Chicagoland Speedway Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – Paul Menard had the hottest shoe on the hottest day of the NASCAR season. Torching Chicagoland Speedway with a lap at 180.102 mph (29.998 seconds) in the final round of Saturday’s knockout qualifying session at the 1.5-mile track, Menard won the pole for Sunday’s Overton’s 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Nearly 10 years had passed since Menard last claimed a Busch Pole Award. His only previous top qualifying effort cameRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Despite scorching hot conditions, Justin Allgaier earned a top-10 finish in the Overton’s 300. Allgaier worse a ‘cool suit’ for the first time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and at the same time, had the air hose that provides cooler air to his helmet failed. In the final run to the finish, Allgaier ran inside the top-10 at Chicagoland Speedway in the No. 7 Brandt Celebrating the Famer Chevrolet Camaro SS. In the relatively calm race, the JR Motorsports driver was one of the fewRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – When Kyle Larson crossed the finish line at Chicagoland Speedway 8.030 seconds ahead of runner-up Kevin Harvick, there were no screams of elation from the winner of Saturday’s Overton’s 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Instead, Larson placed an order. “Water, ice and towel at the start/finish line,” Larson radioed to his team, after winning a race in mind-numbing heat that approached 150 degrees in the greenhouse of his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro. Larson had won the pole earlier inRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer After a long, hot day, Cole Custer earned his fifth-consecutive top-five finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The top-five finish in the Overton’s 300 also gives Custer the championship points lead. Custer’s No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang was strong throughout the race. In the final run to the finish, he battled with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regulars Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, as well as fellow Xfinity Series driver Christopher Bell. On the crucial final pit stop of the race, Custer slid through hisRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  A top-10 finish in a patched and repaired car was the story of Will Rodgers’ Scott 150. The ARCA Racing Series driver overcame adversity to finish ninth at Chicagoland Speedway. In the final scramble to the checkered flag, Rodgers jumped from ninth to fifth. Just as it looked like the Ken Schrader Racing driver was about to score his first top-five finish, it nearly came to an end. Rodgers’ No. 52 Drydene Ford Fusion was loosened by Codie Rohrbaugh on the final lap. The NASCARRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – Brett Moffitt didn’t hear the words that turned Friday night’s Overton’s 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in his favor. “I’m blowing up!” John Hunter Nemechek shouted over his team radio as he entered Turn 1 with the lead on the final lap at Chicagoland Speedway. Nemechek’s misfortune proved an unexpected boon to Moffitt, who won the race by 5.092 seconds over Ben Rhodes, as Nemechek faded to seventh at the finish—not with a blown engine, as he had thought, butRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — The month of June hasn’t been kind to Ben Rhodes with finishes of 16th, 17th and 19th in the past three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events. But the end result in Friday night’s Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway was just the momentum Rhodes and his ThorSport Racing team needed at this point in the season. Rhodes crossed the stripe in the second position to earn his best finish of 2018 and best since his victory last September at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. AndRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Outside pole sitter Dalton Sargeant was poised for a turnaround, running inside the top-five for much of the night to keep his playoff hopes alive. That all changed on the 60th lap when a battle for third went awry, as Sargeant’s No. 25 Performance Plus Motor Oil Chevrolet Silverado ended up with the short straw in Friday’s Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway in Jolliet, Illinois. Exiting Turn 1, Sargeant was in a tight three-wide battle for third, battling against John Hunter Nemechek and Stewart Friesen.Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer The right strategy helped Austin Hill tie his career best finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Chicagoland Speedway. Hill came close to improving but settled for a ninth-place finish in the Overton’s 225. In the final stage of the race, Hill waited to make his final pit stop, hoping for a caution. Unlike previous races, the strategy worked for the driver of the No. 02 Young’s Building Systems / Randco Chevrolet Silverado. A late-race caution left Hill as one of only 10Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — What a month of June it’s been for Iowa native Brett Moffitt. The 25-year-old driver went to victory lane at his home track of Iowa Speedway and sits third in the championship standings as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series readies to compete in the Overtons 225 on Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway. But it was uncertain whether the Hattori Racing No. 16 Toyota would get loaded on the hauler and make the trek from North Carolina to Illinois all the way upRead More