5 things you need to know about the Chase as it begins
Fittingly, NASCAR's second season kicks off Sunday not far from America's Second City.
The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR's 10-race, season-ending playoff round begins with Sunday's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Here are five things you need to know about the race and the Chase:
The favorites
Two of the last four Sprint Cup races at Chicagoland Speedway have been won by Brad Keselowski, with the other two captured by Joe Gibbs Racing. Both JGR and Keselowski's Team Penske have both shown good speed this weekend so far, though they've hardly been dominant.
Reversal of Fortune
For the first time since 2002, Chevrolet likely will lose the Sprint Cup Manufacturers' championship, which almost certainly will go to Toyota, who has never won it before. But Chevys dominated both Saturday practices at Chicagoland in both single-lap speed and 10-consecutive-lap averages. Look for Bowtie Brigade drivers Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson to be fast on Sunday.
Not just one Chase
Here's the deal: The Chase isn't one playoff round, it's four: Round 1 trims the field from 16 drivers to 12. Round 2 cuts the field to eight and Round 3 reduces the field to the final four. Those four drivers will race head's-up Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Whichever driver has the best finish at Homestead is your 2106 Cup champion
There will be fights
In each of the two previous Chases in this format, there have been multiple fights, with drivers throwing punches and wrecking each other. It's a virtual certainty that it will happen again this year. The nature of the Chase -- four drives get eliminated every three races -- makes normally sane men crazy with rage. No telling who will be involved this year, but tempers will boil over for sure.
No repeat winners
The last five editions of the Chase have produced five different winners: Tony Stewart in 2011, Brad Keselowski in 2012, Jimmie Johnson in 2013, Kevin Harvick in 2014 and Kyle Busch in 2015. Will wee see a sixth consecutive champion in 2016? It would not be a surprise at all if it happened.
