After a delay to the start of the race followed by another five-hour rain delay, the first race in the chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is now in the books.
Prior to the start of the GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, Matt Kenseth went into the race as the points leader after the chase reset and walking out the remained on top with the win. Five hours later after the red flag for a rain delay Kenseth kept himself among the leaders and made the pass on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch in the late part of the race.
With the win at Chicago, Kenseth captured his sixth win of the season.
Busch, who had won in the trucks and Nationwide Series race earlier in the weekend fell short of sweeping the weekend at Chicago and settled for second right behind his teammate.
Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson closed out the top five.
With rain delaying the start off the race, it starting to become a challenge for the Cup Series and whether the race will go on as planned or pushing back to Monday. After rain took over the original starting time, the race soon turned into a night race creating a whole new challenge for the drivers.
Once the night came in and after the rain left, cooler track temperatures meant issues could arise for teams considering their race set up was adjusted for day racing. Five hours later after first being on the track, once the red flag had been lifted several teams suffered engine issues.
The race even gave many of the chase drivers issues throughout the day. Many managed to recover as 10 chase drivers finished in the top 12. As for two of the chase drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Joey Logano would go on to suffer and fall within the standings after having engine issues. Logano ended the night with the worst finish within the 13 championship contending drivers, in 37th.
The race at Chicago may have extended its self into extra hours and finishing under the lights but it certainly give the 13 drivers in the chase another long start to the chase after the controversy prior to the race. New Hampshire will be the next stop in the 10 race playoff format and many will need to recover from their finish at Chicago. Nine more races remain until the new champion is crowned.