Some acted like Chasers- taking the necessary risk to survive Monday's Geico 400 in Chicagoland and get their 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup off to a roaring start. Others, however, weren't so lucky, and several had their luck- and fuel- run out in the final laps. So, which category was your favorite driver in? Get the lowdown on all 12 Chase drivers days- and a look at their stats for the upcoming Loudon race- here:

 

Kevin Harvick

Harvick admitted after qualifying that he dug his No. 29 Budweiser team in a hole by qualifying 30th. He was further frustrated by the No. 22 of Kurt Busch, who was in the pit stall behind Harvick and, in Harvick's mind, continually making it hard for him to pull his car into his own box.

 

But Harvick battled back, both on track and on pit road, and despite iffy fuel mileage collected his 8th top five of the season. After winning last weekend in Richmond, it looks like the No. 29 team has gotten it's early season mojo back.

 

"I'm just happy that we finished second, to be honest with you. There's still a lot of question marks for us coming into the Chase on the mile-and-a-half stuff. But the call was solid all weekend. ... During the year it was all about trying to win races. Now it's about accumulating points."

 

Combined with Kyle Busch's bad day, Happy Harvick now sits atop the points heading into Loudon next weekend.

 

Loudon Stats: One win (2006) in 21 starts, five top fives, 11 top 10s and zero DNFs. Harvick's average finish in New Hampshire is 14th, and he finished 21st in the first race in the July race.

 

Points before race: 2nd

Points after race: 1st (+1)

 

Tony Stewart

Just a few weeks ago, Tony Stewart didn't seem too confident about his 2011 Chase hopes.

 

Oh what a difference a trip to the Second City makes.

 

Stewart started 26th, but by lap 90 was running in the top ten. By lap 119 Smoke was battling within the top five. On the lap 150 restart Stewart made it three wide to take second place, but nine laps later was passed by defending champion Jimmie Johnson.

 

With fuel mileage concerns in the air, Stewart took the lead from Matt Kenseth with 59 to go, losing it back to Kenseth on pit road five laps later. With 30 laps remaining, Smoke took the lead back for the final time. Having saved enough fuel and with a charging Harvick too far behind, Stewart collected his first victory of 2011.

 

Stewart said afterwards that "one day doesn't change the whole season," but his crew chief Darian Grubb has a different opinion of the No. 14's championship odds.

 

"That's Tony's mind set. We all work too hard to ever come to feeling that way."

 

Loudon Stats: Two wins (2000, 2005) in 25 starts, 13 top fives, 15 top 10s and two DNFs. His average finish here is 12th. Smoke finished second to teammate Ryan Newman here in July.

 

Points before race: 9th

Points after race: 2nd (+7)

 

Carl Edwards

Another quiet yet solid day for Cousin Carl.

 

Edwards started fifth, and led twice for 39 laps. Edwards ran in the top ten for the majority of the race, and thanks to several front runners runnning out of fuel in the late laps of the event, Edwards came home with his 13th top ten of the season.

 

"That was a nice finish for us in this first race and something we can definitely build on as we head to Loudon." Edwards said afterwards.

 

Loudon Stats: Zero wins in 14 starts, two top fives, two top tens and zero DNFs. Edwards' average New Hampshire finish is 14th, and he finished 13th in the July race.

 

Points before race: 5th

Points after race: 3rd (+2)

 

Kurt Busch

Between his ongoing feud with Jimmie Johnson, which was reignited last week, and his ongoing issues with the media, Kurt Busch was able to put his troubles behind him this past weekend in Chicagoland.

 

Busch started the Geico 400 third on Monday and led twice for 64 laps. Unlike many of his Chase competitors, Busch and his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil team saved enough fuel to come home sixth. It was 15th top ten of the year.

 

Loudon Stats: Three wins (Swept races in 2004 and one in 2008) in 21 starts, seven top fives, 11 top 10s and one DNF. His average finish in Loudon is 13th, and he finished 10th there in July.

 

Points before race: 7th

Points after race: 4th (+3)

 

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Ah, just what Junior Nation- and their driver- needed.

 

Earnhardt, Jr. didn't make a ton of noise during today's Geico 400, where he started 19th, staying around 11th for the majority of the afternoon. Out of nowhere he was sixth with 13 to go, and thanks to cars in front of him running out of fuel, he brought his no. 88 AMP Energy Chevy home third. It was his fourth top five of the season, and his first since a second place effort back in Kansas.

 

"At the end, our car was really good. I was happy with being able to adjust the car and improve during the race.

 

"I was never worried about our fuel mileage. I started backing off saving gass with about 20 to go."

 

Loudon Stats: Zero wins in 24 starts, six top fives, 10 top 10s and four DNFs. His average finish is 17th and he finished 15th in the July race.

 

Points before race: 10th

Points after race: 5th (+5)

 

Brad Keselowski

Momentum is a very powerful thing- it's carried Brad Keselowski into the Chase with three wins and a seven race streak of top 15 finishes going into Chicagoland. The question is, can the wild card use this momentum to shock the world and win the Chase? Or will Keselowski's hot streak fade away?

 

Keselowski won the Dollar General 300 on Saturday, and started Monday's Geico 400 in the sixth spot. He took the lead from Jimmie Johnson on lap 165 but handed it back four laps later, and didn't lead again. However, he remained in the top 15 the majority of the race and came home with yet another top five, and jumped five spots in points to sixth.

 

"We hung in there and battled and battled all day," Keselowski said after the race. "We tried some different strategy, got moved to the back, but kept plugging away and got fifth out of it. Our fuel mileage was awesome. It was a good first step for use in the Chase."

 

Loundon Stats: Zero wins in four starts, zero top fives, one top ten (2009) and zero DNFs. Keselowski's average finish is 21st and he finished 35th in the July race.

 

Points before race: 11th

Points after race: 6th

 

Ryan Newman

Newman started from fourth, and during green flag pit stops took the lead briefly on lap 117. He used two tire strategy on lap 147 to once again take the lead, holding it for 16 laps before giving the top spot up to a hard charging Jimmie Johnson. While Newman was never able to regain the lead again, he remained a fixture in the top ten.

 

Newman ran out of fuel out of turn two on the final lap, but managed to salvage an eighth place finish- his 14th top ten of year- out of it. He also moved up one spot in points to seventh.

 

"(The fuel mileage) was kind of a crazy deal, but we were able to capitalize."

 

Loudon Stats: Three wins (2002, 2005 and 2011) in 19 starts, six top fives, 13 top 10s and two DNFs. Newman's average Loudon finish is 12th and he won the July race.

 

Points before race: 8th

Points after race: 7th (+1)

 

Jimmie Johnson

It was a solid day for Jimmie Johnson, in what's been a solid year for the defending champ. Nothing spectacular, but another top ten for Johnson, his 18th of the year.

 

Johnson made slight contact with the No. 18 of Kyle Busch and the No. 17 of Matt Kenseth, but remained in the top for the rest of the day, even taking the lead on lap 163.

 

Loudon Stats: Three wins (Swept races in 2003 and won again in 2010), seven top fives, 13 top 10s and zero DNFs. The champ's average New Hampshire finish is 10th and he finished fifth back in the July race.

 

Points before race: 6th

Points after race: 8th (-2)

 

Kyle Busch

This was not how Kyle Busch wanted to get the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup started.

 

It was the 10th time Busch started a race in the top ten this year, taking the green flag from the ninth position. Despite his starting spot, however, Busch's No. 18 pit crew was plagued by mishaps on pit road-

 

"I saved as much fuel as I could, but I guess it just wasn't enough and we ran out with two to go. Just a really disappointing day."

 

Loudon Stats: One win (2006) in 13 starts, four top fives, six top 10s and zero DNFs. His average finish is 16th and he finished 36th there in July.

 

Points before race: 1st

Points after race: 9th (-8)

 

Matt Kenseth

Despite starting on the pole for just the sixth time in his Sprint Cup career, Kenseth

 

Kenseth lost the lead to Kyle Busch, who took two tires, on pit road on lap 31 and ran in the top ten for the rest of the race. However, Kenseth ran out of gas with a lap to go and because he was pushed to the finish by J.J. Yeley, NASCAR penalized him and he finished what was a strong day in 21st.

 

"That's a deal where we might have finished a little better if I could have coasted back to the start/finish line. But if we could have made it back to the start/finish line, that's where I would have finished anyway," he said "... I don't think anyone even got to J.J. to ask him. He was just trying to do me a favor, which is really nice of him. A lot of people wouldn't do that. It's easy to forget about that. Charlotte, for instance, there was a teammate pushing a car around the track for four laps under yellow to save gas without his engine running. So there's just so much of that that goes on, it kind of slips your mind."

 

Loudon Stats: Zero wins in 23 starts, five top fives, 11 top 10s and one DNF. His average finish is 14th and he finished 20th in Loudon in July.

 

Points before race: 4th

Points after race: 10th (-6)

 

Jeff Gordon

The four time champ has won twice in Chicagoland, but he did not have a winning day on Monday.

 

Gordon started 23rd, and early pit road problems pinned him in the middle of the field early. On lap 102 he had made his way up to 17th, but by lap 126 was 25th and a lap down.  He was the lucky dog after Jamie McMurray blew an engine on lap 164. After running out of gas on the final lap, Gordon came home 24th.

 

"We actually got the car halfway decent there at the end. Then it came down to saving fuel and we obviously didn't save enough fuel."

 

Loudon Stats: Three wins (1995, 1997 and 1998) in 33 starts, 14 top fives, 18 top 10s and 2 DNFs. His average is 11th, which is where he finished in the July Loudon race.

 

Points before race: 3rd

Points after race: 11th (-8)

 

Denny Hamlin

Like his teammate Kyle Busch, this wasn't the way Denny Hamlin needed to start the 2011 Chase.

 

Hamlin started 27th, and a loose wheel and green flag pit stop on lap 84 kept him in the back of the pack for the rest of the afternoon. With just 45 laps to go Hamlin had to pit again with a flat tire. He ended up 31st and remained in the basement of the Chase.

 

Hamlin didn't talk the the media afterwards.

 

Loudon stats: One win (2007) in 11 starts, five top fives, eight top 10s and zero DNFs. Hamlin has the best average finish in Loudon of the Chasers at seventh, and he finished third in July.

 

Points before race: 12th

Points after race: 12th

 

Coverage of the Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway begins at 2 pm ET on ESPN Sunday, September 25.

 

Thanks to NASCAR on ESPN, the Chicago Sun Times, SB Nation, Racing Reference, NASCAR.com and the Associated Press for the statistics, quotes and information used in this piece.