Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, scoring his 16th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory in his 201st career start.
Earnhardt Jrs last victory came at Phoenix, 20 races ago.
Earnhardt Jr., moved to 40th on NASCARs All-time win list tied with Jimmie Johnson..
This marked the ninth victory for Chevrolet in 2005. Ford has eight wins and Dodge has one.
Earnhardt Jr. climbed from 16th to 13th in the NASCAR NEXTEL CUP point standings, and is now 491 behind of first-place Jimmie Johnson.
Earnhardt Jr., scored his first victory and second top 10 finish at Chicagoland Speedway.
Earnhardt Jr. became the ninth different race winner in 2005.
This was Earnhardt Jrs, 13th career superspeedway victory in 156 career superspeedway races.
Earnhardt Jr., led one time for the final 11 laps.
Earnhardt Jr., has scored seven top-10 finishes in 18 races this season.
This marked the first victory for DEI in 2005 and first at Chicagoland.
Notebook Items
Matt Kenseth (second) posted his second top-10 finish in five races at Chicagoland Speedway. It marked his fifth top-10 finish in 2005 and his best finish of the season. Kenseth led 176 of the 267 laps raced, leading the most laps for the first time in a race this season.
Jimmie Johnson (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in four races at Chicagoland Speedway, all top fives. He scored his 13th top-10 finish in 2005. Johnson remained first in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, now 108 ahead of second-place Greg Biffle.
Johnson has ranked in the top-10 of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series point standings for 51 consecutive races, the longest current streak. The streak began at Atlanta in March 2004. Johnson has scored 13 top-10 finishes in 2005, the most of all drivers
Brian Vickers (fourth) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Chicagoland and his fifth top-10 finish in 2005.
Tony Stewart (fifth) posted fourth top-five finish in five races at Chicagoland Speedway. Stewart remained third in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, 43 points behind second-place Greg Biffle.
Jeremy Mayfield (sixth) scored his third top-10 finish in five races at Chicagoland Speedway. Mayfield has scored 12 top-15 finishes in 2005. He climbed from 11th to ninth in the point standings.
Rusty Wallace (12th) extended a 31-race streak of running at the finish that began at Bristol last August.
Jeff Gordon (33rd) scored his sixth DNF in 2005. Gordon has finished 30th or worse in eight of the 18 races this season. Gordon dropped from 13th to 15th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, 502 points behind point leader Jimmie Johnson.
Bobby Hamilton Jr., led his first lap in a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race.
Seven 10 of the top-10 positions in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings changed at Chicagoland Speedway.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(7-11-2005)
