2016 NASCAR Week 27 Preview: Chicagoland

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400

Chicagoland Speedway

By Richard Tix

The first Chase race of 2016 is here. It is an exciting time of the year for NASCAR fans, but it also makes us realize that we only have ten races left. On the bright side, NASCAR has one of the shortest offseason's so the world will not end.

Chicagoland is an interesting place to start the Chase off at. Yes, it is another 1.5 mile track that NASCAR first ran in 2001. However boring that sounds, it actually leads to some interesting results. David Reutimann won here in 2010 while driving for Michael Waltrip Racing in the No. 00. On top of a surprising winner going to Victory Lane, Chicagoland has also brought us 11 different race winners in 15 races.

With all that in mind, this is week one of the Chase and if history has told us anything about Chicagoland it has shown us anyone can win. Anyone in the Chase has an ok shot to win this week which makes this weekend even more fun.

A few guys have set themselves apart here at Chicagoland so look for them to be front runners this weekend. Check out who the best are below.

**This section is just a quick look at some of Cup drivers latest finishes. This is not a tool for fantasy purposes and NBTW only is looking at end results. No deep statistic's are involved, but rather it is just a quick way to get ready for the race and get caught up on who has finished well at each track**

The Good

• Brad Keselowski- BK has won two career races here at Chicagoland including the very first Chase race in 2014 (which was the first year of this new format). He currently has five straight top 10 finishes here. 
• Kyle Busch- Kyle has one career race here, but it was way back in 2008. However, he has four straight top 10 finishes including a 9th place finish after leading 121 laps last year. 
• Matt Kenseth- Kenseth has three straight top 10's here at Chicagoland including winning in 2013. A win this time around would be a nice start to the 2016 Chase.

The Middle

• Jimmie Johnson- In 14 career starts here JJ has ten top 10's. However, he has yet to get a win in that same time. He has run here well, but will he while struggling this season in general?

The Bad

• Paul Menard- Menards lone top 10 came in 2010 and his last top 15 came in 2012. Those two top 15's are his only top 15's at Chicagoland in nine tries.
• Jamie McMurray- In 13 starts at Chicagoland Speedway Jamie McMurray has three top 10's and an average finish of 20.8. He is in the Chase shit time around, but expect a finish of 15th-22nd.
• Greg Biffle- Biffle also has 13 career starts at Chicagoland, but only one top 10. That lone top 10 was all the way back in 2008, which seems like forever ago at RFR.

About the Track: Chicagoland Speedway

Track Stats

• This will be the 16th NASCAR Cup stop at Chicagoland Speedway
• 5 drivers have started all 15 races here at Chicagoland
• Their has been 11 different winners at Chicagoland in 15 races.
• Only three drivers have multiple wins here (Stewart, Harvick, and Keselowski)
• David Reutimann won with MWR here back in 2010
• Stewart and Havrick have the most career top 5's with 8
• Stewart and Jimmie Johnson have the most career top 10's with 10
• Johnson has led the most career laps here with 577

Track Info

• Surface: Asphalt
• Length: 1.5 miles
• Banking
• Turns: 18 degrees
• Frontstretch: 11 degrees
• Backstretch: 15 degrees