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Dollar General 300 Preview

Jul 8, 2008 - 4:22 PM

July 11, 2008
Chicagoland Speedway 
Joliet, Illinois 
Race 20 of 34 on Nationwide series circuit 

TV: ESPN, 8 p.m. EDT

Laps: 200 
Track length: 1 1/2 miles 
Race length: 300 miles

Qualifying record: Ryan Newman, Dodge, 186.438 mph, 2005
Race record: Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 135.661 mph, 2007


DRIVERS TO WATCH
----------------

Clint Bowyer
Team: Richard Childress Racing
Car: No. 2 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2008 Earnings: $581,050

Scheduled to pull double duty in both the Sprint and Nationwide
series this season; took a gamble and stayed out during a rain 
delay to win at Bristol; followed with second at Nashville and 
third at Texas; sits atop the standings, 202 points ahead of 
Brad Keselowski after finishing fourth at Daytona last week; 
finished ninth at Kentucky; finished 19th at Atlanta after a 
third at Las Vegas; started the year with a 25th at Daytona, 
then rebounded with a ninth at California; ran a full Busch 
series slate in 2005 and 2006, finishing second and third, 
respectively, in the final standings; finished 12th last year 
after running just 22 races, winning at Phoenix and Richmond; 
ran fourth here last year.


Carl Edwards
Team: Roush Fenway Racing
Car: No. 60 Ford Fusion
2008 Earnings: $589,075

Won for the first time this year at Milwaukee, then followed up
with a fifth at New Hampshire and 11th at Daytona; sits third in
the standings, 218 points behind Bowyer; finished 20th at 
Kentucky; ran second at Dover two weeks after running dead last 
at Darlington; was fourth at Atlanta after being wrecked by Mark 
Martin at Las Vegas, winding up 14th; opened defense of his 
series title with a 10th at Daytona and fifth at California; 
clinched last season's title at Texas, three races before the 
end of the season; was the runner-up to Kevin Harvick two 
seasons ago; despite late struggles still had a series-best 21 
top-10 finishes and 15 top fives last season; led in the series
standings for 33 consecutive weeks prior to Daytona this year; 
in 35 starts last season had four wins, trailing only Harvick, 
who had six; ran 20th here last year; is running "double-duty" 
slate again this season to defend his title.


Brad Keselowski 
Team: JR Motorsports 
Car: No. 88 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 
2008 Earnings: $648,757

Second-year driver followed up his first series win at Nashville
by running fourth at Kentucky and finishing eighth at Milwaukee; 
moved up to second in the standings after finishing fifth in 
Daytona; through first 19 races has 11 top-10s and six 
top-fives; finished third at Lowe's and posted consecutive 
fourth-place finishes at Bristol and the first Nashville race; 
has only three finishes of 20th or worse this season; finished 
25th in points last season and third in Rookie of the Year 
standings; joined Dale Earnhardt Jr's JR Motorsports team in 
July last season; finished 14th here last season.


David Ragan
Team: Roush Fenway Racing
Car: No. 6 Ford Fusion
2008 Earnings: $465,445

Another driver who is running both series this year; finished
ninth at Daytona and remains fifth in the standings; placed 
seventh at Kentucky; ran ninth at Daytona and 12th at California 
to start the season, then posted a 10th at Las Vegas, ran 16th 
at Atlanta and was eighth at Bristol; was eighth at Texas and 
fifth at Phoenix; finished fourth at Richmond to jump up two 
spots to fourth in the standings; had an impressive rookie 
season, finishing fifth overall and winning the Raybestos 
Rookie of the Year by 27 points over Marcos Ambrose; scored four 
top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 2007, but also had eight 
finishes of 30th or worse; finished 19th in this event last 
season.


David Reutimann
Team: Michael Waltrip Racing
Car: No. 99 Toyota Camry
2008 Earnings: $513,135 

Plans to run full "double-duty" schedule again in 2008 after 
finishing second to Edwards in the standings last season; sits 
fourth in the point standings after running 14th at Daytona;
finished in 13th at Kentucky; started season with a 14th at 
Daytona and ran fourth at California; ran 25th at Las Vegas, 
10th at Atlanta and third at Bristol; last year had better 
finishes than Edwards in 10 of the last 15 races and scored the 
most points in the series after the midseason point; earned his 
first series win at the second Atlanta race; finished with five 
top-fives and 12 top-10s; finished 17th in this race last year.


2007 Top 10
-----------
 1. Kevin Harvick (21), Chevrolet
 2. Matt Kenseth (17), Ford
 3. Jeff Burton (29) Chevrolet
 4. Clint Bowyer (2), Chevrolet
 5. Kyle Busch (5), Chevrolet
 6. Paul Menard (15), Chevrolet
 7. Denny Hamlin (20), Chevrolet
 8. Reed Sorenson (41), Chevrolet
 9. Tony Stewart (33), Chevrolet
10. Stephen Leicht (90), Ford

Past Champions
--------------
2007  Kevin Harvick
2006  Casey Mears
2005  Kevin Harvick
2004  Justin Labonte
2003  Bobby Hamilton
2002  Johnny Sauter
2001  Jimmie Johnson