PREVIEW: BRIAN VICKERS (NO. 25 GMAC CHEVROLET)
VENUE: CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES (RACE 18 OF 36)
EVENT: SUNDAY, JULY 9 (267 LAPS, 400.5 MILES)

KEEPING IT UP FRONT: With two NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series starts under his belt, Brian Vickers has never qualified worse than fifth at Chicagoland Speedway. He maintains an average starting position of 4.5 and an average finish of ninth at the 1.5-mile track.

DOG DAYS GOOD FOR '25': In a six-race stretch last season that began at Chicagoland Speedway, the No. 25 GMAC Racing team completed every lap of competition while scoring one pole position, five top-10 finishes and six top-10 qualifying efforts.

VICKERS LEADING LAPS: Vickers, driver of the No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet, is one of only five drivers to have led at least one lap in three of the last four races dating back to Pocono Raceway. In those four events, the No. 25 team has led for a total of 39 laps, sixth-best amongst NEXTEL Cup teams during that stretch. Vickers' Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon has led the most laps (111) in the last four races.

HENDRICK AT CHICAGOLAND: Although Hendrick Motorsports has yet to post a NEXTEL Cup victory at Chicagoland Speedway, the organization has earned the past two pole positions and placed at least two cars within the top-five finishers for four consecutive seasons (2002-05).

TESTING AT INDY: All four full-time Hendrick Motorsports teams -- Nos. 5, 24, 25 and 48 -- will test Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 11-12 in preparation for the Aug. 6 NEXTEL Cup event.

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VICKERS IN JOLIET ON THURSDAY: On Thursday, Brian Vickers will attend the sixth annual Joliet Race Fan Rally in Joliet, Ill., on behalf of Chevrolet. Vickers will be in attendance from 6-8 p.m. local time.

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BRIAN VICKERS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 25 GMAC CHEVROLET: (IN 2005, THE GMAC RACING TEAM HAD STRONG RUNS AT THE NEXT SIX RACE TRACKS ON THE SCHEDULE. CAN THE TEAM DUPLICATE THE RESULTS?) "We've been running really well as of late and have had good cars. Our team has been doing a fair amount of testing recently to help prepare for Chicago and New Hampshire and the test sessions have gone well. Next week we're scheduled to test at Indy, so I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do over the next month or so. We have some work to do in the points, but if we can string together a run like we did last year, we can definitely make up some ground."

VICKERS: (BRIAN FRANCE MENTIONED THERE MAY BE CHANGES TO THE CHASE FORMAT IN 2007. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON POTENTIAL CHANGES?) "I think the Chase for the Championship has been a good thing for our sport. Obviously, the format has generated excitement for the points race, which is a good thing. Without knowing what changes are going to be made, I think there could be some minor tweaks. First, I think more of an emphasis could be placed on winning a race in the form of more points. I also think there should be more of a points separation from first to 10th place in the Chase. It's great that the 10th-place driver has the opportunity to win the championship, but I don't think it should be as easy. I'd like to see more of a cushion between the 10 drivers. If you qualify 10th in the Chase, you should have to gain a lot more points than just the 50 that separates first from 10th when the tallies are reset for the final 10 races."