USG Durock 300 - Race Notes

2006 NASCAR BUSCH SERIES
RACE #19 of 35 – USG Durock 300 CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY - JOLIET, ILLINOIS

Event #: This will be the sixth Busch Series Race at Chicagoland.
Date: July 8th, 2006
Race Time: 4:05 P.M. ET
Television: TNT
Radio: MRN
Track Size: 1.5 mile tri-oval
Race Distance: 200 laps, 300 miles
Track: Banking: Turns 1/2 & 3/4: 18 degrees Tri-oval: 11 degrees Backstretch: 5 degrees
Length: Frontstretch: 2,400 feet Backstretch: 1,700 feet
2005 Chicagoland Race Winner: Kevin Harvick (second win of 2005)

Chicagoland Winners:
Year Pole Winner Finished Race Winner Started
2001 Ryan Newman 26th Jimmie Johnson 6th
2002 Todd Bodine 2nd Johnny Sauter 20th
2003 Casey Mears 4th Bobby Hamilton Jr. 3rd
2004 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 43rd Justin Labonte 34th
2005 Ryan Newman 3rd Kevin Harvick 5th

Qualifying at Chicagoland
Driver Date Speed Time
2005 Race: Ryan Newman 186.438 mph 28.964 sec.
Track Record: Ryan Newman 7/05 186.438 mph 28.964 sec.

Race Speeds at Chicagoland
2005 Race: Kevin Harvick 7/05 130.340 mph 2:18:06
Track Record: Kevin Harvick 7/05 130.340 mph 2:18:06

Top Finishers in the 2005 Chicagoland Race: The top five all started in the top 10
POS DRIVER START MAKE LAPS LED
1st Kevin Harvick 5 C 20
2nd Greg Biffle 6 F -
3rd Ryan Newman 1 D 118
4th Carl Edwards 9 F -
5th Mark Martin 10 F 7
6th Clint Bowyer 24 C -
7th Martin Truex Jr. 28 F 3
8th Paul Menard 31 C -
9th Reed Sorenson 19 D -
10th Ashton Lewis Jr. 23 F -
DNFs: 6 (accident - 4, other - 2)
Pole Winner Ryan Newman (track record) finished third.
Last Place: Steve Grissom, 28 laps, accident
Last Driver on Lead Lap: J.J. Yeley, 18th
Most Positions Improved: +22, Paul Menard, 31st to ninth
Most Positions Lost: -33, Kyle Busch, third to 36th
Most Laps Led: 118, Ryan Newman, third

Starting Position of Chicagoland Winners:
Position Races
1st - 0
2nd - 0
3rd - 1
4th - 0
5th - 1 - Top Five = 2
6th - 10th - 1 - Top Ten = 3
11th - 20th - 1
21st + - 1 - 2004 by 34th place starter Justin Labonte
Total 5
Average Starting Position of Chicagoland Winners: 13.6

Miscellaneous Chicagoland Stats: (five races)
1. Most Cars Starting a Race: 2001 - 2005- 43
2. Most DNFs in a Race: 2003 - 17
3. Fewest DNFs in a Race: 2005 - 6
4. Most Laps Led by Winner: 2003 - Bobby Hamilton Jr. - 186 laps
5. Most Laps Led by a Non-Winner: 2005 - Ryan Newman - 118 laps
6. Fewest Laps Led by Winner: - 2004 - Justin Labonte - 12 laps
7. Race Top Five All Same Make: None
8. Most Starts in Top Five: Bobby Hamilton Jr., Kevin Harvick - three times
9. Average Lead Changes per Race: 10.8
10. Average Leaders Per Race: 7.6
11. Average Cautions Per Race: 7.4

Most Laps Led at Chicagoland: Only one winner
Year Driver Laps Led Finish
2001 R. Newman 84 26th
2002 J. Burton 65 3rd
2003 B. Hamilton Jr. 186 1st
2004 Ky. Busch 49 12th
2005 R. Newman 118 3rd

Top Performers at Chicagoland:
Top fives: Jeff Burton - three
Top 10s: Jason Keller - four
Races led: Bobby Hamilton Jr. - three
Laps led: Ryan Newman - 202 (two races)
Running at End: five drivers – four
Average Finish (three or more races): Jeff Burton - 3.0, three races; best among drivers with four or more races – Jason Keller at 9.0

Birthdays:
Rick Hendrick, 57 on 7/12
Todd Kluever, 28 on 7/06
Tyler Walker, 27 on 7/16
Bill Wilburn, 40 on 7/11

Busch and Nextel Sweeps at Chicago: none

Chicagoland Fast Fact:
Five drivers have competed in all five NBS Chicagoland races: Jason Keller, Ashton Lewis Jr., Tony Raines, David Green, and Joe Nemechek.

2006 Busch Series Points Race:

1st place Kevin Harvick finished third at Daytona. He was 19th at Milwaukee, his worst finish of 2006. Harvick finished sixth at Kentucky, third at Nashville and 13th at Dover. Dover ended a streak of consecutive top 10s at eight. He was seventh at Darlington and won his third race of 2006 at Richmond, the 20th of his NBS career, matching Dale Earnhardt Jr. He has 10 top fives and 15 top 10s. Average 2006 finish, 5.8 vs. 7.7 (11 races) in 2005. He won last year’s NBS Chicago. He finished outside the top 25 in his other two races at the track.

2nd place (-388) Carl Edwards finished fifth at Daytona. He was 21st at Milwaukee, his second consecutive finish outside the top 10, and lost a position in the standings. Edwards was 36th at Kentucky, ending a streak of consecutive top 10s at eight. Kentucky was his third finish worse than 35th in 2006. Edwards won his second race of 2006 at Nashville (seventh career victory), and he finished second at Dover. Edwards won his first race of 2006 at Lowe’s and gained two positions in the standings. He was eighth at Darlington. He has one pole, two wins, nine top fives, and 13 top 10s in 2006. Average 2006 finish, 12.5 vs. 12.4 (17 races) in 2005. He finished fourth at Chicago last year, his first NBS race at the track.

3rd place (-423) Clint Bowyer finished sixth at Daytona and gained a position in the standings. He was 18th at Milwaukee and 12th at Kentucky. Bowyer finished second at Nashville, fourth at Dover, and 36th at Lowe’s. It is his only finish worse than 21st in 2006. He was 17th at Darlington. Bowyer has five top fives and eight top 10s. Average 2006 finish, 12.1 vs. 11.0 in 2005. He finished sixth at Chicago last year and 40th at the track in 2004.

4th place (-431) Denny Hamlin finished 30th at Daytona and lost two positions in the standings, ending a string of consecutive top fives at three. He was second at Milwaukee and gained a position in the standings. Hamlin won his fourth pole (the most of any driver in 2006) and finished third at Kentucky. He also gained a position in the standings. Hamlin was fourth at Nashville and seventh at Dover. He finished 29th at Lowe’s. Hamlin won his second Busch Series race at Darlington. He has two wins (Mexico and Darlington), four poles, seven top fives and 12 top 10s. Average 2006 finish, 13.4 vs. 15.0 in 2005. He finished 15th at Chicago last year, his first NBS race at the track.

5th place (-452) J.J. Yeley finished fourth at Daytona, his third consecutive top five finish. He was third at Milwaukee and gained a position in the standings. He was second at Kentucky, 16th at Nashville, ninth at Dover, and third at Lowe’s. He has seven top fives and 12 top 10s. Average 2006 finish, 12.7 vs. 23.1 in 2005. He finished 18th at Chicago last year and ninth at the track in 2004.

Races in the Top 10:
- Third place Clint Bowyer is 35 points behind second place Carl Edwards. Fourth place Denny Hamlin is 43 points behind second. Fifth place J.J. Yeley is 64 points behind second.
- Seventh place Paul Menard is just six points behind sixth place Greg Biffle.

2006 Point Leaders:
Driver # Led (After)
Tony Stewart 1 (Daytona)
Kevin Harvick 17 (California - Daytona)

Top 10 at Daytona:
Five of the Top 10 had a top 10 finish at Daytona.

Top 10 Turnover:
Six of this season’s Top 10 were not in the Top 10 after 18 races in 2005.

Busch Series Milestones: