Updated Sep 18, 2015 at 11:24a ET
We are at Chicago this weekend to kick off the 10-race championship Chase. It is one of only two tracks that we have not been to this year. What's interesting about going into this weekend is, if you look at last year's Chicago Chase race, 13 of our 16 championship contenders this year finished in the top 15 there last year. Taking that a step further, four of this year's Chase Contenders finished in the top five, and nine finished in the top 10.
Even though we know it is a year later and the cars and rules are different, too, I still believe these 16 drivers vying for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship should run pretty well this weekend. Chicago is one of five 1.5-mile tracks that are in the Chase. While the other four tracks are the same length and somewhat similar in banking, every track is different, and Chicago is no exception.
I think if you come out of the box strong at Chicago, it is a bit of a measuring stick of who will be the major players at those other four mile-and-a-half tracks. It can never be overstated how important winning is. Like Brad Keselowski did last year at Chicago, as he stood there in Victory Lane enjoying that moment in time, he and his team knew they automatically had qualified for the next round. Trust me, that is a huge feeling of relief for the owner, the driver, the team and, yes, even the sponsor.
For the other 15 who don't win at Chicago, they know they need to put three solid finishes together because they know there will be four drivers eliminated after this first round. I was in Chicago in June for the XFINITY Series race, and I noticed the track continues to lose more and more grip.
So getting your car to run and handle well on long runs is pretty critical. What we also can't lose sight of, because we've seen it happen before, is that Chicago can come down to a fuel-mileage race. I still see the Hendrick teams as being behind the Gibbs Toyotas and the Penske Fords right now. What is also interesting is that believe it or not, despite all his wins and championships, Chicago remains one of the few tracks where Jimmie Johnson has never won a NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
So I am really interested to see, as our 2015 Chase begins, who the major players are early on. I suspect it will be the usual cast of characters that we've seen all year up front, but I am really curious to see if Hendrick Motorsports is able to find some speed and get to the front on a consistent basis these next 10 weeks.
VIDEO: Look back on last year's race at Chicagoland Speedway
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