Tony Stewart Uses Fuel Mileage to Claim 2011 Chase Race #1

Rain forced NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers and fans to be patient as the 2011 GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway was pushed to Monday. Patience was again the word of the day as this one ended with a fuel mileage finish causing the leaders to pedal softly over the final 50 laps. Tony Stewart had the best strategy when it mattered and he claimed his first win of 2011 and leaped up to second in points with nine races remaining.

Qualifying

The qualifying results from Chicagoland Speedway were headlined by drivers who were already in the headlines. Chase drivers qualified in five of the top six spots. The one non-Chaser near the top of the starting order was Paul Menard who was the focus of the media spotlight this week for allegations that he spun on purpose to help his teammate win last week in Richmond.

Matt Kenseth was quickest in qualifying with Paul Menard starting along side in second. Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski made up the rest of the first three rows.

Drop Of The Green

Rain was relentless on Sunday and after hours of trying to dry the track and losing it again to a fresh shower NASCAR finally had to give in and push the start to Noon on Monday.

When the green flag finally flew on Monday Matt Kenseth won the battle into turn one and lead the first lap of the 2011 Chase for the Cup. Kurt Busch held off a challenge by Paul Menard to hold down second.

Drivers were taking it easy and feeling out their cars in the early going and Kenseth lead Busch all the way to the competition caution on lap 30.

Kurt Busch took over the top spot shortly after the restart and went on to lead the rest of the early racing.

Storylines

Every year we see the cream rise to the top when the Chase begins. Today's race was no different as the top six drivers were all Chase contenders and eight of the top ten.

The big losers today were Matt Kenseth who got a push from another driver on the final lap. Kenseth was penalized by NASCAR and awarded a 21st place finish.

Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch finished 22nd and 23rd after running out of gas on the final lap.

The biggest struggle of the day was Denny Hamlin's. A couple of unscheduled green flag pit stops put him on track two laps down late in the race and Hamlin was the worst finisher of the Chasers with a 31st place effort.

Hamlin came into the race in twelfth, twelve points out of the lead. He leaves Chicagoland 41 points behind the leader. It's not fatal for Hamlin yet but he will need to rebound quickly if he is going to be a factor in the 2011 Chase for the Cup.

Chasing The Checkers

With 104 laps to go Jimmie Johnson took over the lead for the first time. It looked like Jimmie was going to run away and hide but his team got beat on pit road when the caution flew 40 laps later.

Jimmie was in fourth place when green flag racing resumed. Fellow Chasers Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman lined up in front of him. This race saw a couple of quick cautions but the running order was not dramatically affected.

Kenseth had the lead under green as the race crossed through 30 laps to go. Tony Stewart was hot on his heels with Jimmie Johnson in third.

Kenseth let Stewart go for the lead in an effort to attempt to save fuel. This one was shaping up to be another 2011 fuel mileage race.

Martin Truex Jr. made a dash through the leaders and took the lead. Truex is not in the Chase and didn't think he had enough fuel to make it to the end so he raced hard and looked like a superstar while the rest of the leaders were saving fuel. Truex pitted with fourteen laps to go and left Stewart,Kenseth and Johnson out front.

Johnson passed Kenseth with nine laps to go. With eight laps to go Kevin Harvick in fourth place was given the green light by his team to run hard to the checkers. Harvick blasted past Kenseth and Johnson and started cutting into Tony Stewart's nearly six second lead.

Harvick didn't catch Stewart so the only question was whether or not drivers had enough fuel. Chasers Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon ran out of fuel just like Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth. This put quite a shuffle on the final running order.

It didn't matter to Tony Stewart as he had enough fuel to take the checkers and claim his first victory of 2011. This leaves only Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the only Chaser without a win this season.

Top Ten

1. Tony Stewart
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Carl Edwards
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Kurt Busch
7. Clint Bowyer
8. Ryan Newman
9. Mark Martin
10. Jimmie Johnson

The Points

Kevin Harvick took over at the top of the Chase standings with nine races remaining in the 2011 season.

Tony Stewart jumped from ninth up to second just seven markers behind Harvick.

The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings:

1. Kevin Harvick -0
2. Tony Stewart -7
3. Carl Edwards -10
4. Kurt Busch -11
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -13
6. Brad Keselowski -14
7. Ryan Newman -14
8. Jimmie Johnson -16
9. Kyle Busch -19
10. Matt Kenseth -24
11. Jeff Gordon -25
12. Denny Hamlin -41