Chicago Sun-Times

Matt Kenseth sitting pretty with Sprint Cup win at Chicagoland

Mon, 16 Sep 2013 00:46:47 -0500

If history is any indication, Matt Kenseth is on his way to the 2013 Sprint Cup championship. For the first two years the Chase has opened at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, the winner of the GEICO 400 has gone on to win NASCAR’s Sprint Cup title. And that’s why Kenseth’s victory Sunday night is significant. “It matters because every single point is important from here to the last lap at Homestead [Miami in November],” Kenseth said. “So you want to enjoy this and then go to New Hampshire [next week] to get as many points as you can.” Kenseth entered …

NAPA parts with Michael Waltrip after NASCAR Chase scandal

Thu, 19 Sep 2013 10:28:00 -0500

NAPA Auto Parts said Thursday it is dropping Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of the year in the fallout of the team’s attempt to manipulate a race to get Martin Truex Jr. into NASCAR’s version of the playoffs.

Matt Kenseth’s big win to kick off Chase lost in shuffle of NASCAR’s less-than-memorable week

Mon, 16 Sep 2013 19:40:00 -0500

It seemed fitting that the GEICO 400 was red flagged for a five-hour, 10-minute rain delay Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. The first race of 10 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship didn’t end until almost midnight, and no one seemed to be around to watch Matt Kenseth get his sixth victory of the season and increase his points lead atop the standings. Considering the week NASCAR had to deal with and the penalties, infractions and do-overs that were announced during Chase week, fans and even drivers had a hard time paying attention to what was going …

Kyle Busch easily wins the Nationwide race at Chicagoland

Sat, 14 Sep 2013 22:03:45 -0500

Kyle Busch has an excellent chance to pull off a trifecta of victories this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. But even after winning the NASCAR Nationwide series’ Dollar General 300 Saturday in record fashion, Busch pooh-poohed his chances in Sunday’s first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. “They’re not as good as I’d like it to be,” Busch said. “We couldn’t find the feel or grip I was hoping to have (in the Cup car during practice). It’s going to be a bit of a challenge. I think we’re a top 10 car right now, but …

NASCAR brass gives its drivers directions on how to race

Sun, 15 Sep 2013 02:41:00 -0500

NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France and president Mike Helton think their latest trick should fix what has been a drama-filled week, as the sport kicks off the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship with Sunday’s GEICO 400. France and Helton met with drivers, owners and crew chiefs Saturday afternoon at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet to announce new rules that will go into effect starting with the GEICO 400. Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president for competition, was also at the meeting. France said the main thing the three of them tried to get across was that drivers and teams are …

A small consolation, but Truex turns the fastest lap in practice

Sun, 15 Sep 2013 02:41:10 -0500

Martin Truex Jr., the driver that has garnered the most sympathy in NASCAR’S big brouhaha this week, seemed to take his anger out on the track Saturday. Truex, who originally made the Chase and then got bumped after a 50-point penalty, laid down the fastest speed in the morning Sprint Cup practice session. Truex drove an average lap of 182.383 mph. Truex’s average was just ahead of the newest member of the Chase, Jeff Gordon (182.328). On Friday, Truex qualified 14th for the GEICO 400 and that run gave the Michael Waltrip Racing driver a brief pick-me-up — until he …

Jeff Gordon added to Chase as NASCAR expands field to 13

Sat, 14 Sep 2013 02:13:42 -0500

In one of the most unprecedented moves in NASCAR’s history, Jeff Gordon has been added to the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship as the 13th driver, and two more race teams face sanctions by the sport’s governing body. NASCAR Chairman/CEO Brian France and president Mike Helton made the announcement Friday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. France and Helton said NASCAR put Penske Racing and Front Row Motorsports on probation until Dec. 31 for actions detrimental to the sport. “Due to the totality of events that were outside of Jeff Gordon’s [control], we’re going to add a 13th position to …

Justin Allgaier looking forward to double-duty weekend

Sat, 14 Sep 2013 00:36:00 -0500

Justin Allgaier wishes he knew his Sprint Cup plan for 2014, but he’s just content to race three Cup races in the next month and vie for the NASCAR Nationwide championship. Allgaier is going to do double duty this weekend when he races in Saturday’s Dollar General 300 Nationwide race and in Sunday’s GEICO 400 Sprint Cup race. It will be the first time in Allgaier’s career that he will race in the Cup series. He’ll start 36th in the No. 51 BRANDT Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing. After the GEICO 400, Allgaier said he plans on racing Oct. 12 in …

Kyle Busch wins NASCAR Truck race

Sat, 14 Sep 2013 01:38:00 -0500

Kyle Busch got his 34th career win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, as he dominated the final 10 laps of the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 on Friday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. Busch is doing his own tripleheader this weekend. He will race in Saturday’s Dollar General 300 and Sunday’s GEICO 400. Busch’s victory is his fourth NCWTS this season and seventh top 10 finish of the season. “I felt like our truck was better on the long runs,” Busch said. “It was a fun race, but probably more so on our end. I was taking care of my tires …

Newman, Bowyer bury hatchet

Fri, 13 Sep 2013 02:27:23 -0500

All Ryan Newman wanted to hear was one thing from Clint Bowyer this week. “He said, ‘Man, I’m happy that you’re in [the Chase],’ ” Newman said Thursday at Navy Pier. “That’s what I needed to hear.” Newman and Bowyer are at the center of a controversy that is eclipsing Sunday’s GEICO 400, NASCAR’s first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. NASCAR penalized Bowyer and his Michael Waltrip Racing team on Monday, ruling that Bowyer’s late spin was part of an effort by MWR to manipulate the outcome of last Saturday’s race …

Defending champ Brad Keselowski now has to play to the role of Chase spoiler

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 20:34:01 -0500

If there is a couple things that Brad Keselowski has learned in his NASCAR career, it’s that there are a lot of things in the sport that he can’t control. And if you end up being too honest or too candid on social media, someone waves the immaturity flag in your direction. Keselowski is the defending Sprint Cup champion. But a series of mechanical issues and bad luck have Keselowski out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup when it begins with Sunday’s GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. So Keselowski is going to look at the bright side …

Dale Jarrett thinks Chicagoland is great spot to start the Chase

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 18:46:00 -0500

It has been three years since Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet has hosted the first of 10 races in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. And with all due deference to Loudon, N.H., a former Cup champion thinks Speedway brass and the city are doing a better job at hosting one of NASCAR’s premier events. Dale Jarrett, who won the 1999 Cup and will be inducted into the sport’s hall of fame in 2014, said he can see the interest growing here. He acknowledges that the first year was rough — an all-day rainstorm postponed the race to Monday — …

James Buescher, Jeb Burton looking for big things in Friday’s NASCAR truck race

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 18:10:00 -0500

Two teammates from Turner Scott Motorsports are coming into Friday’s EnjoyIllinois.com 225 truck race with different outlooks on Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. James Buescher has already won at Chicagoland. In 2012, Buescher came back from two laps down to win after his pit crew changed his carburator. Buescher is second in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series point standings, 37 behind leader Matt Crafton, with victories at Michigan and Iowa. But the win at Iowa on Sunday was more meaningful for Buescher than most may think, as it helped to chip away at Crafton’s points lead. “It’s a track that …

Kenseth finds comfort zone

Wed, 11 Sep 2013 22:26:52 -0500

Matt Kenseth is just one of NASCAR’s 12 Chase-eligible drivers who is going to have to get used to answering questions about the heavy penalties and fines levied against Michael Waltrip Racing this week. NASCAR fined MWR $300,000 and docked its three drivers — Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers — 50 points each for manipulating the outcome of Saturday’s race at Richmond (Va.). The point deduction for Truex knocked him out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and put Ryan Newman into the final spot. “The whole situation is so unique,” Kenseth said. “I heard that …

Controversy comes to town

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 23:57:48 -0500

NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Matt Kenseth is the first Chase-eligible driver headed to town Wednesday, when he will tour Chicago landmarks like Willis Tower and Millennium Park. But as NASCAR and Kenseth prepare for Sunday’s GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, the first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, the talk won’t center around Kenseth’s chances for winning the second championship of his career or if Jimmie Johnson is going to win a sixth Cup. It’s going to be about how Martin Truex Jr. is out of the Chase and Ryan Newman is in, and …

Driver Brian Vickers leaves health scare in rear-view mirror

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 07:03:54 -0500

It has been three years since Brian Vickers had to take himself out of a race car after doctors found blood clots in his left leg and lungs. But the emotion of nearly losing his life hasn’t left him. Vickers will race his No. 20 Dollar General Toyota in the STP 300 Nationwide Series race Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, a week after winning the Sprint Cup Series race in Loudon, N.H., for Michael Waltrip Racing. He is running a part-time Cup schedule this season. Besides trying to win the STP 300, Vickers also is entered in NASCAR’s Dash …