CONCORD, N.C. – The Challenger Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is about to begin.
This weekend's race at Chicagoland Speedway kicks off the first three-race round.
Last weekend, the 16 Chase contestants were selected by total wins and points collected throughout the first 26 races of the season. Three Hendrick Motorsports teammates made the grade.
Before you watch the green flag wave this Sunday in the first Chase race, take a look at a few key stats you should know:
BROADCAST INFORMATION: Sunday's race will air live on NBCSN at 3 p.m. ET. Can’t make it to a television? Tune into MRN or SiriusXM to catch the Chicago radio coverage. This weekend’s qualifying session will take place Friday evening on NBC Sports Network. Tune in to this weekend’s practice sessions this Friday and Saturday afternoon. Here is the full broadcast schedule:
Friday, September 18:
12:30 p.m. ET, Sprint Cup Series Practice, NBC Sports Network
6:45 p.m. ET, Sprint Cup Series Qualifying, NBC Sports Network
Saturday, September 19:
1:30 p.m. ET, Sprint Cup Series Practice, CNBC
4:30 p.m. ET, Sprint Cup Series Final Practice, NBC Sports Network
Sunday, September 20:
3 p.m. ET, Sprint Cup Series Race, NBCSN/ MRN/ SiriusXM (3:16 p.m. ET green flag)
THIS WEEK’S PAINT SCHEMES: This weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, Kasey Kahne will compete in the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet SS. Teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will race the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS and No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, respectively. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will compete in the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS this Sunday at the 1.5-mile tri-oval.
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT CHICAGOLAND: At Chicagoland Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has two wins, four pole positions, 20 top-five finishes and 28 top-10 finishes. Mark Martin most recently visited Victory Lane for the organization at the track in 2009.
DOUBLE DUTY: Kahne, along with partner Great Clips, will be performing double duty this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, driving the No. 88 Great Clips Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race will mark Kahne’s fifth start of the season in that series. His best XFINITY finish of 2015 (third) came earlier this year at Charlotte Motor Speedway, also a 1.5-mile track.
KAHNE AT CHICAGOLAND: In the last 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Chicagoland Speedway, Kahne ranks ninth in average starting position (13.3) and he ranks 10th in top-five finishes (two). Kahne has collected eight of his 17 career Cup wins and 11 of his 27 pole positions on 1.5-mile tracks.
GORDON AT CHICAGOLAND: On Sunday when Gordon takes the green flag at Chicago, he will tie former Hendrick Motorsports teammate Ricky Rudd for most consecutive starts in NASCAR history with 788. Gordon currently holds the longest consecutive starts streak from the beginning of a career – he has never missed a race since his Nov. 15, 1992, debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
JOHNSON AT CHICAGOLAND: Even though Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe’s team have led 577 laps at Chicago and finished in the top 10 on 10 occasions, the 1.5-mile track remains one of the four venues on the current Sprint Cup schedule where Johnson has yet to score a win. The others are Kentucky, Watkins Glen and Homestead-Miami.
EARNHARDT AT CHICAGOLAND: Earnhardt reached Victory Lane at Chicagoland Speedway on July 10, 2005. The then-30-year-old Earnhardt lined up 25th for the event and cracked the top 10 within the first 100 laps. He led the final 11 laps en route to securing the win.