FYI WIRZ: Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hot in Dry Chicago

The rain finally won late in the evening on NASCAR Sunday, the scheduled day for the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, causing a postponed race. But showers departed Monday and many fans returned to watch the first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Many have been eagerly awaiting the first race of the 10-race championship playoff and the Geico 400 did not disappoint, with Tony Stewart surging to the front and conserving enough fuel to capture the checkers. Chase drivers Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson ran out of fuel and dropped in the standings as a result.

The new point system is stingy with numbers. The playoff scheme is not tolerant of poor finishes. Both combine to routinely cause a couple of drivers to fall out of contention in the first few races.

Kevin Harvick charged around many cars trying to conserve fuel during final laps to claim the second spot and Dale Earnhardt Jr. took his good-handling car to third.

Harvick moved into first place while Stewart and Earnhardt leaped into the top-five. All three had interesting comments before and after the 267 laps witnessed by an estimated crowd of 42,000 retuning fans.



Tony Stewart (No. 14 Chevrolet) Finished first. (Started 26th)

Before the green flag:

“It’s one of those places where as long as I get through Friday, I feel like we’ve got a shot at it,” Stewart said. “But I don’t watch the stats very much. You just take it week to week. Technology in this sport changes so fast."

“You constantly have to work. You’ve got to keep pushing the envelope. It’s a place I like. This place is really getting racy as far as finally being able to move around and change lines and run anywhere from the bottom to the top. It’s a fun track because of that.”

After the checkered flag:

“It is huge; I had a migraine all day yesterday so I am kinda glad we didn’t race,” Stewart said. “I guess if you have to wait to get the first one, it’s alright to pick it here."

“It’s the way to start the Chase off, especially with the year we’ve had. We’ve had some really good cars, really fast cars and some bad luck and circumstances that kept us from winning races. To get our first win leading into the Chase feels really good.”



Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Chevrolet) Finished second. (Started 30th)

Before the green flag:

“It’s a very fast race track,” Harvick said. “It’s really round, so you carry a lot of momentum through the corners. Hopefully we’ve got a good plan and can get (the Chase) started off on the right foot. I’m excited. I love change (kicking off the Chase at a new venue). I think we should change it up every year. Chicago is a great city.”

After the checkered flag:

“We had a problem with fuel and had to save a lot there at the beginning and I just didn’t know how much we had in our tank there at the end but I was hoping we had enough,” Harvick said. “Everybody on the Budweiser Chevrolet did a good job and this is a good way to start the Chase."

"We ran out coming on to pit road there, so good first race for us.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Chevrolet) Finished third. (Started 19th)

Before the green flag:

“I'm proud to be in the Chase,” Earnhardt said. “I feel like I'm a good enough driver to be in the Chase, my team is good enough to be there. As a group, I think we're good enough to be in the top 10."

“We're a good team, and I'm proud to carry my sponsors and Hendrick Motorsports in the Chase and represent them in the Chase, and hopefully we're going to work real hard, hopefully we do a good job.”

After the checkered flag:

“It’s the way to start the Chase off, especially with the year we’ve had,” Earnhardt said.
“We’ve had some really good cars, really fast cars and some bad luck and circumstances that kept us from winning races. To get our first win leading into the Chase feels really good.”

FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of topics by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com.

Unless otherwise noted, quotes and information were obtained from official release materials provided by NASCAR and team representatives.

Photo credit: Dwight Drum at Racetake.com