Inside Lane: What to watch for this weekend at Chicagoland

Heading into Saturday night's race at Chicagoland, an anonymous NASCAR driver shares his thoughts about the latest happenings in the circuit.

"One thing at Chicagoland that's going to be an unknown this weekend is that it's the first time with the new car at this track. It's also the first time we've raced at night here, which is going to make a difference, I'm sure. Every track is different when it comes to racing at night. Some tracks change dramatically, and some tracks change very little. We don't really know what this track's going to do. Typically, you'll gain more grip, but it just depends on the tire and the track and the car. The key here is going to be track position: staying up front, qualifying well, and staying out of trouble."

"[Fans say the racing is boring, but] I've always enjoyed coming here. I like the community, and I like Chicago. I wish the track was a little closer to the city -- but it's not too far away, it's like 45 minutes out to an hour. The track itself, the new car is going to play a big role in whether it stays a one-groove race track moving forward. But the only thing they could really do to make it better is make it progressively banked so that the second, higher grooves are more competitive compared to the bottom. As the track ages, that'll happen naturally -- it just takes longer. But if they just came back in here and just did progressive banking, it would definitely speed that process up."

"One more thing on Chicagoland: I agree 100 percent that the track and ISC shouldn't be selling ticket packages which force fans to buy tickets for every race the track holds that weekend. I don't think you should be forced to buy tickets to something you don't want to watch. Maybe you sell part of the stands as seasonal tickets ... but I think at least for a large portion of the tickets sold, you should just be able to buy the show you want to go to. I think the prices are so high already, and the fans, we're just so glad to have them come out for the show as it is. We should be taking care of them. The economy's hard and gas prices are up; the last thing we should be doing is forcing them to buy a ticket to a race they can't even go to or that they don't want to go to. Or that they can't even afford."

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"One of the biggest things I took from Daytona is that the cars weren't that bad to drive. Daytona and Talladega are two completely different races with this new car. The hole that the car punches in the air and the drag the car has with the restrictor plate -- making us able to run a bigger restrictor plate that we've had in the past -- makes for a good race. It's hard to maintain position, and it's a lot easier to pass. The cars handled well, and at Daytona in particular, this car tends to get loose AND tight. You don't have to set up the car so loose that you're about to wreck. Instead, you can drive it a little more neutral, and it makes for a fun car to drive at Daytona [and Talladega]. But that's only two race tracks, so I [still] want changes across the board with this new car. I think you can dramatically improve some of the other characteristics that hurt the car at other tracks without really hurting what you have at these two."

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"I think the penalties for the Car of Tomorrow violations have been on par [Martin Truex and the No. 1 team were fined 150 points, $100,000 and had their car chief and crew chief suspended for six weeks after problems with the roof template at Daytona]. It depends on what the violation is, though, and it can be a tough call. If a car comes through inspection and it's too low by a centimeter because the tire went flat or a shock collapsed, who cares? It really doesn't matter. Sometimes, I think they're a little too harsh on stuff like that. I've seen cars get thrown out of qualifying or go home with this new CoT car for such minor, indifferent infractions. It doesn't matter if the car is 1/64 or 1/32 inch low in the front; when we're on the race track, it rubs the ground anyway. It's irrelevant. And then they throw you out of qualifying ... I think that's kind of silly."

"Now, if you chop up the roof and lower the roof to try and get a huge advantage, or you pop the glass out of the window and mess with the oil cover like the No. 99 car did, or do what the Haas cars did where you're tampering with the wing ... then you're talking about black and white issues, and those should be huge penalties. If they say don't tamper with the roof and it doesn't fit the template, that's a big deal. I don't know how far off it was for the No. 1 car. You gotta remember, though, these cars are made by hand -- so I don't know if it was off by a fraction of a centimeter, or if it was off like an inch, and that would make a big difference. But if it's a black and white instance where NASCAR thinks they are blatantly cheating the rules, I think the penalty should be strong."

"With that said, I think for the most part NASCAR does do a good job with the rules and penalties they hand out. But the biggest thing I wish they would change is taking the win when a car fails post-race inspection. If you get caught with a black-and-white, blatant rules violation and you won the race, I think you should get zero points ... you should be fined money, and the win should be taken away."