Chevrolet has won six of the seven races since the Cup schedule added the 1.5-mile tri-oval outside of the Windy City in 2001. Two-time winners Tony Stewart (’07, ’04) and Kevin Harvick (’02, ’01) have combined to win four of the seven Chicagoland events — with Jeff Gordon (’06), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (’05) and Ryan Newman (’03) rounding out the list of winners. Newman’s No. 12 Dodge is the only non-Chevy to win.

Last season, Stewart led 108 laps, cruising to victory ahead of Roush teammates Matt Kenseth (second) and Carl Edwards (third). Strange, since the year before, Edwards finished 20th, Kenseth 22nd and Stewart 32nd.

Kenseth, however, did lead 112 laps in ’06, when he was spun by Jeff Gordon for the win, and 176 laps during a runner-up finish to Junior in ’05. The 17 may be finally ready to seal the deal.

But of those drivers who have yet to win at the track in Joliet, Ill., Jimmie Johnson seems the most likely to end the streak. Last year, Johnson led 82 laps before a crash resulted in a 37th-place finish. Before that, the two-time Cup champ had not finished worse than sixth in his five previous trips to Chi-town.

Jeff Burton has been hit-or-miss, with a second in 2006, a sixth in ’03 and a seventh in ’07, along with 30th- and 33rd-place runs.

Watch for Reed Sorenson, who has run seventh (’06) and 12th (’07) in his two trips to Chicagoland.

FANTASY STALL
Looking at Checkers
Jimmie Johnson
Pretty Solid Pick
Kevin Harvick
Good Sleeper Pick
Juan Pablo Montoya placed 15th last season and only figures to get better.
Runs on Seven Cylinders

Jamie McMurray
Insider Tip
The odds of a fuel-mileage race here are high.

KEEP AN EYE ON...
Clint Bowyer Two Cup starts, two top 10s. Book it.

Casey Mears Mears was a solid fifth in his Hendrick sheet metal last season. He also won the Busch/Nationwide event here in 2006. He has a win in him on an intermediate this season, and this could be the place. Be proactive in picking Mears for the fantasy squad on the 1.5-milers.

Kevin Harvick He’s usually tough to figure, but the one place you can shoe Harvick in for a solid finish is Chicago. Two victories and, most recently, back-to-back fourth-place finishes are proof of that.

Brian Vickers When he actually made the show last season, this Red Bull wheelman proved he could notch top 10s on the big intermediates. There were Vickers sightings at Atlanta, California, Charlotte and Michigan in ’07.