Posted on by Alex Cadavid

CHICAGO — With the air now finally cleared, Daniel Suárez feels “relief” with the news that he and Trackhouse Racing will officially part ways after the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. He expressed that after four full seasons in the No. 99 Chevrolet, the chemistry faded and a change was needed after months of knowing he would not return to the organization in 2026.

“I have known this for six or seven months, this was going to happen,” Suárez said before Saturday’s practice got underway. “It’s just like everything in life, things change, people change, companies change, and that’s OK, there’s nothing wrong with that. There just wasn’t really love anymore, but there is no hard feelings at all.”

RELATED: Chicago schedule | At-track photos

Despite earning both of his Cup wins under the Trackhouse banner, Suárez could slowly feel the love fading over time, and the distraction of having an uncertain future in the Cup Series over the past two seasons made it difficult for him to remain a contender.

When asked about what led to both sides drifting apart, Suárez opened up candidly about the factors that led his situation to reach this point.

“Since my new crew chief [Matt Swiderski] came to Trackhouse, he told me a lot of things that he didn’t think were right within the organization and a lot of things that needed to be changed,” Suárez said. “I’ve been very vocal with the team on we need to address this, we need to address that, and I’m not the only one seeing it. There are more people seeing it. I don’t think that’s the only reason. I think there are more things. I just think that lately, there have been things that have made me feel that I’m not as important.”

Knowing open seats for next season are limited, the Monterrey, Mexico, native remains confident he will be on the Cup Series grid next year and has no plans of moving down to the Xfinity Series for a year to reestablish his market for 2027.

“I’m confident about [staying in Cup Series], but by contract, I couldn’t talk to anyone about this, even though I knew it was going to happen for a while,” Suárez added. “Everything is still very early, and there are a lot of things that are in the air still. It’s pretty early. Most of the time, these kinds of moves happen a little bit later. I have had a lot of conversations with a lot of people, and there are going to be opportunities. We just have to see how things play out. I’m not going to lie. I believe that if this was happening next year, it was going to be way easier because next year, there’s a lot of more openings, but there is going to be some, and I’m confident that things are going to work out.

“In my mind, I don’t have anything to prove in the Xfinity stuff. I mean, I love the Xfinity Series. I had probably one of the best weekends of my career, winning in Mexico City in there. … It’s an amazing series. I love it. I like to compete with the best of the best.”

Admittedly, Suárez feels “lighter” having this weight off his shoulders, and though the last few seasons haven’t gone the way he hoped for, he still looks back at his time at Trackhouse with fondness.

“I wasn’t very happy anymore, and it was just a matter of time to end this chapter,” Suárez said. “But at the end of the day, we are still in the middle of the season, so we have a lot of things that we still have to work on with my 99 team. I love the 99 team. It’s probably one of the best teams I’ve ever had, and I’m going to miss that group so much. That group is very special to me.”

Ross Chastain, Suárez’s longstanding teammate, reflected on the impact Suárez had on him when he first signed with the team in 2022 and how they connected on and off the track.

“It’s been incredible. It’s been four years together, my entire time at Trackhouse, and really, once we moved into the Concord building, it was him and I,” Chastain said. “He’s the most like-minded person outside of the car of a teammate that I’ve ever had. We were at the same, I feel like, parts in our careers where we had something to prove — when Justin [Marks, team owner] hired us. We put the time in the gym, weights-wise, and available effort in the gym, we were like, line-over-line the same.”

MORE: Cup Series standings 

His most special memory with Suárez is, of course, the celebration and genuine excitement each shared when the other scored their first career Cup win three years ago.

“Both of us winning, seeing his excitement for me at COTA (Circuit of The Americas), and then me when he won at Sonoma,” Chastain said. “I parked the car where I had to, and then I ran up to the start/finish line where he was celebrating. Just seeing that come full circle for both of us.

“Our path to get to Trackhouse were both relatively similar timelines, I’d say. So I feel like that, just seeing all that pay off with Cup wins, I mean, just can’t get over our first wins, and we were there for each other. We were there leading into that, into both of those wins that year in ’22.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

CHICAGO — Regardless of how his 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign turns out, Ryan Blaney has a life-changing moment to look forward to this offseason.

The former series champ and his wife, Gianna, announced this week that they are expecting the arrival of their first child. The couple married last December, one year to the day after their engagement (on 12/12, nonetheless). Their due date, Blaney said, follows suit in keeping major life events outside of the racing calendar.

RELATED: At-track photos: Chicago | Weekend schedule

“We’re in the winter, so that takes a lot of stress off,” Blaney said Saturday before practice and qualifying for Sunday’s Chicago Street Race (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “I can’t say we necessarily drew it up that way. Just kind of got fortunate on the timing of it. So hopefully, fingers crossed, it all goes to plan, and we can be kind of settled into the offseason by the time that the little one comes.”

Blaney said he’s planning to lean on longtime friend Bubba Wallace for advice in the parenthood department. Wallace and his wife, Amanda, welcomed their first child — a son, Becks Hayden Wallace — to the world last Sept. 29. The youngest member of the family joined in on the celebration earlier this year after Wallace’s victory in a Daytona 500 qualifying race; Gianna voiced her approval in the comments, saying: “Fav pic ever.”

“I ask him every day,” Blaney said. “I ask him all the time, and I see it firsthand, being over at his place and flying together and stuff like that. You know, seeing Becks around and watching Becks grow up and stuff like that has been kind of neat. So yeah, I ask him all the time for advice, what are some goods and what are the struggles of a newborn and things like that. So it’s been nice to have him right there and kind of go through the same thing.”

Said Wallace: “I’ve known for a while, obviously, and just hearing how excited they’ve been. Gianna has been going through a little rough patch just from the sickness and stuff. It’s crazy how everybody’s different through their pregnancies and everything. Amanda was, for the most part, OK, and Gianna’s been taking it all in stride, but excited to see them become parents.”

Blaney’s parents — Lisa and former Cup Series driver Dave — have already become grandparents with Ryan’s sister Emma the mother of two young boys. The new addition to the family, however, will be the first of a new generation on Gianna’s side.

“My older sister has a couple kids, but it was Gianna’s parents’ first grandchild, so that’s pretty exciting for them,” Blaney said. “And so yeah, my parents were excited, and yes, it’s pretty cool. That’s like another level of pride as a parent, I feel like, and as a kid, too, giving your parents a grandchild and stuff like that. So my parents were excited, and her parents were extra excited, like I said, because it’s going to be their first grandchild.”

Posted on by Staff Report

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series driver will pit for Sunday’s Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Chicago weekend schedule | How to watch NASCAR on TNT Sports

 

A graphic depicting the NASCAR Cup Series pit road layout for the Chicago Street Race.
NASCAR

See where your favorite NASCAR Xfinity Series driver will pit for Saturday’s The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Course (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: How to watch NASCAR on The CW

A graphic depicting the NASCAR Xfinity Series pit road layout for the Chicago Street Course.
NASCAR

 

Posted on by Staff Report

CHICAGO — Officials penalized the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing and the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club teams after two pre-race inspection failures each at the Chicago Street Course.

RELATED: Chicago weekend schedule

As a result, both teams will have a crew member ejected and lose choice of pit stall selection for Sunday’s Grant Park 165 (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Competition officials barred the car chiefs for each team for the remainder of the race weekend — Kirk Almquist with the No. 21 team and Ryan Dextraze with the No. 42 group.

Berry, driver of the No. 21 Ford, currently sits 19th in the driver standings and has a provisional playoff berth secured after his victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. Nemechek, meanwhile, ranks 23rd and is 82 points behind the elimination line in the Cup Series Playoffs grid.

This weekend’s Cup Series race is the 19th regular-season event of the 2025 season and the third race in downtown Chicago. Practice and qualifying are set to begin Saturday at 1 p.m. on truTV and will set the 40-car starting grid.

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

The NASCAR Cup Series heads back to the concrete jungle in Chicago for the third annual Grant Park 165 and Round 2 of the In-Season Challenge, where 16 drivers have eyes on advancing but half will see their hopes of a $1 million payday come to an end (Sun., 2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Chicago schedule | How to watch NASCAR on TNT Sports

Of course, the driver that’s going to be tough to beat for the overall win is Shane van Gisbergen, who already has a dominant road-course dub in hand this season (Mexico City) and earned his first Cup Series checkered flag in his NASCAR debut two years ago in this same race. His Australian Supercars background and competition on street circuits in the past give him a leg up over the Cup Series field when it comes to this contest, but there is one driver who could give the Kiwi a run for his money this weekend.

Christopher Bell has led 51 laps across both street races, swept the stages in 2023 and ranks second in Speed Rating on the Chicago Street Course, according to NASCAR Insights. However, his best finish in two Chicago starts is 18th. Good luck has yet to blow his way in the “Windy City” with an incident last year and an unlucky strategy the year prior. However, on road courses this year, Bell is the only driver to rank in the top three in Speed Rating, Long Run Speed Rating, Passer Rating and Restart Rating, signaling he should be a threat yet again in Chicago.

The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has cooled since ripping off three consecutive wins in the first four races this year and needs a rebound after three finishes of 16th or worse in the last four races. Although he finished runner-up to van Gisbergen in Mexico City (albeit by 16.5 seconds), this weekend is a chance for him to get revenge on the Trackhouse Racing driver.

It’s worth noting, though, that both Chicago winners secured the first win of their respective seasons, and a few names stand out as possible candidates to continue that trend and provisionally secure a spot in the Cup Series Playoffs.

FANTASY: Set your lineup | Make 36 for 36 pick

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

ALEX BOWMAN: After a slump of finishing 27th or worse in seven of the nine races, Bowman has finished 11th or better in the last three, including two top fives to find momentum at the right time toward defending his Chicago win a year ago.

TYLER REDDICK: Last year’s runner-up has arguably been the best driver on road courses in the Next Gen era, owning the most laps led (206) and points (614) and tying for the most poles (three), wins (three) and stage wins (four). He additionally has the second-most top fives (eight) and top 10s (13) since 2022.

TY GIBBS: Still looking for his first Cup Series win, Chicago presents a good opportunity for Gibbs to break through. He leads all drivers in points scored on the street course and is one of three drivers to score top 10s in both races. Gibbs has also led the third-most laps on road courses this year.

MICHAEL MCDOWELL: One of the other drivers to finish top 10 in both Chicago races, McDowell has notched 11 top 10s in 19 road-course races since 2022. It’s also been 66 races since McDowell last visited Victory Lane, doing so on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2023.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE GRANT PARK 165

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula incorporates current track, track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to predict a projected winner and provide full race results. Updated on race day with practice and qualifying factored in.

FinishCar NumberDriver
188Shane van Gisbergen
25Kyle Larson
39Chase Elliott
420Christopher Bell
554Ty Gibbs
671Michael McDowell
745Tyler Reddick
824William Byron
917Chris Buescher
1016AJ Allmendinger
118Kyle Busch
121Ross Chastain
1312Ryan Blaney
1477Carson Hocevar
1522Joey Logano
1648Alex Bowman
1719Chase Briscoe
1811Denny Hamlin
192Austin Cindric
206Brad Keselowski
2199Daniel Suárez
2223Bubba Wallace
2334Todd Gilliland
2447Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2560Ryan Preece
267Justin Haley
2738Zane Smith
284Noah Gragson
2935Riley Herbst
303Austin Dillon
3143Erik Jones
3242John Hunter Nemechek
3333Austin Hill
3441Cole Custer
3521Josh Berry
3666Josh Bilicki
3710Ty Dillon
3813Will Brown
3951Cody Ware
4078Katherine Legge
Posted on by Alex Cadavid

CHICAGO — “This place has changed my life, so I’m gonna have special memories of this place forever”: Shane van Gisbergen, inaugural winner of the Chicago Street Race in 2023.

Van Gisbergen’s impressive victory set him on the path to NASCAR’s national series scene. He won three races as a rookie in the Xfinity Series a year later before getting the call to the Cup Series this season. Now competing at the sport’s highest level with a playoff spot secured, the New Zealander returns to the Windy City aiming to bounce back from last year’s performance on the 2.2-mile street circuit, where he exited early after a Stage 2 crash.

“We have them all circled going into the year,” Stephen Doran, van Gisbergan’s crew chief of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, said after the Kiwi dominated Mexico City. “I don’t think we approach road courses any different than we do ovals. It’s max effort on every car, but we know with his skill set, if we just put him in position, he’s going to take care of business at these types of places.”

RELATED: Chicago weekend schedule | How to watch NASCAR on TNT Sports

What makes van Gisbergen special and hard to beat at turning left and right is his street smarts. Coming from an Australian Supercars background, he’s raced a great multitude of traditional road courses and street circuits, so much so that he even finds some familiarity in Chicago’s layout to tracks he’s won at from the land down under.

“It’s a bit like Gold Coast in some way, like the 90-degree corners and stuff, and Adelaide in some sections. But yeah, it’s different in its own way. The hardest part here is the no runoff, like Turn 1 and Turn 5; going straight into a wall at the biggest braking zones is pretty daunting. Normally, you have runoff in the tricky corners, so that’s probably the hardest part about this place. ”

With the third annual Grant Park 165 slated for Sunday (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), van Gisbergen returns not only to the site of his NASCAR debut win but also as the main target. The rest of the Cup Series field has improved its road-racing chops in the past year — yet in the garage and on pit road, he’s still seen as the benchmark.

“This place is pretty cool to me. Every time I come back, I hate cities,” van Gisbergen joked. “But when you get here, it’s pretty cool. You know, I got great memories here.”

Posted on by Kobe Lambeth

With eight races remaining until the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, 12 drivers have clinched a provisional spot in the postseason, and four spots are still up for grabs.

As the Cup Series drivers prepare for Round 2 of the In-Season Challenge on the twists and turns of the Chicago Street Course on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), anything is possible in the “Windy City.”

Shane van Gisbergen, the obvious favorite looking for his second Chicago Street Race win in three years, put his name on the playoff grid after a dominant victory in Mexico City. Following Chase Elliott’s win at his home track of EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) last weekend in Georgia, van Gisbergen’s playoff probability slightly dropped from 99.38% to 98.67%.

If the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet driver takes the checkered flag on Sunday in “Chi-Town,” his playoff probability will almost certainly jump to 100% and improve his postseason position.

Two drivers who may challenge the superior road-course racer from New Zealand are Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs. At the moment, Bowman is above the elimination line (plus-39) and 15th on the playoff grid. Meanwhile, Gibbs is below the elimination line (-86) and 25th in the playoff standings.

With Bowman winning last year’s Chicago Street Race and Gibbs being one of SVG’s main challengers last month at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, it would not be a surprise to see them in the mix toward the end in Chicago.

Let’s take a closer look at the playoff bubble entering Chicago and see which drivers need to have a good race in Grant Park.

Field of 16 Chicago projections.

RELATED: Chicago schedule | Cup Series standings

GREEN FLAG [Drivers in a great spot for Chicago]

After a much-needed top five last weekend at Atlanta, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick left Georgia 128 points above the elimination line with a 96.24% playoff probability. That might sound like a comfortable spot to be in for now, but if new winners emerge in the next eight weeks, Reddick could go from comfortable to uncomfortable quickly without a win.

Reddick finished runner-up in last year’s Chicago Street Race behind winner Alex Bowman as the 23XI driver made a late-race charge at the Hendrick Motorsports pilot for the lead. Unfortunately, Reddick brushed the wall on the last lap and watched Bowman sail into the Chicago sunset.

Scoring his first top-five since the Darlington Raceway spring race in April and having three road-course wins on his resume, the No. 45 team can use Chicago as a place to start building momentum as the regular season winds down. As the No. 23 seed in the In-Season Challenge, Reddick will also have an eye on his opponent for Round 2, No. 26 seed Carson Hocevar.

RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher is only 52 points above the elimination line, so a poor result in the coming weeks could put the No. 17 Ford driver in a pickle. With a 75.57% playoff probability, Buescher enters Chicago on a high note with five top 10s in the last seven races, including four consecutive top-10 finishes.

In two Chicago Street Course starts, Buescher’s best finish was 10th in 2023 and earned a road-course win last year, outdueling Shane van Gisbergen at Watkins Glen International. The RFK driver also has seven top 10s in the last nine road-course races.

Buescher has taken down SVG before, and he could certainly do it again … this time to clinch his playoff spot with a win. In addition, Buescher (No. 3 seed) will have a close eye on his opponent, No. 14 seed Zane Smith, in the In-Season Challenge.

YELLOW FLAG [Drivers on the fringe for Chicago]

A year ago, Alex Bowman came to Chicago and won the race to lock himself and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team into the playoffs. As the defending Chicago Street Race winner, he has the potential to repeat in 2025.

Last month, Bowman got a top five in Mexico City and has six top 10s in the last 10 road-course races. With a 42.37% playoff probability, do not be surprised if Bowman is running toward the front at the end of the Grant Park 165.

After surviving a chaotic race at EchoPark Speedway last weekend, Bowman (No. 8 seed) will also be on the lookout for In-Season Challenge opponent No. 9 seed Bubba Wallace, who made contact with the Hendrick driver to show his displeasure after last year’s street race in the “Windy City.”

Before an untimely caution led to a loss of track position, it seemed like the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Ty Gibbs was the only driver who could keep up with Shane van Gisbergen in Mexico City. Although it has not been the year Gibbs had hoped for up to this point, he is currently riding a streak of four straight top-15 finishes entering Chicago.

Gibbs’ current playoff probability is 19.61%, and he sits 25th in the playoff standings. The Chicago Street Race might be the perfect opportunity for the JGR driver to finally capture his long-awaited first career Cup Series victory in start No. 106 and turn around a character-building season.

In two starts on downtown city streets, Gibbs has an average finish of 6.0, which is his best average among all active tracks. Additionally, the No. 6 seed in the In-Season Challenge will also go against the No. 22 seed, AJ Allmendinger, in Round 2.

RACING INSIGHTS: Full race projections for Chicago

RED FLAG [Drivers I’m concerned about heading to Chicago]

Twenty-three points above the elimination line and 16th in the playoff standings, Bubba Wallace is on the bubble entering Chicago. With the next two Cup Series races consisting of left and right turns, plus a playoff probability of 42.99%, the 23XI Racing driver could be in trouble.

In his last 13 road-course starts, Wallace has only a single top-10 finish, a ninth-place result last year at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. The No. 23 team is facing plenty of pressure in trying to keep a provisional playoff spot and snap a 97-race winless streak.

As Wallace has admitted many times that road-course racing is not his greatest strength as a driver, he will need to have a good day to avoid losing valuable points, so maybe crew chief Charles Denike will prioritize scoring stage points. In Round 2 of the In-Season Challenge, as mentioned above, Wallace will face Alex Bowman.

RFK Racing owner/driver Brad Keselowski had his strongest result of the 2025 Cup Series season last Saturday at Atlanta after finishing second. Sitting at an 18.31% playoff probability, with Chicago and Sonoma Raceway up next on the schedule, it could be a long two weeks for the No. 6 Ford.

While Keselowski has been stepping it up lately with strong speed and executing complete races with four top 10s in the last six races, he does not have any top 10s in the last 17 road-course races. With eight races to go until the playoffs and 122 points below the elimination line, it might be best for the No. 6 team to simply get through Chicago and Sonoma, then go all out to win one of the remaining oval races in the regular season.

No. 17 seed Keselowski will be matched up against No. 32 seed Ty Dillon in the second round of the In-Season Challenge.

Posted on by Neil Paine

Last weekend’s spotlight at Atlanta was on the first NASCAR In-Season Challenge bracket … and it immediately got blown up. Top seeds Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe were knocked out in a massive crash early in Stage 2, turning the debut of a March Madness-style tournament into true mayhem. Meanwhile, hometown hero Chase Elliott would go on to outduel Brad Keselowski for the win; Elliott is now the new favorite in the bracket, alongside Chris Buescher.

But with the Cup Series heading to Chicago, the driver everyone will be watching isn’t even in the tournament field: Shane van Gisbergen, the road-racing ace who didn’t qualify for the bracket, looms as the favorite to win again on the city streets. We warned everyone a few weeks ago that SVG was a threat to heat up and steal a playoff spot, with a number of road/street courses coming up, and that’s exactly what happened when he took the checkered flag at Mexico City. Now the big question might be whether anyone can deny van Gisbergen another victory on a track featuring both left and right turns — and if so, who?

Let’s run through the 11 drivers most likely to dethrone the street king — along with their key stats, including Adjusted Pts+ (which scales the quality of each driver’s finishes relative to a Cup average of 100) and Driver Rating, on both road courses overall and at Chicago specifically — while breaking down why each one might have what it takes to challenge SVG’s road-course reign. In no particular order:

No. 45 Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 15.0 avg. finish, 193 Pts+, 104.5 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 3 wins, 8 top fives, 11.2 avg. finish, 199 Pts+, 101.2 Rtg.
Road course career: 28 starts, 3 wins, 9 top fives, 12.5 avg. finish, 177 Pts+, 94.8 Rtg.

Quick: Who’s the only Cup driver to post a Driver Rating above 100 in both Chicago Street Races? It’s not SVG — yes, he was near-perfect in his debut win (138.1), but he dropped to 83.5 last year after finishing 40th. Instead, the answer is Reddick, who has quietly been the most consistent frontrunner on the streets of Chicago. He was near the lead throughout both races, logging 57 laps in the top 15 (with eight laps led) in the inaugural event, then following it up with a runner-up finish behind Alex Bowman last season. So, this is a guy who feels comfortable in the tight confines of the street setup. And it bears mentioning that Reddick is also one of the Cup Series’ best road-course drivers in general, with a 199 Pts+ index and 101.2 Driver Rating since 2022, both of which are second only to (who else?) van Gisbergen.

No. 9 Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 12.0 avg. finish, 175 Pts+, 80.5 Rtg.
Next-Gen road courses: 18 starts, 0 wins, 10 top fives, 9.8 avg. finish, 193 Pts+, 99.3 Rtg.
Road course career: 37 starts, 7 wins, 21 top fives, 8.8 avg. finish, 227 Pts+, 106.6 Rtg.

Even if Elliott is no longer the undisputed king of NASCAR road racing, he remains among the sport’s elite when it comes to that craft. The Atlanta winner from a week ago owns the second-best average finish of any active driver on road courses in the Next Gen era (9.8), trailing only Chris Buescher (8.8), to go with two poles, 10 top fives and 12 top 10s in 18 starts in that span. Elliott also worked his way up to finish third from a 26th-place start in the 2023 Chicago race, which recalled his climb from 34th to first at Elkhart Lake in his seventh and most recent road victory in 2021. Elliott remains due for another one of those, which would tie Tony Stewart for second-most in Cup history.

No. 13 Will Brown, Kaulig Racing

Chicago career: 0 starts
Next Gen road courses: 1 starts, 0 wins, 0 top 5s, 31.0 avg. finish, 20 Pts+, 60.2 Rtg.
Road course career: 1 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 31.0 avg. finish, 20 Pts+, 60.2 Rtg.

The biggest wild-card name in the field on Sunday is Brown, an Australian Supercars driver straight out of the same mold as van Gisbergen. While his career Supercars resume isn’t quite as stunning as SVG’s was quite yet — he has 11 career wins and one championship; SVG had 81 wins and three titles — Brown is also about a decade younger, and is the defending 2024 Supercars Championship winner. Will that translate to Cup right away? Well, Brown will have to fight against inexperience; he has never run Chicago before and finished 31st in his lone previous NASCAR start, last season at Sonoma. However, given the parallels between Brown and SVG, and the multiple street circuits that populate the Supercars schedule, Brown’s odds to win the Grant Park 165 were getting high — up to +1800 at midweek on DraftKings’ sheet — so bettors clearly think there is some chance for Supercars-ringer lightning to strike twice.

No. 20 Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 27.5 avg. finish, 39 Pts+, 102.5 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 2 wins, 7 top fives, 11.6 avg. finish, 187 Pts+, 96.6 Rtg.
Road course career: 28 starts, 3 wins, 9 top fives, 13.6 avg. finish, 174 Pts+, 93.2 Rtg.

Bell has finished no lower than second place in each of the past three Cup Series road-course races, including a win in March at COTA and a runner-up behind SVG at Mexico City a few weeks ago. That impressive consistency is related to Bell’s placement within a five-member club of active drivers (joining van Gisbergen, Reddick, William Byron and Kyle Larson) who’ve won multiple times at road courses in the Next Gen era, officially putting the No. 20 car among company that is as elite as it gets. Bell’s Chicago finishes haven’t been as impressive — he’s gone 18th and 37th so far — but that undersells his true performance, as he led at least a dozen laps in each race and posted Driver Ratings in excess of 91 both times out.

No. 54 Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 6.0 avg. finish, 233 Pts+, 112.0 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 16 starts, 0 wins, 4 top fives, 16.7 avg. finish, 124 Pts+, 81.6 Rtg.
Road course career: 16 starts, 0 wins, 4 top fives, 16.7 avg. finish, 124 Pts+, 81.6 Rtg.

Gibbs narrowly (and I mean narrowly) missed the cut for our stat about Reddick and the only drivers in triple-digit Driver Ratings at both Chicago races — he had a 99.9 two years ago, and a 124.1 last year while leading the most laps — finishing top-nine in both races. That has helped give him the best average Driver Rating (112.0) and co-best average finish (6.0) of any driver in their career on the Chicago streets, albeit in a sample size of two races. More broadly, Gibbs is also underrated on road courses, which have tended to be his best track type early in his career, and he’s had some of his best drives of the season recently — he had a 114.6 rating at Mexico City — after a first-half slump. This could be the week Gibbs finally scores that long-awaited first career win.

No. 71 Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 6.0 avg. finish, 216 Pts+, 81.9 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 1 wins, 5 top fives, 12.8 avg. finish, 165 Pts+, 91.1 Rtg.
Road course career: 49 starts, 1 wins, 5 top fives, 19.8 avg. finish, 101 Pts+, 73.1 Rtg.

McDowell’s mid-career glow-up at road courses has spanned practically the entire Next Gen era, and it continues to this very day. After a fifth-place run at Mexico City last month, McDowell has now finished 15th or better in six straight road races — including four top 10s — and 10 of his past 13 starts on road courses. That included a win at the Indianapolis G.P. track in 2023, as well as finishes of seventh and fifth in two tries at Chicago, tying him with Gibbs for the best career average finish of any driver on those streets. With an average start of 4.5 as well — never starting lower than sixth on the grid — McDowell has been good at giving himself early track position at a race with fewer lead changes (8.0) than other road courses (10.6) feature on average since 2022.

No. 48 Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports

Chicago career: 2 starts, 1 wins, 1 top fives, 19.0 avg. finish, 214 Pts+, 83.6 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 18 starts, 1 wins, 6 top fives, 14.2 avg. finish, 155 Pts+, 84.1 Rtg.
Road course career: 37 starts, 1 wins, 8 top fives, 15.0 avg. finish, 137 Pts+, 78.3 Rtg.

Bowman doesn’t have quite the same consistency as the other names on the list — before winning here a year ago, he had crashed out and finished 37th in 2023 — but he is still a road-racer to be respected. In a race that was up for grabs after SVG wrecked just 24 laps in, Bowman eventually tracked down Joey Hand (another road-course ringer) and proved Cup regulars could, in fact, win on the streets of Chicago, too.

No. 5 Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 21.5 avg. finish, 130 Pts+, 101.4 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 3 wins, 5 top fives, 17.3 avg. finish, 143 Pts+, 89.5 Rtg.
Road course career: 40 starts, 6 wins, 11 top fives, 15.2 avg. finish, 156 Pts+, 94.5 Rtg.

Larson has been all over the place at road courses recently — winning twice but also finishing outside the top 25 five times (including three outside the top 30) in his past nine outings. However, he does have a triple-digit average Driver Rating (101.4) at Chicago, breaking 90 each time out, and his adaptability to different driving conditions comes in handy on a street layout that Cup drivers don’t get a lot of practice in tackling. While road courses aren’t Larson’s absolute forté, they are certainly a weapon in his arsenal.

No. 8 Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 7.0 avg. finish, 197 Pts+, 80.7 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 0 wins, 6 top fives, 16.3 avg. finish, 139 Pts+, 80.2 Rtg.
Road course career: 60 starts, 4 wins, 21 top fives, 15.0 avg. finish, 170 Pts+, 93.5 Rtg.

In an otherwise highly frustrating season, Busch scored his lone top-five finish on a road course — at COTA — and road racing has arguably been the most reliable part of his driving profile since joining RCR in 2023. That’s especially been the case at Chicago, where Rowdy has a pair of top 10s (and a fifth-place finish) in two starts, even recording one of the fastest laps of the race a year ago. Coming off a run at Mexico City where he crashed out after six laps and finishing last, Busch needs some road-course redemption — and this is a good place for it.

No. 24 William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 10.5 avg. finish, 144 Pts+, 73.2 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 2 wins, 6 top fives, 12.7 avg. finish, 167 Pts+, 90.4 Rtg.
Road course career: 34 starts, 2 wins, 6 top fives, 15.6 avg. finish, 137 Pts+, 90.6 Rtg.

Byron has been solid, if not stellar, at Chicago in the past two years — finishing 13th in 2023 and eighth last season, but with Driver Ratings in the low-to-mid 70s both times. (So, barely average.) Leading zero laps and running among the top 15 only 27 percent of the time, he extracted high-quality finishes out of non-dominant performances. Still, the driver of the No. 24 car is one of the better road-course experts in Cup overall, with a 96.2 Driver Rating over the past three seasons. A truly dominant day on the Chicago streets may be coming soon enough.

No. 17 Chris Buescher, RFK Racing

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 15.0 avg. finish, 101 Pts+, 80.1 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 1 wins, 4 top fives, 8.8 avg. finish, 185 Pts+, 91.7 Rtg.
Road course career: 39 starts, 1 wins, 6 top fives, 12.9 avg. finish, 141 Pts+, 79.5 Rtg.

Ever since the start of the Next Gen era, Buescher has been an absolute machine on road courses, which one would think makes him a great pick to at least be in a position to contend at Chicago. In his 19 road-course starts since the beginning of the 2022 season, Buescher has 15 top 10s and was among the top 17 in all but two races: The first Next Gen road race (21st at COTA in March 2022) and last year’s Chicago Street race (20th), of all places. That’s why Buescher’s track-specific record here is merely good, not especially great. But he is so consistent at these types of tracks overall that he ought to be a factor this weekend — and we’ve seen him do the unthinkable, hunting down and passing SVG on the final lap for a road-course win, before as well.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Here’s what’s happening in NASCAR with the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) in the rearview and the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course up next.

MORE: Chicago entry list | In-Season Challenge hub

1. Challenge’s second round sweet for some, heartache for others

Atlanta was a wringer for In-Season Challenge hopefuls. The opportunity for more upsets looms in the Chicago Street Race, where the search for a breakout favorite continues.

The carnage that befell much of the NASCAR Cup Series field last weekend at Atlanta also broke the brackets of the inaugural In-Season Challenge. The 32-driver invitational, which coincides with TNT Sports’ broadcast segment of the season, is now rife with disarray heading into an intriguing showdown on the lone street circuit on the NASCAR schedule.

A handful of standouts could restore some order to the $1 million tournament in this weekend’s Chicago Street Race (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Round 2 in the five-race series. The event also marks the third trip to the tricky 2.2-mile downtown course, officially turning the page into the second half of the Cup Series season.

First, let’s pick up the tattered pieces from Atlanta, which left everyone’s brackets in varied shards and shreds. Gone are top-seeded Denny Hamlin, a three-time winner this year, who was in the midst of the race’s largest wreck in Stage 2. That same melee claimed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe, the second seed and the series’ most prolific pole winner this season, and a host of others with damaged cars that found the wreckers’ hooks.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | 2025 schedule

Some of the biggest winners from the challenge’s opening round were obvious. Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman carried the baton for Hendrick Motorsports, with the former notching his first win of the season and the latter sealing his best finish since mid-March in third. The two are also distinctively poised to advance, given their momentum, plus Elliott’s overall road-course acumen and Bowman’s role as the defending Chicago race winner. That said, Elliott is still searching for his first road-course win since the Next Gen car’s 2022 introduction.

On the team side, RFK Racing — as hinted in this space last week — still carries plenty of upside into the next phase of the In-Season Challenge. All three of its drivers — Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece and Atlanta runner-up Brad Keselowski — advanced into the Round of 16, providing the organization with the most opportunities for a deep tournament run. Buescher was a trendy final-four pick when the brackets were unveiled, and his potential as the top seed remaining at No. 3 is great.

Kaulig Racing also produced some Cinderella positives, with 32nd-seeded Ty Dillon upending Hamlin and teammate AJ Allmendinger turning back Michael McDowell in the opener. Of the two, 22-seed Allmendinger has boundless possibilities for a deeper run toward the challenge’s prize with a pair of road-racing circuits — Chicago, then Sonoma — the next two weeks.

With Atlanta in the past, NASCAR’s next superspeedway-style racing at a drafting track won’t happen again until the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway in late August. Until then, the chaos will have to be contained within Chicago’s city limits in the next round of the In-Season Challenge, where most everyone’s brackets will be bracing again, this time for a street fight.

Alex Bowman (48) and Brad Keselowski lead the field at EchoPark Speedway
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

2. The ‘other’ Sweet 16: The rapidly filling playoff grid

The list of first-time 2025 winners has grown in recent weeks, with Atlanta victor Chase Elliott the most recent to clinch. Incentives abound in Chicago, including more for one of NASCAR’s newest free agents.

Another 16-driver grid is looming larger in the season’s second half — the race for spots in the Cup Series Playoffs, which is three-quarters of the way to completion. Four open berths remain for the taking in the regular season’s eight remaining races, and three of those eight events occur on road courses.

Of the 16 drivers left in the In-Season Challenge, only one — Elliott, by virtue of his Atlanta win — is a playoff lock. The remaining 15 are hungry not just for a deep-dish victory in the Windy City, but for the opportunity for a season-altering moment that ensures championship eligibility.

Those opportunities — with five first-time winners in the last six Cup Series races — are making life on the playoff bubble all the more volatile. Tyler Reddick — last year’s Chicago runner-up and the Regular Season Champion from 2024 — is the only non-winner in a seeming spot of comfort, 128 points above the provisional elimination barrier. Chris Buescher (plus-52), Alex Bowman (plus-39) and Bubba Wallace (plus-23) are less relaxed, especially with the knowledge that the bubble can easily narrow in the coming weeks.

Ryan Preece is the closest to reaching the positive side of the playoff ledger, down just 23 points to Wallace. But the minus side also includes two former Cup Series champions in Kyle Busch (-72) and Brad Keselowski (-122), and a new free agent in Daniel Suárez, who will part company with Trackhouse Racing at season’s end in a mutually reached agreement that was announced Tuesday.

There’s incentive beyond the obvious for Suárez, who has the chance to end his five-year run with Trackhouse on an up note, but also to audition for a potential new landing spot for the 2026 season. He holds a top-10 speed rating for the Chicago Street Race, according to Racing Insights, and will return next week to Sonoma Raceway, site of his first Cup Series win in 2022.

Daniel Suárez loads into the No. 99 Chevy at Pocono Raceway
Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

3. Who has the Chicago advantage (or third-time charm)?

Do all signs point toward another Shane van Gisbergen type of day in the third edition of the Chicago Street Race? Crew chief experts Steve Letarte and Todd Gordon break down the street-circuit favorites, plus other top names to watch among the Cup Series regulars.

4. International intrigue on all-time list

A victory by either Shane van Gisbergen or Daniel Suárez on Sunday would move them into the lead among the Cup Series’ winners born outside of the United States — all of whom hail from different countries. A glance at the half-dozen drivers who make up that list. (Credit: Racing Insights)

DriverBirth countryWinsTrack, year
Shane van GisbergenNew Zealand2Chicago, 2023; Mexico City, 2025
Marcos AmbroseAustralia2Watkins Glen, 2011-12
Daniel SuárezMexico2Sonoma, 2022; Atlanta, 2024
Juan Pablo MontoyaColombia2Sonoma, 2007; Watkins Glen, 2010
Mario AndrettiItaly1Daytona, 1967
Earl RossCanada1Martinsville, 1974

5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

Paint Scheme Preview: 2025 Chicago Street Race weekend

Trackhouse, Suárez mutually opt to part company after 2025 season

Checking in on the NASCAR Cup Series playoff bubble before Chicago

Power Rankings: Momentum leans in Alex Bowman’s favor

NASCAR Insights: Bowman’s vital role in Atlanta victory

Kyle Petty: Atlanta makes its case as a hype-worthy hybrid

Analysis: Chase Elliott savors home-state emotion

Cup Series favorites break down new In-Season Challenge

@nascarcasm: Fake texts to Atlanta winner Elliott

Shane van Gisbergen's No. 16 rounds a turn in the 2024 Chicago Street Race
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR Xfinity Series hits the streets of Chicago on Saturday for The Loop 110 (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The CW App will air Xfinity Series qualifying at 11:30 a.m. ET.

QUALIFYING ORDER: Cup Series | Xfinity Series 

The qualifying order below is determined via metric that combines the previous race finish by owner (70%) and current owner points position (30%).

Saturday’s qualifying session will be just one round, but drivers will be split into two groups with 20 minutes to turn a lap.

MORE: How to watch on The CW | Weekend Schedule

# denotes series rookie
(i) denotes ineligible for driver points

Pos.Car No.DriverMetric ScoreGroup
150Preston Pardus42.51
29Shane van Gisbergen (i)39.81
324Kaz Grala (i)35.91
432Austin Green35.81
54Parker Retzlaff #34.01
611Josh Williams33.21
718William Sawalich32.71
853Sage Karam29.71
991Josh Bilicki29.21
105Kris Wright27.71
1142Anthony Alfredo27.21
1214Connor Mosack (i)26.61
1300Sheldon Creed26.31
1407Alex Labbe25.21
1539Ryan Sieg25.21
168Sammy Smith25.21
1735TBA24.31
1831Blaine Perkins24.11
1945Brad Perez23.91
2071Ryan Ellis23.71
217Justin Allgaier22.02
2221Austin Hill19.42
2316Christian Eckes #18.12
2444Brennan Poole17.92
2570Thomas Annunziata17.72
2699Matt DiBenedetto17.72
2727Jeb Burton14.22
2828Kyle Sieg14.12
2925Harrison Burton13.62
3051Jeremy Clements13.32
3126Dean Thompson13.12
3220Brandon Jones12.22
3310Daniel Dye #10.72
3419Jack Perkins8.22
3554Taylor Gray #6.22
362Jesse Love5.72
3748Nick Sanchez #4.32
3888Connor Zilisch #3.42
391Carson Kavapil #3.22
4041Sam Mayer3.02