While the focus of the attention this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway is certainly Sunday's opening race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is likewise in town for a big weekend at the 1.5-mile track.
Here's a quick primer for tonight's EnjoyIllinois.com 225 Truck Series race, which begins with live pre-race coverage at 8 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1:
- This is race No. 16 of 22 on the 2013 Truck Series Schedule
- Two full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers and occasional Truck Series interlopers - Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski - are on the entry list
- Points Matt Crafton holds a 37-point cushion over second-place James Buescher, the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion
- Matt Crafton, who is seeking his first Truck Series title, has led the standings since picking up a victory at Kansas Speedway April 20
- Chase Elliott, who at age 17 became the youngest ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner two weeks ago at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, is not competing this weekend
- Reigning series champion James Buescher, who failed to win in the season's first 11 races, has won two of the last four events and enters Chicagoland fresh off a victory last weekend at Iowa Speedway
- Johnny Sauter, who opened 2013 with back-to-back wins at Daytona and Martinsville, has not been back to Victory Lane
- Kyle Busch owns a series-high three wins this season
- Darrell Wallace Jr., the first African-American to compete fulltime in the Truck Series in more than six years, enters tonight's race riding the momentum of back-to-back top-five finishes
- NASCAR K&N Pro Series East regular Ben Kennedy finished 15th at Iowa last weekend in his second career Truck Series start, and Chicagoland will mark his first start on a 1.5-mile track
- Quotable, on Chicagoland Speedway: "It's a love/hate relationship with the racetrack. It's aged, but it hasn't widened. The groove hasn't widened out quite as much as I would like it as a race car driver, but for this race team for we have been decent there, but we haven't been great." - Points leader Matt Crafton
CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY TRUCK SERIES QUICK FACTS:
Past Races: 4
Margins of Victory:
07/21/2012: 0.247 seconds
09/16/2011: 4.950 seconds
08/27/2010: 0.186 seconds
08/28/2009: 0.580 seconds
Number of Different Race Winners: 3
James Buescher 07/21/2012
Austin Dillon 09/16/2011
Kyle Busch 08/27/2010
Kyle Busch 08/28/2009
Youngest Pole Winner: Justin Lofton (07/21/2012 - 26 years, 5 months, 3 days)
Oldest Pole Winner: Todd Bodine (08/27/2010 - 46 years, 6 months, 0 days)
Youngest Race Winner: Austin Dillon (09/16/2011 - 21 years, 4 months, 20 days)
Oldest Race Winner: Kyle Busch (08/27/2010 - 25 years, 3 months, 25 days)
Races Won from Pole (or 1st Starting Position): 0
Race Record: Austin Dillon 139.703 mph (09/16/2011)
Qualifying Record: Steve Arpin 175.507 mph (09/16/2011)
