Viewer's Guide: Chicago

The pre-race plan for the NBC/TNT crew during the remainder of this season is a simple one, says pre-race producer Rich O'Connor.

Drivers, nothing but drivers.

	Inside the Numbers Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Chicagoland Year Start Finish 2001 36 11 2002 9 10 2003 16 38 2004 25 22 2005 25 1 Average 22.2 16.4

"NASCAR is a rare sport in that we have the opportunity to talk to the drivers minutes before they go out to compete," he said. "In most of the other sports, you have to pre-tape your interviews.

"We're in a unique position and we want to take advantage of that," he said.

For Sunday's broadcast from Chicagoland (3 p.m. ET, TNT), the plan is to talk to Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon.

An ambitious list, to be sure. Interstingly enough, despite the powerhouse names on it, the only driver on that list to have won at Chicagoland is Earnhardt Jr.

"That was a cool win for us last year, because we had struggled so bad at tracks like Chicago," Junior said. "To win there was a huge boost to our confidence. Our car was great that day."

This year, there have been a lot of great days for Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 team. Heading into Sunday's race, Junior sits third in the Nextel Cup Series standings with a win at Richmond in May, five top-five runs and seven top-10 finishes. He also finished 13th at Daytona last Saturday night.

"I feel good about where we're at," he said. "We still need to get better. We obviously couldn't hang with Tony [Stewart] and the guys up front Saturday night at Daytona. But we got out of there with little harm done, and even climbed a spot or two in the points.

"We're racing big-picture here, one race at a time."

• Also on the pre-race show, Will Ferrell will take a spin in "Wally's World."

J.J. Yeley is among the scheduled guests for this week's live edition of Trackside from Chicago.(7 p.m. ET Fri., SPEED). Remember also, that Elliott Sadler takes over for Darrell Waltrip on the show starting this week for the remainder of the season.

Interestingly enough, Steve Williams, caddy for golfing great Tiger Woods, will join also guest on the show to talk about racing cars in his native New Zealand and the PGA's interest in following NASCAR's move to a "playoff" system.

Williams, who is a local dirt-track champ in New Zealand, races up to 30 nights a year behind the wheel of late-model Fords (a Mustang and a Thunderbird).

Beginning with next week's column, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach will take questions from fans in this space each week in a segment fittingly titled, "Ask Wally and Benny."

E-MAIL •   Send a question to Benny and Wally

Click on the link to the right to send your question.

On to this weekend's busy schedule:

Nextel Cup Series: USG Sheetrock 400

Track: Chicagoland Speedway
• 1.5-mile oval
• 18-degree banking in turns
• 11-degree banking in tri-oval
• 5-degree banking on backstretch
• Length of Frontstretch: 2,400 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,700 feet

Race length: 267 laps/400 miles

TV schedule: (All times ET)
• NASCAR Live: 2, 6 p.m. Fri.., SPEED
• Bud Pole Qualifying: 4:30 p.m. Fri. SPEED
• Trackside: 7 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• NASCAR Live: 11 a.m. Sat.., SPEED
• Final practice: 11:30 a.m. Sat.., SPEED
• NASCAR Raceday: 1 p.m. Sun., SPEED
• Pre-race: 3 p.m. Sun., TNT
• Race: 3:35 p.m. Sun., TNT

2005 FlashbackReview Junior's big triumph at Chicagoland Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

One year ago, A jubilant Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke through for his first -- and only -- Nextel Cup victory of the season, using a two-tire strategy and holding off Matt Kenseth to win at Chicagoland Speedway.

The most recent checkered flag went to Tony Stewart, who took the checkers in the Pepsi 400 for the second consecutive year.

Keep an eye on Kevin Harvick. In the five races held at Chicagoland, he's the only driver to reach Victory Lane twice.

Busch Series: USG Durock 300

Track: Chicagoland Speedway
• 1.5-mile oval
• 18-degree banking in turns
• 11-degree banking in tri-oval
• 5-degree banking on backstretch
• Length of Frontstretch: 2,400 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,700 feet

Race length: 200 laps/300 miles

TV schedule: (All times ET)

• Qualifying: 12:30 p.m. Sat., SPEED
• Race: 4 p.m. Sat., TNT

2005 FlashbackSee Harvick reach a NBS milestone at Chicagoland Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

One year ago, Kevin Harvick held off fellow Cup regulars Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman to get his 15th career Busch Series victory.

The most recent checkered flag went to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who dominated Friday night's action at Daytona for his 21st career Busch Series win.

Keep an eye on Earnhardt Jr., who returns to the Busch Series on Saturday after wiping the track with the field last weekend at Daytona.

"We're running the Busch race this weekend because Chicago is in Menards' back yard, plus the extra track time never hurts," he said. "It would be nice to pull off two Busch wins in a row, and give DEI a third Busch win in a row. I'm looking forward to climbing back into one of Tony (Eury) Sr.'s cars. That was a lot of fun last week.

"Sometimes doing the Busch Series/Cup Series double wears you out, because you go back and forth with the schedule all day. But when you're in a car that's capable of winning, it's always fun."

Craftsman Truck Series: Built Ford Tough 225

Track: Kentucky Speedway
• 1.5-mile oval
• 14-degree banking in turns
• 8-degree banking on frontstretch
• 4-degree banking of backstretch
• Length of frontstretch: 1,662 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,600 feet

Race length: 150 laps/225 miles

TV schedule (All times ET)

• Race: 8 p.m. Sat., SPEED

2005 FlashbackWatch Setzer make it three at Kentucky Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

One year ago, Dennis Setzer rolled to the checkered flag, snagging his third NCTS win of 2005.

The most recent checkered flag went to Terry Cook, who won the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 on Saturday at Kansas Speedway, his first Truck Series victory in nearly four years.

Keep an eye on Setzer. He leads all drivers with a 5.7 average finish at Kentucky and he's the only driver to complete every lap -- 904 -- since the Craftsman Truck Series debuted there in 2001.