Race details | |||
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Race 27 of 36 in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
Date | September 19, 2011 | ||
Location | Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois | ||
Course | Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi (2.414 km) |
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Distance | 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.5 km) | ||
Weather | Few rain showers with a high temperature around 74°F; wind out of the SSE at 10 mph. | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Roush Fenway Racing | ||
Time | 29.469 | ||
Most laps led | |||
Driver | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing | |
Laps | 46 | ||
Winner | |||
No. 14 | Tony Stewart | Stewart Haas Racing | |
Television in the United States | |||
Network | ESPN | ||
Announcers | Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett, and Andy Petree |
The 2011 GEICO 400 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was scheduled to be held on September 18, 2011 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. However, because of wet track conditions, the race was postponed until September 19, 2011. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.500-mile (2.414 km) asphalt oval, it was the 27th race of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the first race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season. Tony Stewart of Stewart Haas Racing won the race, while Kevin Harvick finished second, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. clinched third.
This was Stewart's first win in the 2011 season, and the 40th of his career. The result advanced Stewart to second in the Drivers' Championship, seven points behind Harvick and three ahead of Carl Edwards. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, thirty points ahead of Ford and thirty-eight ahead of Toyota, with nine races remaining in the season. A total of 95,000 people attended the race, while 3.68 million watched it on television.
Chicagoland Speedway is one of ten intermediate 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. The standard track at Chicagoland Speedway is a four-turn tri-oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. The track's turns are each banked at 18 degrees and have a turn width of 55 feet. The racetrack has a grandstand capacity of 75,000.