored top-10s though.
Also, Jeff Gordon's final Brickyard ended just 50 laps into the race, after Clint Bowyer spun and Gordon crushed the wall trying to avoid him. Not the way the winningest driver in Indianapolis history wanted to go out in his final race at the historic track.
What’s next: The Series will hit another 2.5 mile behemoth of a track, this time in the second trip to Pocono.
Description: Smooth, steady, and out of the spotlight. That's the way Matt Kenseth rolls.
Kenseth began his career tearing up Wisconsin short tracks as a teenager in a car that he and his father bought when he was 13. Kenseth was unable to race until he was 16, but once given the chance, he began turning heads, winning many well known short track titles, including the Slinger Nationals in the early 1990s.
By the mid-1990s, Kenseth had broken into the Truck Series and XFinity Series, making several starts in both. However, sufficient sponsorship never materialized for Kenseth to continue running in those two touring series, forcing Kenseth to scramble for a ride of any sort.
Suddenly, in 1997, Kenseth got a call from an old Wisconsin short track competitor, Robby Reiser, a began racing the XFinity car that Reiser was crew chief for. Kenseth was able to begin winning races in the XFinity Series and subsequently earned a full-time Sprint Cup Series ride in 2000. Kenseth would win the Coca-Cola 600 in his rookie season, quite the feat for a rookie.
By 2003, Kenseth was among NASCAR's elite. Despite winning only one race in 2003, the third race of the year at Las Vegas, Kenseth dominated the entire season, scoring 25 top-10s and holding the points lead from the fourth race of the year until the end. This was the last title won under the old season long points season, as the Chase was instituted the following season. Some believe the formation of the Chase was due to Kenseth winning the title with only a single win on the season, meaning that NASCAR wanted to emphasize winning instead of consistency.
Kenseth enjoyed a very solid career with Roush Racing, but ultimately decided to part ways with the organization after 2012, heading for Joe Gibbs Racing. In his first season there, Kenseth enjoyed his most successful season to date, winning a career-high 8 races and finishing second in the points to Jimmie Johnson.
Kenseth is not known for putting himself in compromising positions and picking arguments with other drivers. Yes, there was that one dust-up with Jeff Gordon in '06 and that crazy Brad Keselowski incident last season, but aside from that the guy doesn't make a mistake and is one of the most respected drivers in the garage area.
At 43, it's tough to say how much longer Kenseth will be around NASCAR's top series, but he's still running too damn consistent to justify his retirement. Pretty much the way he's been going about things since the year 2000.
Fun Facts: Kenseth is an avid fan of the heavy metal band Metallica and got to meet the band in the mid-2000s. Also, one of his cats is named "Lars" after the band's drummer, Lars Ulrich.
