Tony Stewart wins Geico 400 Chase race at Chicagoland Speedway – NASCAR news
It was survival of the fittest in terms of fuel mileage as Tony Stewart managed to outlast the rest to win the Geico 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway on Monday, September 19, 2011.
It was an entertaining race which saw many high profile drivers missing out on the points.
There were doubts that the race day could be postponed to Tuesday after forecasts had predicted another shower but thankfully the rain did not interfere as drivers took to the track at noon.
Geico Caveman gave the signal as the drivers finally got underway with pole sitter Matt Kenseth holding on to his lead at the start. Paul Menard lost his second place to Kurt Busch with Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle making the top five in the early exchanges.
Kyle Busch managed to overtake Kenseth at the first pit stops at lap 34 to take pole position in the race but was shortly overtaken by his elder brother Kurt Busch. He led the race until lap 104 when Carl Edwards managed to overtake him.
The lead was then shuffled around as Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski all had their share of the lead but were unable to hold on to it for too long.
Meanwhile, Tony Stewart climbed up to second in the race, having started in 26th place. Matt Kenseth fought back to regain first place during the pit stop but was overtaken by Tony Stewart, who led for the first time in the race. It was then Dale
Earnhardt Jr.’s turn to lead the pack but he could not sustain the challenge and it was left between Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart during the final stages.
That is where Stewart’s fuel mileage paid off as Kenseth was running low on fuel and had to let Tony Stewart overtake him on lap 237 to conserve fuel for his final run.
Tony Stewart faced no fuel issues this time around, banishing the memories of the 2010 Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire as he took the chequered flag with cars around him running out of fuel. This is Stewart’s first win of the season and 40th of
his career, coming four days after he discounted himself as a contender for the Sprint Cup title.
Kevin Harvick kept his lead at the top of the Series with a hard fought second place. Dale Earnhardt Junior raced in at third with Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch coming in with fourth and fifth respectively.
Matt Kenseth finished eighth but was penalised by NASCAR as J.J Yeley pushed him through turns 3 and 4 of the final lap. According the NASCAR rules, drivers cannot assist each other in the final lap. He was downgraded to 21st.
Other Championship contenders such as Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin were unable to finish the race and have plummeted down in the race for the Sprint Cup Championship.
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