First off comes RCR, who after showing some signs of life in recent weeks, comes up huge with all three cars running in the lead lap, and winding up with a first, eighth, and twelfth in Chicago, KAC�s award-winning (at least it should be) race recap is as follows�

CHICAGO RECAP

After spending a morning collecting Neal Lancaster �bogey-balls� at the Greater Milwaukee Open, it was time for the second annual Tropicana 400 from just outside Chicago. Believe it or not, in 1956 they actually held a NASCAR event in Chicago�s Soldier Field, which Fireball Roberts won. Probably the only �stadium-venue� that has ever held a top-level event � although NFL games were once played on the site of the current Milwaukee Mile (where Busch and Truck Series races are annually held). This time around in Joliet, Ryan Newman is on the pole, and his car has looked dominant all weekend. Kurt Busch held the #2 qualifying position, but blew two engines in the practices that followed, and was forced to start at the rear in a backup car (which was the car he dominated for much of the California race in late April). Meanwhile defending champion Kevin Harvick is starting in the #31 position, and with the way his entire season has gone appears to be more pretender than contender. However Kevin tells reporters before the race that he feels very strongly about repeating. Jimmie Johnson, still reeling from last weeks inspection violations, is forced to take the first provisional in his career. Pre-race problems would encountered by two drivers before the green flag even falls. Dave Blaney makes an emergency trip to pit road with a carburetor problem while Rusty Wallace has a scare when a puddle of oil was found after rolling out the #2 machine. Fortunately for Rusty though, the oil ultimately turned out to be from someone else, not unlike anyone noticing fresh oil pulling out of the parking lot and wondering where that was from. It is a warm sunny day with little wind and a track temperature of 133 degrees, which figures to cause some havoc before the afternoon is over. Blaney�s bad start will continue as he is caught passing before taking the green and is brought in for a stop-and-go. Fortunately, Ward Burton would spin his #22 machine in Turn 4 to bring out the day�s first yellow after four laps, and Blaney is able to at least stay on the lead lap. More trouble befell Ward and the #22 ends up causing the second caution on Lap 16 when the drive shaft falls off. Some teams running towards the rear, including Mark Martin take this opportunity for an early pit stop.

Restart comes on Lap 21, and it would become an extended run featuring two green-flag stops. All of the big names who were forced to the rear are steadily moving up with Busch, Blaney, Johnson, and Harvick all heading into the top 20. Rusty Wallace is running high trying to find a second groove but is not having much success. Sterling Marlin, who started fourth is not happy with the #40�s performance, and wants to go down one pound on all four tires. Johnson is complaining of overheating, not an unusual complaint considering the temperatures. Ryan Newman continues to dominate the early going, but is eventually overtaken by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has been running great all weekend. Green flag stops begin with Tony Stewart and Bill Elliott pitting first, with the #9 getting an air-pressure adjustment, going down half-a-pound as well. John Andretti also with an air-pressure adjustment while Joe Nemechek�s team just takes the tires and fuel. Rusty 17.8 with a tract-bar adjustment. Jeff Gordon (w/his Kansas winning car) 15.9. As promised, Marlin goes down a pound and gets a chassis adjustment. Both Junior and Newman pit, with the #8 increasing his advantage on the #12. Waltrip gets down on the grass reaching pit road and has a slow 19.1 stop as well. No adjustments for Busch. Tract bar adjustment for Kenseth, who is revving the engine during the stop and burns out exiting � would it come back to haunt the #17 later??? Trouble on Ricky Rudd�s stop due to a lugnut jam, it would not be a banner day for the #28. Kevin Harvick inherits the lead, then comes in two laps early and the Black Aces turn in a 15.5. Field now upside down with those pitting early now in front (similar to the end of the Sonoma Race) with Mark Martin leading. Jeff Green pits and gets a round of wedge. Terry LaBonte (w/special black/white milk scheme) spins on the grass on way to pit road but we stay green. Mark Martin coasts in turns 3 and 4, possibly out of fuel. Stricklin 15.2, J. Burton 14.8, and Mark Martin 16.1 with scuffed tires. Harvick would also used scuffed tires (ran for a handful of practice laps) today. With the pit stops completely cycled it is now Stewart, Jarrett, Junior, Elliott, and Newman, and we are already down to 21 cars on the lead lap at 1/3 distance.

We move on to further action with Jimmie Johnson steadily climbing up the ladder. Chad Knaus thinks the #48 can contend with one more stop. A second round of green flag stops begin. Stewart 13.7 with a huge stop, but lousy fuel mileage. Rusty now a lap down (ignition), 15.7 with a major chassis adjustment. Nemechek coasts between Turns 3 and 4, apparently another victim of stretching the fuel mileage too much. Park gets on the grass en route to pit road. Gordon 15.8 with a wedge and two air-pressure adjustments. Jarrett, wedge adjustment, 14.6. Marlin with a slow 17.4. Todd Bodine stalled on pit road, and takes a while to refire. Busch 18.9, trouble with the right front. Problems on the left rear with Craven, but no adjustments. Air-pressure adjustment for Newman. No major adjustments for Johnson either. Junior 15.2, and reporting very good mileage. Sheet metal appears to be hanging from the #40. Kenseth with another solid stop. Waltrip 16.5, no adjustments but trouble with the left rear, DEI looking good with the mileage. Elliot Sadler takes a turn in the lead. Finally a caution on Lap 139 of the 267-lap event when Michael Waltrip engine expires and the #15 makes contact with the wall. Huge break for Jeff Green (current leader) and Mark Martin (gets back on the lead lap), who had not pitted. Green 15.7, Martin 15.8, Stewart 15.7 (helped by getting an extra stop). Pit-road penalty for Marlin, which puts the #40 a lap down, a deficit that would not be recouped. Jeremy Mayfield also to the garage, and eventually finishes 34th.

HARVICK THOUGHT THIS WAS 'PRETTY COOL'

Restart with Junior in first, followed by Newman, Sadler, and Kenseth, neither of the four pitted during the caution. Kevin Harvick now running in 13th. Jeff Burton loses a cylinder and motor eventually expires. Exact same fate will occur with Mike Wallace. Dale Jarrett with some possible front-end damage after making contact with the wall. Also a report of Matt Kenseth being down a cylinder, turns out to be a cracked header. Engine is fine but car will not be 100 percent the rest of the day. Dale Jr. builds up a 5+ second lead until caution for debris on track (Lap 182), and the wounded car of Kenseth wins the race off pit road for the lead and five bonus points. Dale Jr. quickly jumps on Kenseth during the restart, the #17 would make it the rest of the way but slowly fade in doing so. Elliot Sadler, running eighth, spins in front of the start/finish line (Lap 192) to bring out the next caution. Definitive moment of the race occurs soon after the restart on Lap 197 when Harvick makes a bold (and in some quarters questionable) three-wide inside pass attempt on Kurt Busch and Dave Blaney, and The Harvick machine starts to get out of control once the car gets off-camber on the apron, and starts to climb up the Turn 1 banking. �It felt like someone popped both the rear tires� Harvick would say later. The #29 avoids contact as the car eventually skids down into the infield but others checking up behind him were not as fortunate including Kenny Wallace, Jimmy Spencer, and Hut Stricklin. A handful of cars (including Harvick) gamble at this point and take on a splash of fuel in hopes of making it till the end. A tire is possibly rubbing on Robby Gordon�s machine, who is still running a decent 13th. Ryan Newman continues to lead, while Tony Stewart passes Dale Jr. for second. The #8 suddenly does not seem to be running as well. Jimmie Johnson and Bill Elliott both pass Kenseth to move into the top five. According to reports from NBC and MRN, most teams will not be able to make it on fuel, two notable exceptions being Kevin Harvick (currently ninth) and Jeff Gordon (currently 11th). Jerry Nadeau (steering) heads to the garage � not running for points, will fill in for Johnny Benson in the #10 next week. Reports also indicate that Terry LaBonte and Robby Gordon would role the dice and stay out should the race remain green. Ryan Newman cuts a tire (appeared to be an engine at first) while Joe Nemechek has yet another meeting with the retaining wall, bringing out a much-needed yellow for many teams. Harvick and Jeff Gordon stay out, and eventually make it to the end while holding off the competition with fresh skins. Tony Stewart catches Kurt Busch for third while the #29 takes the checkers. Harvick will not even risk a cool-down lap. He turns around so he can get a burnout in front of the start-finish line before running out of gas, forcing Harvick to get out and walk to Victory Lane while a wrecker pushes the #29 home.

Fifteen car ultimately finished on the lead lap. Harvick and Gordon were followed by Stewart, Johnson, and Newman. Busch, Bill Elliott, Robby Gordon, Mark Martin, and Dale Jr. round out the top ten. They were followed by Dale Jarrett, Jeff Green, Terry LaBonte, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Hamilton, Sterling Marlin (first car not on the lead lap), Dale Blaney, Bobby LaBonte, Ricky Rudd, and Ricky Craven. Other notables include Rusty Wallace (25th), Steve Park (27th), Ward Burton (41st), and Michael Waltrip (42nd). The point race tightens up once again with Sterling Marlin now holding a 49 point advantage over Mark Martin. They are followed by Jimmie Johnson (-89), Jeff Gordon (-95), and Tony Stewart (-157). Three-time race winner Matt Kenseth, who was making a run for the points lead a month ago, now finds himself in tenth, 264 markers behind.

One last note in this era of aero push. There were 19 lead changes among 11 drivers on Sunday, only four of those occurred during green flag racing.

GARAGE TALK

RCR�s success this weekend wasn�t limited to the Cup event, as track position and fuel mileage also paid off for Johnny Sauter (in Harvick�s old #2 ride) who stayed out for the final 112 miles to win the Busch 300-mile race at the Chicago track. And what the hell I'll mention this - Al Unser Jr. placed second in the IROC race. No word on whether he beat up any women afterwards. As we went to press last week, the story broke concerning NASCAR handing out multiple fines � the headliner being a $25,000 fine levied towards Jimmie Johnson crew chief Chad Knaus for using �offset mounting bolts for the front of the truck trailing arms.� Whatever that is. More importantly, 25 owner and driver points were deducted from the #48 team, putting Jimmie Johnson 89 points behind instead of 64. As close as this points race is shaping up, that penalty (although relatively minor) could come back to haunt. Robert Yates Racing announced that chances �are slim� that Ricky Rudd would return to the #28 for next season. Meanwhile Michael Waltrip�s future became solidified as Mikie re-upped with the #15 (along with NAPA as a sponsor) through the 2004 season. Todd Bodine also has a deal finalized for the balance of the season with Discover Card to drive the #26 car. The biggest ripple however involved Joe Gibbs Racing�s decision to go back to Chevrolet for the 2003 season, as apparently three wins this year between Tony Stewart and Bobby LaBonte were not good enough. The #18 and #20 cars may also be driving Chevy�s in some races this season, perhaps as early as Indianapolis. Bobby LaBonte and Tony Stewart drove both makes in Indy testing this week with about the same amount of success. Joe Gibbs Racing was with Chevy from its inception in 1992 through 1996 (with Dale Jarrett and Bobby LaBonte) before switching to Pontiac in 1997. This blockbuster leaves Ken Schrader, Johnny Benson, and Stacy Compton as Pontiac�s only drivers.

With a big-money race looming at Indianapolis, many teams have been testing at the Brickyard. This weeks quickest speed was Jerry Nadeau at 181.324 mph. Others on the sunny side of 180 included Jimmy Spencer (180.352), and #17-Matt Kenseth (180.133). Todd Bodine ran the fastest in testing last week.

Now for my top 20 rankings�

1. (1) Marlin (+3), (3) 2. Johnson (-1), 3. (4) J. Gordon, 4. (5) Stewart (+2), 5. (2) Martin (+3), 6. (7) Rudd (-1), 7. (10)Kenseth (-5), 8. (8) Elliott (+4), 9. (9) Busch, 10. (12) Newman (+1), 11. (11) Jarrett (-4), 12. (14) Dale Jr. (+3), 13. (6) Wallace (-3), 14. (16) J. Burton, 15. (13) Craven (-2), 16. (15) Waltrip, 17. (19) Blaney, 18. (28) Harvick (NR), 19 (21). B. LaBonte (-1), 20. (22) J. Green (NR)

Dropped out: T. LaBonte, K. Petty

NEW HAMPSHIRE PREVIEW

The Chicago race produced much less attrition as usual. The upcoming schedule also features several tracks where there will not be a lot of accidents. You can look for long-green flag runs, with fuel mileage and track position determining things in the end. NHIS will definitely fit that description.

NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY IS THIS WEEKS VENUE

This is not one of the higher profile events of the season, and currently only 41 drivers are entered. Look for NASCAR to drag out the likes of Andy Hillenburg and Frank Kimmel to fill out the field, and they will be gone within 10 laps of the green flag. Most of the talk in recent years regarding this flat one-mile oval has involved safety and the lack of side-by-side racing. Even though the track is far from being the fastest on the circurt, the sport lost two drivers due to practice accidents heading into Turn 3 two years ago. The loss of Adam Petty in preparation for a Busch race in May 2000 was an especially cruel blow since Adam was projected to be one of the circuit�s �young guns� by this season. It also robbed the sport of an opportunity of a fourth-generation Petty competing. Kenny Irwin also passed away in a similar accident in preparation for this race two years ago. Speaking of Kenny, check out this blast from 1999 in Martinsville when Tony Stewart went completely ballistic towards Kenny on the track. Ironically, Stewart ended up winning the July 2000 race and afterwards recalled some very fond memories with Irwin, who he had a decade-long rivalry dating back to their USAC days in the Indianapolis area.

So after the track killed Adam, and also killed Kenny � the knee-jerk reaction was made to have a restrictor-plate race for the September 2000 date, which was arguably the worst of modern Cup racing. There have been no major accidents since, as safety improvements such as having an on/off �kill switch� (stuck throttles were determined to be contributing factors in both accidents) were taken. There has also been talk of installing �soft-walls� into the turns. After all that happened in just a two-month period, nothing being done there can be classified as over-reacting.

As far as the racing is concerned, the length of all turns was lengthened by twelve feet, in hopes of having more side-by-side, as well as competitive racing. Cracks were found in those areas, and had to be repaired recently. The Busch series raced here in May, and the trucks will race on Saturday as a prelude to the Cup race. This will as usual be the first of two Cup races at NHIS. The second is scheduled just eight weeks from now in Mid-September. Last year�s September date (the weekend after 9/11) had to be rescheduled for a Thanksgiving weekend finale, where unseasonably warm temperatures made tires an issue (Goodyear was expecting much colder). No qualifying was held for the Thanksgiving tilt, with the grid based on points. And yes, Harvick will be in the truck tilt just to add some added excitement. And Stacker 2 is sponsoring the Cup race, perhaps Harvick can take on a few of the wrestlers. Not like it would be the first time a wrestling match broke out after a Harvick race. The drivers to watch for are as follows�

Jeff Gordon � The #24 seems to be near the top of the pack again, and Jeff is a three-time winner here (�95, �97, �98). Also qualified second and finished first last July, and was in control of things in the November tilt before being wronged by Robby Gordon.

Tony Stewart � A pair of fifth place finishes in 2001, to go along with his 2000 win and a second during the �99 season. He will still be in a Ponti this week, and crew chief Greg Zimpadelli complains about the Pontiacs shortcomings when mired in traffic.

Sterling Marlin � Finished second last November. Look for him to run top five after some misfortunes last week.

Jeff Burton � As disappointing as the #99 has been this year, Burton gets mention with the big boys this week, as he is the tracks all-time leading winner going to victory lane once each year from 1997 through 2000. Burton finished 11th and 19th here last year.

Dale Jarrett � Last year�s race turned into a RYR show, with Jarrett eventually beating teammate Ricky Rudd in the end.

Ricky Rudd � Coming of a pair of off weeks, look for the #28 to bounce back in a big way at NHIS.

Matt Kenseth � With track position and pit strategy likely to be keys, look for the #17 to rebound from three weeks worth of bad luck.

Jimmie Johnson � #48 is a threat anywhere despite lack of experience.

Ryan Newman � Same goes for the #12

Rusty Wallace � Track has a lot of short-track characteristics, which makes Rusty a bigger force than usual.

Kurt Busch � I like his chances better than teammate Jeff Burton.

Mark Martin � Nothing exceptional last year (18th and 9th), but challenging for the points lead has to be good for something.

DARK HORSES

Dale Earnhardt Jr. � Managed a ninth here in this race last year. This could be another good week for DEI/RCR.

Robbie Gordon � Personally, I don�t take too much stock in the November win. For most teams that event had all the pageantry of the old Suzuki Japan exhibition race that used to be held in Novemer (translated: they didn�t want to be there). Still, I like Robby�s prospects for the near future as he should be strong here, in Pocono (which has road course characteristics), Indy, and Watkins Glen. It should add up to a good run for the #31.

Ricky Craven � This is a home game for the Maine product. Look for a top-ten and perhaps even better.

Bill Elliott � A definite top-ten driver in recent weeks, but finished a mediocre 21st and 22nd last year.

Kevin Harvick � If he can get through the truck race without getting in trouble, the #29 will gain some valuable experience over his competitors with the new layout. Another top ten is a strong possibility.

Jeff Green � Harvick and Robbie may get more of the pre-race publicity, but don�t be surprised if it�s the #30 that steals the show.

Dave Blaney � Robert Pressley got a seventh out of last November�s race, don�t be surprised to see something similar out of this rising force.

Jimmy Spencer � Got a fourth in this race last year. But a better scenario for this week has Spence complaining about someone else�s driving afterwards.

Michael Waltrip � Bad break for those who had the #15 last week, as he was one of the few to make an early exit. But don�t forget about Mikie�s chances, who has had a great run lately.

Joe Nemechek � A deep sleeper, a 1999 winner at this track, a nice long-shot in the #25 car.

Steve Park � Qualified fifth and finished sixth in this race last year. This is also his home track, so needless to say, this is where the #1 must turn it around.

Look for the top ten to end up as follows:

1. J. Gordon, 2. Stewart, 3. Rudd, 4. Jarrett, 5. Marlin, 6. Kenseth, 7. Johnson, 8. Newman, 9. Busch, 10. J. Burton

NASCAR ODDS has the field as follows:

Stewart 3-1, J. Gordon 4-1, Martin 9-2, Kenseth 5-1, Jarrett 6-1, Rudd 7-1, Johnson 8-1, R. Wallace 9-1, Newman 10-1, Elliott 11-1, Marlin 12-1, B. LaBonte 13-1, Busch 14-1, Dale Jr. 15-1, J. Burton 16-1, Harvick 17-1, Craven 18-1, Waltrip 19-1, Blaney 20-1, Sadler 22-1, J. Green 24-1, Park 26-1, W. Burton 28-1, Spencer 30-1, T. Bodine 32-1, Hamilton 34-1, R.. Gordon 36-1, Andretti 38-1, Schrader 40-1, T. LaBonte 42-1, Mayfield 44-1, Nemechek 46-1, Nadeau 48-1, Petty 50-1, Skinner 55-1, B. Bodine 60-1, Atwood 65-1, Stricklin 70-1, Compton 75-1, Grissom 80-1.