Chicago trends and notes
• This is the 19th race of 36 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2008.
• This is the seventh of 17 intermediate-track races this season.
• This is the eighth time NASCAR's top series has competed at Chicago since 2001.
• Chicago is a 1.5-mile oval with the corners banked at 18 degrees, the tri-oval banked at 11 degrees and the backstretch banked at 5 degrees.
• Forty-five drivers are on the pre-entry list to compete for the 43 starting slots in Saturday's 267-lap, 400.5-mile race. Of those 45 entrants, 10 must meet qualifying times to make Saturday's field. They are: J.J. Yeley, Patrick Carpentier, Jason Leffler, Tony Raines, Bill Elliott, Johnny Sauter, Terry Labonte, Scott Riggs, AJ Allmendinger and Joe Nemechek.
• Of the go-or-go-home drivers, Terry Labonte and Bill Elliott are eligible for a champion's provisional. Labonte, as the more recent champion (1996), would edge out Elliott (1988) if both needed the spot.
• If qualifying were canceled, Tony Raines and Johnny Sauter would miss the show.
• The drivers who are on the bubble for the top 35 in owners points are:
32) Reed Sorenson/Ganassi Racing: 1,475, +175 (175 points above 36th place)
33) Regan Smith/DEI: 1,436, +136
34) Michael McDowell/Waltrip Racing: 1,382, +82
35) Sam Hornish/Penske Racing: 1,370, +70
These drivers/teams must qualify by speed but are close to the top 35:
36) Scott Riggs/Haas CNC Racing: 1,300, -70 points (70 points below 35th place)
37) A.J. Allmendinger/Red Bull Racing: 1170, -200
38) J.J. Yeley/Hall of Fame Racing: 1165, -205
• Jason Leffler is driving the No. 70 car for CNC/Haas Racing. This car has not had a regular driver since Jeremy Mayfield was released prior to Phoenix.
• Bill Elliott is back driving the No. 21 car for Wood Brothers Racing.
• Of the seven Cup Series races here, Chevrolet has won all but one. Ryan Newman won in a Dodge in 2003.
• The past six drivers to sit on the pole at Chicago (Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton and Casey Mears) all finished in the top five.
• Several teams are testing at Kentucky Speedway this week in preparation for Chicago. The teams testing are: Hendrick Motorsports, DEI, Penske Racing, Bill Davis Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Hall of Fame Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing.
• Of the drivers who have competed in all seven previous races in Chicago, Kevin Harvick has the best average finish (8.0). Jeff Gordon is second (10.0). Each has finished off the lead lap only once.
• No driver has finished all seven races on the lead lap, but in addition to Gordon and Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth have done it six times. Harvick and Kenseth are the only two of these four drivers to have not recorded a DNF in Chicago.
• Tony Stewart has led the most laps (384) and has the most top-5s (five).
• Of the drivers who have started all seven races at Chicagoland, Dave Blaney has the worst average finish (27.4). Of the go-or-go-home drivers, Joe Nemechek has the worst average finish (25.1). Bill Elliott is the go-or-go-homer with the best average finish (18.2).
• Of the former winners here, Ryan Newman has the worst finishing average (18.8).
There are five previous Chicago winners entered this weekend with seven victories among them:
| Driver | Chicago wins |
| Kevin Harvick | 2 - 2001, 2002 |
| Tony Stewart | 2 - 2004, 2007 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 1 - 2005 |
| Jeff Gordon | 1 - 2006 |
| Ryan Newman | 1 - 2003 |
| POS | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
| 1 | Tony Stewart | Jeff Gordon | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Tony Stewart |
| 2 | Matt Kenseth | Jeff Burton | Matt Kenseth | Jimmie Johnson |
| 3 | Carl Edwards | Kyle Busch | Jimmie Johnson | Dale Jarrett |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick | Brian Vickers | Jeff Gordon |
| 5 | Casey Mears | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Tony Stewart | Jeremy Mayfield |
| 6 | Kurt Busch | Jimmie Johnson | Jeremy Mayfield | Terry Labonte |
| 7 | Jeff Burton | Reed Sorenson | Ricky Rudd | Sterling Marlin |
| 8 | Ryan Newman | Kurt Busch | Kurt Busch | Joe Nemechek |
| 9 | Jeff Gordon | Clint Bowyer | Casey Mears | Michael Waltrip |
| 10 | Clint Bowyer | J.J. Yeley | Mark Martin | Kevin Harvick |
| 11 | Greg Biffle | Greg Biffle | Greg Biffle | Rusty Wallace |
| 12 | Reed Sorenson | Bobby Labonte | Rusty Wallace | Matt Kenseth |
| 13 | Kyle Busch | Brian Vickers | Bobby Labonte | Jamie McMurray |
| 14 | Mark Martin | Denny Hamlin | Kyle Busch | Brian Vickers |
| 15 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Scott Riggs | Joe Nemechek | Casey Mears |
| 16 | David Gilliland | Martin Truex Jr. | David Stremme | John Andretti |
| 17 | Denny Hamlin | Dave Blaney | Scott Wimmer | Robby Gordon |
| 18 | John Andretti | Mark Martin | Dale Jarrett | Bobby Labonte |
| 19 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | Robby Gordon | Kevin Harvick | Ward Burton |
| 20 | Bobby Labonte | Carl Edwards | Jason Leffler | Greg Biffle |
| 21 | Ricky Rudd | David Stremme | Bobby Hamilton Jr. | Elliott Sadler |
| 22 | Johnny Sauter | Matt Kenseth | Jamie McMurray | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| 23 | Sterling Marlin | Kasey Kahne | Scott Riggs | Scott Wimmer |
| 24 | Tony Raines | Jeremy Mayfield | Jeff Green | Mark Martin |
| 25 | David Ragan | Casey Mears | Mike Wallace | Jimmy Spencer |
- Kyle Busch (2,686) was the winner Saturday at Daytona and remains first in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. Busch has three starts at Chicago with a top-5 and an average finish of 10.0.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-182) was the eighth-place finisher at Daytona and moved up one place in the standings to second. In seven starts here, Earnhardt has three top-10s, two top-5s, a win and an average finish of 15.1.
- Jeff Burton (-202) finished 37th Saturday and fell one place to third in the standings. Burton has seven starts here with three top-10s, a top-5 and an average finish of 19.3.
- Carl Edwards (-249) was the runner-up at Daytona and remains fourth in the standings. In three starts here, Edwards has a top-5 and an average finish of 20.7.
- Jimmie Johnson (-367) finished 23rd Saturday, maintaining fifth place in the standings. Johnson has six starts here with five top-10s, four top-5s and an average finish of 9.2.
- Jeff Gordon (-437) finished 30th Saturday and remains sixth in the standings. Gordon has seven starts here with five top-10s, four top-5s, a win and an average finish of 10.0.
- Denny Hamlin (-446) finished 26th at Daytona and remains seventh in the standings. Hamlin has two finishes here, a 14th and a 17th.
- Kasey Kahne (-509) finished seventh Saturday and moved up two spots to eighth in the standings. Kahne has four starts here with an average finish of 33.0.
- Matt Kenseth (-520) finished third at Daytona and moved up four places in the standings to ninth. Kenseth has seven starts here with three top-10s, two top-5s and an average finish of 10.1.
- Clint Bowyer (-527) finished ninth Saturday night and moved up one place to 10th in the standings. Bowyer has two starts here with finishes of ninth and 10th.
Mark Garrow covers fantasy racing for ESPN.com.
