Southwest of the skyscrapers and stadiums of downtown Chicago sits the 1.5-mile track known as Chicagoland Speedway. From the rolling hills and undulations of Napa Valley to the steel and concrete of the Wind City is what’s in store this week for the Camping World 400 and the only trip to Chicagoland Speedway this year. It is one of the newer tracks on the circuit as it first held Cup races in 2001 and opened that year, meaning there have only been 18 races at the Cup level to this point on the Tri-Oval track. That’s not a very long history to draw from, but it’s an interesting one.
Starting Positions of Winners
Starting Pos.
Races Won
Starting Pos.
Races Won
1
1
16
1
3
1
19
1
6
2
25
2
7
1
26
1
10
2
29
1
13
2
32
1
14
2
As you can see, 13 different winning positions have a win in the 18 total races and just one has come from the pole, Kyle Busch back in 2008. In fact 10 of the 18 have come from P6, P10, P13, P14, and P25 combined with two each. That is interesting winning history for a track distance that is usually a predictable one. However, the only thing that’s common about this track is the 1.5-mile distance.
The turns are banked at 18 degrees while the Tri-Oval is banked 11 degrees and the back straightaway is tilted at a slim five degrees. It is a decently wide track with a couple of different grooves to race in with the bottom being the shortest way around but the top carrying more momentum, which you’ll see be a factor later in the race on Sunday. The surface of the track is a fairly rough one meaning tire wear can be worse here than the recent 1.5-mile tracks we’ve had and is similar to that of Atlanta and Miami and Auto Club. Dating back to 2010 there’s only been one race with more than six cautions, 2013 with nine, and since the stages came in in 2017, those two races had four and five cautions respectively. That means that with 267 laps on the docket, there are long green flag runs likely in the race and long-run speed is always a factor here.
Toyota’s have taken the last four races here and five of the last six and six of the last nine. Even though that manufacturer has been dominant, the laps led have been pretty evenly split with only three races in the last nine having a driver lead 100 or more laps. Though with the warmer temps in July than September when the race was previously run the last several years, the lead cars will react differently than they would in cooler temps in September.
Track Data
Drivers To Watch
Last Five Races at Chicagoland
Avg.
Run
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Martin Truex Jr
5
15.2
9.8
6.6
8.6
2
3
3
5
5
Denny Hamlin
5
19
11
4.8
14.2
1
2
5
5
5
Brad Keselowski
5
8.4
6.2
5.8
2.6
1
2
5
5
5
Kyle Busch
5
5.2
7.2
8
-2.8
1
1
4
5
5
Kyle Larson
5
12.4
9
7
5.4
0
3
4
4
5
Kevin Harvick
5
6.4
10.2
14.6
-8.2
0
3
3
3
4
Joey Logano
5
11.6
7.4
5.4
6.2
0
2
5
5
5
Chase Elliott
3
8.3
5
8
0.3
0
2
2
2
3
Kurt Busch
5
11.2
11.2
12
-0.8
0
1
2
3
5
Ryan Newman
5
11.8
16.2
15.2
-3.4
0
1
1
3
4
Ryan Blaney
3
12
12.7
11
1
0
1
1
2
3
Clint Bowyer
5
15.2
16.8
19.6
-4.4
0
1
1
2
3
Avg.
Run
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Alex Bowman
4
25.3
23.5
23
2.3
0
0
2
2
2
Jimmie Johnson
5
15.6
9.6
11.4
4.2
0
0
1
5
5
Erik Jones
2
16.5
18.5
19.5
-3
0
0
1
1
1
Aric Almirola
5
19.4
19.2
26.4
-7
0
0
1
1
1
Daniel Suarez
2
11.5
15
11.5
0
0
0
0
2
2
Paul Menard
5
16
18.2
17.2
-1.2
0
0
0
2
3
Austin Dillon
5
11.6
18.8
25.2
-13.6
0
0
0
1
3
David Ragan
5
30.6
29.6
29.6
1
0
0
0
1
1
William Byron
1
8
18
20
-12
0
0
0
0
1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
5
17.8
21.2
20.2
-2.4
0
0
0
0
3
Bubba Wallace
1
22
23
23
-1
0
0
0
0
0
Chris Buescher
3
23.3
25.7
25.7
-2.4
0
0
0
0
0
Avg.
Run
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Ty Dillon
3
27
27
27.7
-0.7
0
0
0
0
0
Landon Cassill
5
32.6
29.2
28
4.6
0
0
0
0
1
Michael McDowell
4
29.5
30.8
30
-0.5
0
0
0
0
0
Ross Chastain
1
27
30
30
-3
0
0
0
0
0
Matt DiBenedetto
4
33.5
32.3
32.3
1.2
0
0
0
0
0
Reed Sorenson
5
37
35.4
34.4
2.6
0
0
0
0
0
JJ Yeley
1
34
36
35
-1
0
0
0
0
0
BJ McLeod
1
33
36
35
-2
0
0
0
0
0
Corey LaJoie
2
32.5
34.5
35
-2.5
0
0
0
0
0
Daniel Hemric
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Matt Tifft
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Quin Houff
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Ryan Preece
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Laps
Laps Led
Fastest
Fast Laps
Top-15
Avg. Driver
Laps
Driver
#
Led
/Race
Laps
/Race
Rate
Rating
Comp.
Martin Truex Jr
5
148
29.6
164
32.8
75%
109
1338
Denny Hamlin
5
12
0
39
0
81%
102.9
1338
Brad Keselowski
5
86
17.2
72
14.4
97%
108.6
1338
Kyle Busch
5
332
66.4
128
25.6
87%
116.9
1337
Kyle Larson
5
29
5.8
103
20.6
86%
102
1337
Kevin Harvick
5
187
37.4
135
27.0
72%
109.4
1279
Joey Logano
5
2
0.4
21
4.2
94%
102.4
1338
Chase Elliott
3
117
39.0
54
18.0
94%
111.4
803
Kurt Busch
5
57
11.4
60
12.0
83%
94.4
1335
Ryan Newman
5
3
0.6
18
3.6
40%
79.6
1334
Ryan Blaney
3
27
9.0
21
7.0
74%
86.7
803
Clint Bowyer
5
21
4.2
25
5.0
49%
76.7
1311
Laps
Laps Led
Fastest
Fast Laps
Top-15
Avg. Driver
Laps
Driver
#
Led
/Race
Laps
/Race
Rate
Rating
Comp.
Alex Bowman
4
6
1.5
6
1.5
40%
65.8
1057
Jimmie Johnson
5
118
23.6
62
12.4
84%
97.7
1338
Erik Jones
2
0
0.0
9
4.5
47%
75.8
526
Aric Almirola
5
72
14.4
45
9.0
43%
73.4
1293
Daniel Suarez
2
0
0.0
0
0.0
62%
82.3
534
Paul Menard
5
0
0.0
11
2.2
36%
70.9
1334
Austin Dillon
5
13
2.6
17
3.4
41%
74.6
1190
David Ragan
5
0
0.0
3
0.6
10%
50
1245
William Byron
1
0
0.0
0
0.0
12%
65
266
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
5
0
0.0
31
6.2
17%
64.5
1329
Bubba Wallace
1
0
0.0
0
0.0
1%
54
266
Chris Buescher
3
0
0.0
0
0.0
2%
53.3
797
Laps
Laps Led
Fastest
Fast Laps
Top-15
Avg. Driver
Laps
Driver
#
Led
/Race
Laps
/Race
Rate
Rating
Comp.
Ty Dillon
3
0
0.0
1
0.3
2%
49.4
794
Landon Cassill
5
2
0.4
4
0.8
7%
46.3
1282
Michael McDowell
4
0
0.0
6
1.5
2%
43.4
1052
Ross Chastain
1
0
0.0
0
0.0
0%
42.1
261
Matt DiBenedetto
4
0
0.0
0
0.0
0%
38.7
1048
Reed Sorenson
5
0
0.0
0
0.0
0%
34.3
1295
JJ Yeley
1
0
0.0
0
0.0
0%
32.8
261
BJ McLeod
1
0
0.0
0
0.0
0%
29.5
227
Corey LaJoie
2
0
0.0
0
0.0
0%
33.5
489
Daniel Hemric
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Matt Tifft
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Quin Houff
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Ryan Preece
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Top-20 Drivers Over Last 10 Races at Chicagoland
Avg.
Run.
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Brad Keselowski
10
12.2
9.6
9.2
3
2
4
8
8
9
Martin Truex Jr
10
15.7
11.2
10.5
5.2
2
3
4
7
10
Denny Hamlin
10
17.3
12.5
11.7
5.6
1
3
7
7
8
Kyle Busch
10
10.7
10.2
11.8
-1.1
1
3
6
7
8
Kevin Harvick
10
16.9
13.5
14.3
2.6
0
5
5
6
8
Kyle Larson
5
12.4
9
7
5.4
0
3
4
4
5
Clint Bowyer
10
15
13.5
13.7
1.3
0
2
6
7
8
Joey Logano
10
12.1
12.3
12.4
-0.3
0
2
6
6
9
Jimmie Johnson
10
10.5
7.8
10.7
-0.2
0
2
5
9
9
Ryan Newman
10
13.4
14.4
12.7
0.7
0
2
5
7
8
Avg.
Run.
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Kurt Busch
10
14.9
13.4
14.5
0.4
0
2
4
5
8
Chase Elliott
3
8.3
5
8
0.3
0
2
2
2
3
Ryan Blaney
3
12
12.7
11
1
0
1
1
2
3
Alex Bowman
4
25.3
23.5
23
2.3
0
0
2
2
2
Paul Menard
10
14
16.5
18.8
-4.8
0
0
1
4
6
Aric Almirola
7
16.3
17.6
23.1
-6.8
0
0
1
2
3
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
6
15.7
19.7
18.2
-2.5
0
0
1
1
4
Erik Jones
2
16.5
18.5
19.5
-3
0
0
1
1
1
David Ragan
10
26.7
25.3
24.4
2.3
0
0
0
3
3
Daniel Suarez
2
11.5
15
11.5
0
0
0
0
2
2
Laps
Laps Led
Fastest
Fast Laps
Top-15
Avg. Driver
Driver
#
Led
/Race
Laps
/Race
Rate
Rating
Brad Keselowski
10
168
16.8
157
15.7
77%
101.1
Martin Truex Jr
10
162
16.2
217
21.7
72%
99
Denny Hamlin
10
13
1.3
53
5.3
73%
92.4
Kyle Busch
10
406
40.6
180
18
75%
104.8
Kevin Harvick
10
189
18.9
148
14.8
59%
95.6
Kyle Larson
5
29
5.8
103
20.6
86%
102
Clint Bowyer
10
28
2.8
47
4.7
69%
87.7
Joey Logano
10
34
3.4
49
4.9
64%
91.6
Jimmie Johnson
10
519
51.9
326
32.6
86%
110.5
Ryan Newman
10
22
2.2
30
3
51%
84.7
Laps
Laps Led
Fastest
Fast Laps
Top-15
Avg. Driver
Driver
#
Led
/Race
Laps
/Race
Rate
Rating
Kurt Busch
10
121
12.1
104
10.4
68%
90.5
Chase Elliott
3
117
39
54
18
94%
111.4
Ryan Blaney
3
27
9
21
7
74%
86.7
Alex Bowman
4
6
1.5
6
1.5
40%
65.8
Paul Menard
10
0
0
21
2.1
46%
74
Aric Almirola
7
76
10.86
47
6.71
48%
76.9
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
6
0
0
33
5.5
26%
68.7
Erik Jones
2
0
0
9
4.5
47%
75.8
David Ragan
10
4
0.4
5
0.5
19%
59.2
Daniel Suarez
2
0
0
0
0
62%
82.3
Top-20 Drivers at Similar Races (Homestead, Auto Club, Atlanta, and Chicago)
