2012 GEICO 400
Race details[1][2]
Race 27 of 36 in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Map of the track
Map of the track
Date September 16, 2012 (2012-09-16)
Location Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 mi (2.414 km)
Distance 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.5 km)
Weather Clear with a high temperature around 80 °F (27 °C); wind out of the WSW at 6 mph (9.7 km/h).
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Time 29.530
Most laps led
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 172
Winner
No. 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree

The 2012 GEICO 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on September 16, 2012, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Contested over 267 laps, it was the twenty-seventh in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as well as the first race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season.

Report

Background

Chicagoland Speedway, the race track where the race was held.

Chicagoland Speedway is one of ten intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.[3] The standard track at Chicagoland Speedway is a four-turn tri-oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long.[4] The track's turns are each banked at 18 degrees and have a turn width of 55 feet.[4] The racetrack has a grandstand capacity of 75,000.[4]

Before the race, Denny Hamlin led the Drivers' Championship with 2,012 points, with Jimmie Johnson in second place with, 2,009. Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski were tied with Johnson for the second position, while Greg Biffle had 2,006 points. Clint Bowyer also with 2,006 points was one point ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth, as Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top ten with 2,000 points each.[5] In the parallel Chase for the Sprint Cup, Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon both started with their points total reset to 2,000.[5] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 179 points, twenty-four points ahead of Toyota. Ford, with 129 points, was twenty points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third place.[6] Stewart was the race's defending winner.[7]

Practice and qualifying

Jimmie Johnson (shown here in 2011) won the pole position with a time of 29.530

Two practice sessions were held in preparation for the race; both on Friday, September 14, 2012. The first session and second session lasted for 90 minutes each.[8] During the first practice session, Truex Jr., for the Michael Waltrip Racing team, was quickest ahead of Earnhardt Jr. in second and Keselowski in third.[9] Trevor Bayne was scored fourth, and Hamlin managed fifth.[9] Jamie McMurray, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman rounded out the top ten quickest drivers in the session.[9]

Kyle Busch was quickest in the second and final practice session, ahead of Aric Almirola in second, and Martin in third.[10] Edwards was fourth quickest, and Hamlin took fifth.[10] Kahne, Johnson, Bayne, Kenseth, and Gordon followed in the top ten.[10] Of the other drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Stewart was scored fourteenth fastest, while Truex Jr. was scored twenty-fifth.[10]

Forty-seven cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.[11] Johnson clinched his second pole position in the season, with a time of 29.530.[12] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Almirola.[12] Kenseth qualified third, Earnhardt Jr. took fourth, and Edwards started fifth.[12] Biffle, one of the drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, qualified twenty-second, while Harvick was scored thirty-fifth.[12] The three drivers that failed to qualify for the race were Scott Riggs, Reed Sorenson, J. J. Yeley, and Jason Leffler.[12]


Results

Race results

Brad Keselowski won the race.
Pos Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps run Points
1132Brad KeselowskiPenske RacingDodge26747
2148Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26744
365Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26741
42118Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota26740
52039Ryan NewmanStewart-Haas RacingChevrolet26739
62914Tony StewartStewart-Haas RacingChevrolet26739
71020Joey LoganoJoe Gibbs RacingToyota26737
8488Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26736
91856Martin Truex Jr.Michael Waltrip RacingToyota26735
10915Clint BowyerMichael Waltrip RacingToyota26735
111622Sam Hornish Jr.Penske RacingDodge267-
123529Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet26732
132216Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord26731
141555Mark MartinMichael Waltrip RacingToyota26730
151127Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet26729
16811Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota26729
17243Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord26628
18317Matt KensethRoush Fenway RacingFord26627
19599Carl EdwardsRoush Fenway RacingFord26625
201421Trevor BayneWood Brothers RacingFord266-
21121Jamie McMurrayEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet26624
223734David RaganFront Row MotorsportsFord26623
232842Juan Pablo MontoyaEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet26521
243231Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet26520
254110Danica PatrickTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet265-
262347Bobby LabonteJTG Daugherty RacingToyota26418
27179Marcos AmbroseRichard Petty MotorsportsFord26317
284038David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord26316
292683Landon CassillBK RacingToyota26215
303932T. J. BellFAS Lane RacingFord261-
313893Travis KvapilBK RacingToyota25913
323051Kurt BuschPhoenix RacingChevrolet24512
334236Dave BlaneyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet19911
34778Regan SmithFurniture Row RacingChevrolet19710
351924Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1909
362713Casey MearsGermain RacingFord1468
373633Cole WhittCircle SportChevrolet70-
384326Josh WiseFront Row MotorsportsFord666
393130David StremmeInception MotorsportsToyota605
403387Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsToyota52-
412595Scott SpeedLeavine Family RacingFord493
423419Mike BlissHumphrey-Smith MotorsportsToyota41-
432498Michael McDowellPhil Parsons RacingFord381

Standings after the race

References

  1. "2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
  2. Brown, Brian (September 11, 2012). "The GEICO 400". RotoWorld.com. NBC Sports. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  3. "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 "NASCAR Tracks—The Chicagoland Speedway". Chicagoland Speedway. Archived from the original on 2012-06-23. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Pre-race Driver's Championship Classification". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Manufacturers' Championship Classification". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  7. "2011 GEICO 400". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  8. "Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site – Sprint Cup Race Info / Rundown Page". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 "Practice One Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Practice Two Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  11. "Qualifying Order". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Race Lineup: Chicagoland". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
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