Gear jammin': Chicago

Top 4 stories from the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway:

1st gear -- Stewart gets to victory lane: With the 10-point bonus awarded to Chase competitors for each win during the "regular" season, getting into the Chase -- at least for now -- doesn't seem to be quite enough. With drivers like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson racking up some early-season wins to give themselves some separation when the Chase starts, its imperative for the rest of the guys to get some 'W's, too. Plus, Stewart historically has gone on 2nd half rolls, and it could be bad news for the rest if the No. 20 team starts firing on all cylinders and threatens to run away and hide every week.

2nd gear -- Vacation time: With the checkered flag falling at Chicagoland, drivers and teams have a week off, the last one of the season. Some guys will go race short track events, some guys will go fishing in a cabin somewhere in the middle of nowhere, some guys will just stay home and putter around the house. But this is also the chance for teams to air out any dirty laundry and get on the same page, getting their collective act together for the stretch run.

3rd gear -- Troubled times: When Jimmie Johnson's tire blew late in the 400 and sent his No. 48 Chevy careening into the outside wall, it marked the first low point for Hendrick Motorsports in a while -- and was the first dent in the sheet metal for the teams since crew chiefs Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte were suspended by NASCAR. Not that one wreck is going to put the entire season off-track by any means for the reigning Cup champ, but a little fallibility has to give the rest of the field the feeling that those guys at Hendrick aren't unbeatable.

4th gear -- The old car: The inconsistency of the current season has been caused in large part by the running of two completely different cars. Interesting at Chicago to see, though, that when push came to shove, the same teams we're used to seeing up front in the traditional car were running up front -- Stewart, Kenseth, Harvick, Johnson, Gordon, Edwards. One has to wonder at what point everybody gets up to speed with the COT and the racing begins to look like it always has.