Believe it or not, we’ve made it to the half-way point of the season. We know what matters most is the fact that seven races remain until the Chase begins. This weekend, the Sprint Cup Series head to Chicagoland Speedway for racin’ under the lights!

photo credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Coming off of a win last week, Kevin Harvick remains on top of the point standings. “With our current situation in the points,” Harvick said. “We are going to do all we can to give ourselves an opportunity to win each week.”

Harvick has held onto the points lead after the past eight races. At the half-way point of the season, Harvick has scored 2 wins, eight top-5 and thirteen top 10-finishes plus he is on a streak of four top-5 finishes in the past 5 races. In addition, he’s the only driver to average a top-10 finish (8.1) this season.

Harvick excels at Chicagoland. In his 9 races there, he has posted two wins, five top-5 and six top-10 finishes. “Every time we go back there it seems like it just fits our program and my driving style and everything that we do,” Harvick said.

Winning races will be important to Harvick over the next seven races. Following the Richmond night race, the top-12 drivers will be locked in to compete for the championship. Once that happens, points will be reset based according to wins first. At this time, Harvick would be ranked third behind Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, who have both scored a series leading five wins this season.

There hasn’t been a repeat winner in the past 5 races. Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart are the only two drivers with multiple race wins at Chicagoland. Harvick won the first two races held at the track in July of 2001 and 2002. Stewart won in July of 2004 and 2007.

TV coverage of the Lifelock.com 400 starts at 6:30 this Saturday evening on TNT.
400.5 miles = 267 laps
2009 Pole Winner: Brian Vickers
Defending Race Winner: Mark Martin
Qualifying is scheduled for Friday at 5:05 pm

The Nationwide Series also has reached the mid-point of the season after 17 races. Brad Keselowski currently leads the standings by 277 points over 2nd place driver, Carl Edwards. Keselowski and Edwards are both driving full-time in the series. Kyle Busch has a series leading six wins this season, but has decided not to pull “double-duty” and race in both series. Still, Busch is fourth in the series standings. On a side note, the Nationwide Series doesn’t have a play-off system like the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

And yes… Danica Patrick will race in the series this Friday night at Chicagoland. It will be her fifth race of the thirteen she’s planning to run this season.

TV coverage of the Dollar General 300 powered by Coca-Cola starts at 7:30 this Friday night on ESPN.
300 miles = 200 laps
2009 Pole Winner: Joey Logano
Defending Race Winner: Carl Edwards
Qualifying is set for Friday at 3:05 pm

Weekend Weather Forecast for Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL:
Friday: Partly Cloudy with a Hi 85 and a Low 63
Saturday: Mostly Sunny with a Hi 85 and a Low 63
Sunday: Party Cloudy with a Hi 87 and a Low 67

courtesy of Weather Bug (click here for full weather forecast)