CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE OVAL)
LOCATION: JOLIET, ILLINOIS
EVENT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 27 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 3 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, SEPT. 20 (NBCSN/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne
Driver Kasey Kahne Hometown Enumclaw, Washington
Age 35 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2015 Season
18th in standings
26 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
2 top-five finishes
6 top-10 finishes
48 laps led
Career
422 starts
17 wins
27 pole positions
85 top-five finishes
152 top-10 finishes
4,589 laps led
Track Career
11 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
2 top-five finishes
3 top-10 finishes
12 laps led
GREAT CLIPS ON NO. 5 CHEVROLET SS: Great Clips will adorn the hood of Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet SS this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway and will be the primary sponsor on the car for one additional Sprint Cup Series race this year: Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 22).
STATISTICS AT CHICAGOLAND: In the last 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Chicagoland Speedway, Kahne ranks ninth in average starting position (13.3) and he ranks 10th in top-five finishes (two).
1.5-MILE TRACK STATS: Kahne has collected eight of his 17 career Cup wins and 11 of his 27 pole positions on 1.5-mile tracks.
DOUBLE DUTY: Kahne, along with partner Great Clips, will be performing double duty this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, driving the No. 88 Great Clips Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race will mark Kahne’s fifth start of the season in that series. His best NXS finish of 2015 (third) came earlier this year at Charlotte Motor Speedway, also a 1.5-mile track.
FIVE KAHNE: Kahne started the Five Kahne 5K charity run in 2010 with the goal of building an annual event to generate funds for youth causes. 2015 marks the sixth year of the Five Kahne 5K presented by Great Clips. Fundraising efforts, in addition to supporting the Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte, have allowed nearly 5,000 children in North Carolina the opportunity to receive free field trips to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Registration for the Oct. 11 event is now available by clicking here.
No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS / Jeff Gordon
Driver Jeff Gordon Hometown Pittsboro, Indiana
Age 44 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2015 Season
13th in standings
26 starts
0 wins
3 pole positions
3 top-five finishes
13 top-10 finishes
167 laps led
Career
787 starts
92 wins
80 pole positions
323 top-five finishes
467 top-10 finishes
24,831 laps led
Track Career
14 starts
1 win
1 pole position
7 top-five finishes
9 top-10 finishes
182 laps led
Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS, is scheduled to visit the Chicagoland Speedway media center at 2:30 p.m. local time Friday.
POINTS UPDATE: With his seventh-place finish at Richmond International Raceway Saturday night, Jeff Gordon earned a berth in the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion is now 12 points behind the leaders following the points reset.
TYING RUDD: On Sunday when Gordon takes the green flag at Chicago, he will tie former Hendrick Motorsports teammate Ricky Rudd for most consecutive starts in NASCAR history with 788. Gordon currently holds the longest consecutive starts streak from the beginning of a career – he has never missed a race since his Nov. 15, 1992, debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
NEARING 25K: Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS, is 169 shy of 25,000 career laps led.
NYC FOR JG’S CHASE ACROSS NORTH AMERICA: As part of NASCAR’s “Chase Across North America,” Gordon is scheduled to visit New York City on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Outlets and timing are TBD.
ANOTHER TITLE FOR GORDON: Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE: AXTA), a leading global manufacturer of liquid and powder coatings, and Gordon announced a new multi-year partnership in February. Gordon was named Axalta’s Global Business Advisor and will serve as special advisor to Charlie Shaver, Axalta Chairman and CEO, bringing his winning skills and innovative thinking to Axalta, its leadership team and its customers worldwide.
No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 39 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2015 Season
1st in standings
26 starts
4 wins
0 pole positions
11 top-five finishes
17 top-10 finishes
467 laps led
Career
497 starts
74 wins
33 pole positions
204 top-five finishes
309 top-10 finishes
17,618 laps led
Track Career
13 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
7 top-five finishes
10 top-10 finishes
577 laps led
ICYMI, JOHNSON AND LOWE’S CONTRACT NEWS: Hendrick Motorsports announced Monday that Lowe’s Companies Inc. has extended its longtime relationship with Hendrick Motorsports after signing a two-year agreement that will continue its full-season primary sponsorship of the No. 48 NASCAR Sprint Cup team and six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson in 2016 and 2017. In addition, Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports have agreed to a two-year contract extension that will keep the driver behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS through 2017. Click here to watch the video.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIMMIE: Johnson will turn 40 years old on Thursday, Sept. 17. He will celebrate at Chase Media Day in Chicago with the 15 other Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers. Johnson will participate in media interviews followed by a fan fest in downtown Chicago.
TESTING KANSAS: Johnson participated in the Goodyear test on Monday and Tuesday of this week at Kansas Speedway, the site of one of Johnson’s wins earlier this season. He also will participate in the open test on Wednesday and visit the media center during the lunchtime break at noon central time.
HOME TRACK FOR CHAD: No. 48 crew chief Chad Knaus was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, approximately 106 miles north of Joliet. Knaus cut his teeth in the racing world piloting Late Model Stock cars at Rockford Speedway with his father. Knaus graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Rockford.
TOP SEED: Johnson enters the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as the No. 1 seed thanks to four wins during the regular season. His 12th postseason berth, Johnson is the only driver to have made the Chase every year. During the past 10 years, he has won 25 postseason races — including at least one in every Chase since 2004.
WINLESS IN CHICAGO: Even though Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe’s team have led 577 laps at Chicago and finished in the top 10 on 10 occasions, the 1.5-mile track remains one of the four venues on the current Sprint Cup schedule where Johnson has yet to score a win. The others are Kentucky, Watkins Glen and Homestead-Miami.
CHICAGO DRIVER RATING: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Johnson has the series-best driver rating at Chicago with a score of 115.5 during the past 10 years at the track. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
JOHNSON WELLNESS CHALLENGE RAISES $300,000: Johnson and his wife, Chandra, announced that the second annual Jimmie Johnson Foundation Wellness Challenge has raised more than $300,000. Funds raised by the series of three events will support K-12 public schools through current Foundation programs. Nearly 1,000 people participated in the 2015 edition of the Wellness Challenge, which consisted of three events based in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area.
No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hometown Kannapolis, North Carolina
Age 40 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2015 Season
6th in standings
26 starts
2 wins
0 pole positions
12 top-five finishes
17 top-10 finishes
204 laps led
Career
567 starts
25 wins
13 pole positions
139 top-five finishes
241 top-10 finishes
8,051 laps led
Track Career
14 starts
1 win
0 pole positions
3 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
123 laps led
CHASE REPORT: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS, will be seeded sixth to start the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. This is the eighth overall and fifth consecutive season in which Earnhardt has qualified for the Chase. The driver of the No. 88 Chevy SS has 2,006 points and trails leader and teammate Johnson by six points going into the 10-race playoff, which begins this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.
WINDY CITY WIN: Earnhardt reached Victory Lane at Chicagoland Speedway on July 10, 2005. The then-30-year-old Earnhardt lined up 25th for the event and cracked the top 10 within the first 100 laps. He led the final 11 laps en route to securing the win.
LAPS IN THE TOP 15: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Earnhardt ranks seventh among drivers for laps run in the top 15 during the last 10 races at Chicago. In that span at the 1.5-mile oval, the Kannapolis, North Carolina, native has spent 67.5 percent of his laps running in the top 15.
DRIVER RATING: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Earnhardt is ranked 11th in the driver rating category with an average score of 89.2 in the last 10 races at Chicago. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
OMAZE AND NATIONWIDE: The Dale Jr. Foundation and Nationwide have partnered to offer a once-in-a-lifetime experience to benefit Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Through Omaze, fans can bid on the opportunity to attend the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and check out Earnhardt’s western town and race car graveyard during an exclusive tour of his property, Dirty Mo Acres. Click here to bid.
Hendrick Motorsports
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT CHICAGO: At Chicagoland Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has two wins, four pole positions, 20 top-five finishes and 28 top-10s. Mark Martin most recently visited Victory Lane for the organization at the track in 2009.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 237 victories, 204 pole positions, 970 top-five finishes and 1,615 top-10 finishes in Sprint Cup competition. Its teams have led 64,727 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
“Chicago is a tough track. It’s pretty slippery. It grinds on the tires pretty hard, so the car loses speed as the race goes and there are actually some pretty rough spots. I think as the mile-and-a-half tracks go, Chicago is one of the better tracks we have because the surface is older than most. I enjoy racing there. I think it’s a great track. There will be lots of racing going on.”
Kasey Kahne on racing at Chicago
“There was a lot of pressure to make the Chase in my final year, so I’m glad we’re in it. As we saw last year, there are a lot of ways to make it to the season finale in Miami to battle for the championship – whether it’s wins or consistency. Then, when you take the final four drivers at Homestead and reset the points, I think, ‘Wow, what drama.’ It’s going to be amazing again and I love this format because of that.”
Jeff Gordon on making the Chase
“I think Chicago is a great place to start the playoffs. It’s a major market and Chicago. You need a lot of side speed on this track — it’s a little older and it’s a rougher surface so you burn tires up pretty good. A lot can change there with handling, so having a driver who is uncomfortable at certain points during a run is helpful.”
Jimmie Johnson on starting the Chase at Chicago
“You’ve got to take chances. You’re not going to sit there and top-10 them to death. I think you’ve got to be aggressive. I think that maybe we can curtail what we did in Richmond into some good runs going into the Chase. We want to start off with a couple good runs and keep going.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. on finding success in the Chase
