NASCAR Cup Series

I will tell you up front that this will be a rather brief Matty’s Picks as there is really nothing exciting to write about at Chicagoland Speedway.

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 U.S. ARMY MEDICINE CHEVROLET met with media and discussed last week's racing at Richmond, answered questions about deliberately spinning out to cause a caution, his team's intermediate program and more.

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET met with members of the media at Chicagoland Speedway and discussed the Chase, racing at Chicagoland and other topics.

TONY STEWART NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET met with members of the media at Chicagoland Speedway about Chicagoland's grip, the difference in a day and night race at Chicagoland, a competition director for Stewart Hass Racing and other topics.

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford, took time after the first practice session Friday at Chicagoland Speedway to meet with media members and discuss the Chase and the weekend ahead.

KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) HOW WAS YOUR FIRST PRACTICE SESSION TODAY? "Things were really good for our car. The track was fresh and the speeds were really high. Nobody expected the speeds to be that fast."

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What is your outlook for this weekend? "We didn't have a ton of speed in our car the first practice, but we didn't make qualifying run like most guys did."

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Doublemint Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing How does it feel to start the Chase as the points leader? “Chicago has been a fun place to race for us here in the past -- certainly 2008 winning the race."

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Chicagoland Speedway and discussed being in the Chase, racing at Chicagoland and other topics.

JIMMIE JOHNSON NO. 48 LOWE’S/ KOBALT TOOLSCHEVEROLET met with members of the media at Chicagoland Speedway and discussed his feelings going into the chase, the Richmond incident with Kurt Busch, team radios and other topics.