Posted on by Reid Spencer

CHICAGO — There’s a line about the pinball wizard in The Who’s rock opera “Tommy” that goes “What makes him so good?”

After Sunday’s Grant Park 165 on the Chicago Street Course, race fans, pundits and competitors alike were asking the same thing about Shane van Gisbergen.

The statistics speak for themselves. On road courses in the NASCAR Cup Series, van Gisbergen has posted a win, two top fives and five top 10s. Most recently, he won the Mexico City race by an amazing 16.567 seconds over runner-up Christopher Bell.

On the Chicago Street Course (not included in road-course stats), he has two victories in three attempts. His numbers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series are even more daunting. In five road-course starts, he boasts two victories and four top fives.

RELATED: Chicago race results | Cup Series standings

SVG has won the two Xfinity races he has run on the Chicago Street Course, both from the pole. On Sunday, he completed a weekend sweep of the Xfinity and Cup races, having won the pole for each event.

Kyle Busch, who finished fifth in Chicago, is the only other driver to have swept an Xfinity/Cup weekend after winning the pole for both races, a feat he accomplished at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July 2016.

Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks, who fielded the No. 88 Chevrolet van Gisbergen drove to victory on Sunday, had his own ideas about the New Zealander’s superiority.

“For me, in my experience driving race cars for 20 years, it’s his racing IQ,” said Marks, an accomplished road racer himself. “It’s how strategic he can think while he’s on the limit of the race car.

“A lot of drivers, it takes all of your mental bandwidth to drive the car fast, and Shane is one of these guys that can drive the car at the limit but be thinking bigger picture stuff. He knows where he is in the race, and he knows how to… he’s great at managing his tires, his equipment, all that kind of stuff.”

Clearly, SVG’s talents are ideally suited to the streets of Chicago.

“I think for his talent profile specifically, street races are just… they come very, very naturally to him,” Marks said. “He’s got a lot of experience doing it in the V8 Supercars series, but I think in races like this, where everybody is working so hard just to get the apexes and get out of the corner in the right way and all of that, he does that just naturally while he’s thinking about bigger picture stuff, so he can really put the whole race together in a super impressive way.”

Stephen Doran is the crew chief who sets up the Cup cars to van Gisbergen’s liking.

“You watch him, and he’s like a machine out there,” Doran said. “He makes no mistakes, and he just waits until somebody misses an apex in front of him and he pounces on them. He just drives through the field. You saw it (Saturday) and (Sunday). His laps are so consistent, and that’s part of why he saves his tires so well.”

MORE: SVG sweeps Chicago weekend

There’s more to it than that. SVG is a three-time champion in Australian Supercars, a gritty series where no quarter is given. That same series also honed the skills of Marcos Ambrose, who enjoyed significant success on road courses after coming to NASCAR racing in 2006.

Fellow competitors saw how van Gisbergen was willing to run JR Motorsports teammate Connor Zilisch wide in Turn 1 after the decisive restart in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.

Cup driver Tyler Reddick took note.

“Obviously, I saw what Shane was willing to do to win the race on Saturday, and for us needing a win to lock ourselves into the playoffs, I would have raced really hard, because I think he would have done the same,” said Reddick, who finished third after chasing van Gisbergen and runner-up Ty Gibbs over the closing laps on Sunday. “It didn’t happen, but we can all dream and speculate what it could have been.”

Remarkably, SVG has adapted almost instantly to the road-course versions of both the Gen 7 Cup car and the Xfinity car — two vastly different platforms. To rise to van Gisbergen’s level of excellence on road and street courses, competitors in both series not only have to sharpen their road racing skills but also must adopt a take-no-prisoners mentality to match his level of determination.

Otherwise, “What makes him so good?” will continue to be an often-asked question.

Posted on by Press Release

LANCASTER, N.Y. — Local standout George Skora III of Eden, NY, is set to make his debut in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on Saturday, July 12, when the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 takes center stage at Lancaster Motorplex.

The two-time and defending Sportsman track champion will pilot the No. 65 Modified — a brand-new Gen-2 LFR chassis powered by a Robert Yates spec engine — against some of the best in the business at the track he calls home.

Skora enters the race with confidence and grounded ambition.

“My realistic goal is to win the race—if we have the car, I know I’m capable of winning at my home track,” Skora said. “I’ll be happy with a top-five and satisfied with a top-10.”

With 16 career wins at Lancaster, including two in a tour-type Modified, Skora’s record speaks for itself.

“With this being the fourth Whelen event at the track and the frequency with which some of the more local guys have raced here, the home track advantage isn’t as big as it once was,” Skora explained. “But there’s nothing like racing in front of your home crowd.”

Not only Skora go head-to-head with NASCAR Tour veterans, but he’ll also be pulling double duty—also competing in the Sportsman feature as part of the local program. He’ll be joined by fellow Sportsman competitor Tyler Catalano, who is also entered in both events.

Skora’s debut is made possible thanks to the support of key partners, including ZAMKRO Homes, Paint Right, and Bob Spangler Snap-on Tools.

A second-generation racer, Skora cut his teeth at Lancaster and Holland Speedways, growing up watching  local legends like Sege Fidanza and idolizing the late NASCAR star Davey Allison. But his true hero was always close to home.

“My dad George was my hero growing up,” Skora said. “He got me started in racing and has always been in my corner.”

Now, the younger Skora is ready to take the next step.

“I’m a track champion looking to broaden my horizons with the NASCAR Tour,” he said.

Race fans can catch George Skora III and a full field of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competitors when the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 rolls into Lancaster Motorplex this Saturday, July 12.  A full racing card will also include Sportsman, Late Models, and Street Stocks. Fans unable to attend can watch the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 live on FloRacing starting at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Posted on by Zack Albert

CHICAGO — Shane van Gisbergen’s victory in Sunday’s Chicago Street Race had all the trimmings of an effortless romp. The Kiwi road-racing ace completed a rare mega-sweep of the Cup Series and Xfinity Series events this doubleheader weekend, sealing poles and wins in each.

Another element of Sunday’s performance from the Trackhouse Racing No. 88 group might not have been as straightforward or smooth.

Crew member JP Kealey was back at his post as the team’s rear tire changer, just two weeks after taking a flying tire to the chest in a wild pit-road incident at Pocono Raceway. The impact left him with a broken rib and a collapsed lung, but remarkably, he staggered back to his feet to complete the pit stop and get van Gisbergen back on track. The injury benched him for the remainder of the day plus the next race at Atlanta, but with a prime opportunity for SVG to excel on the streets of Chicago, Kealey set his course toward being there for it.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Chicago

Maybe miraculous for some. To Kealey, no big deal.

“It was obviously kind of a scary moment, but like right now, it’s not really as bad as people think,” Kealey told NASCAR.com, taking a quick break from tearing down the No. 88 pit box after a well-savored celebration in Victory Lane. “I’m definitely sore and I feel it. I mean, the rib’s still broken, but I wasn’t really nervous about coming out here and having it affect my job or being a nuisance today. So I knew we had a good shot to win, and I wanted to be in the lineup so we give Shane the best chance to get in Victory Lane. So it all worked out at the end.”

A rock-solid day from the first pit stall on South Columbus Drive allowed van Gisbergen to do the rest. The New Zealander led 26 of the 75 laps in the Grant Park 165, winning Chicago for the second time — just two years after his dazzling drive in the inaugural event steered him to a second career phase in NASCAR.

Kealey had his own shape-shift to his sports career, bringing his athletic abilities over to stock-car racing after three years in the National Lacrosse League. He also brought some of the same grit that he carried through years of lacrosse and youth hockey. Van Gisbergen took special notice of that resilience post-race, lauding his crew’s approach and camaraderie with victory within reach.

“Just the atmosphere of the guys and how focused they are and on the grid or on the start line there after the race, seeing how much it means to everyone, that’s why we do it, how stoked everyone was,” SVG said, “and even having JP back, who hurt himself at Pocono, just such a valuable member of our team. I know that his body is pretty beat up, and to get in there and no complaints and say he’s not hurting, to do what he did on the tires there on the rear end was epic.”

No. 88 crew chief Stephen Doran was also among those left marveling. Doran admitted to a slight bit of concern when Kealey targeted a Chicago return, but his assurance level rose, though, in the days before the race weekend. Doctors providing medical clearance for the 31-year-old crew member’s return was one step. The next was resuming pit-stop practice, where Doran sat in to observe Kealey pulling tires, making certain that he was 100%.

“I don’t know how he came back so quick. He’s a freaking animal,” Doran told NASCAR.com. “He must have the highest pain tolerance of anybody I know. To come back in a week and a half with a broken rib, and you can’t even tell, like, if I didn’t know, I wouldn’t know. Like, his pit stops are flawless. He’s doing full workouts right now in the gym. Just an animal, and I appreciate him coming back for a race this important.”

The magnitude of the event was great for multiple reasons. Race officials finally bought a break on the weather, with the checkered flag falling before ominous clouds rolled in to obscure the highest building tops along the Windy City skyline. And though talk prevailed through the weekend that Sunday’s Chicago Street Race could be the final edition, the show still brought a buzz that drew in curious onlookers who perched atop subway stations to find a vantage point.

MORE: Cup standings | In-Season Challenge: Round 2 update

Fans climb atop a Chicago train station to catch a glimpse of NASCAR action.
Alejandaro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

The No. 88 team may have some bias in their affection for the place, given their results, but they shared the perspectives of others curious about what the 2026 schedule might hold.

“I do like coming here, where we stay, and the area of the race track is amazing,” Doran said. “The backdrop for this race is cooler than any we have. So if we don’t come back, I’m going to be sad. It’s just a cool place with a lot of cool stuff to do outside of the race track. I think all the guys feel that way. Maybe we didn’t when we came the first time. We had some hesitations about how it would go, but now I think the whole industry has embraced this place and would be glad to come back, if that’s in the cards.”

Count Kealey among the Chicago faithful, especially after channeling some “Monsters of the Midway” spirit Sunday afternoon.

“I mean, it’s my second win here, so it’s kind of cool,” Kealey said. “I grew up a Bears fan, so I’m a big fan of the city.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The battle along the bubble tightened up after repeat winner Shane van Gisbergen ruled the Chicago streets for the second time in three seasons. But all it will take is another new winner from below the bubble next weekend at Sonoma Raceway — or in the next few weeks — for total chaos to ensue.

As a reminder: A win clinches a playoff spot for full-time drivers in all three series, and it’s the simplest path to the postseason. The remainder of the postseason field — 16 drivers in Cup, 12 in Xfinity and 10 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series — is determined by points earned over the regular season.

Read on to see full playoff standings and key battles in each of NASCAR’s three national series.

RELATED: Upcoming Sonoma schedule | Cup standings

NASCAR CUP SERIES

Shane van Gisbergen picked up his second win of the season and improved by five spots in the playoff standings. The New Zealander is now fifth in the standings behind only three-time winners Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell and regular-season points leader William Byron.

Drivers provisionally qualified for playoffs with a win (12): Kyle Larson (three wins), Denny Hamlin (three wins), Christopher Bell (three wins), William Byron (one win), Shane van Gisbergen (two wins), Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain.

Winless drivers more than 100 points above the elimination line (one): Tyler Reddick (+143).

Biggest movement: Kyle Busch gained 26 points by virtue of his fifth-place finish at Chicago, and he now stands 46 points below the elimination line. Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace lost 21 points after a 28th-place finish at Chicago and is just a scant two points above Ryan Preece for the final playoff spot.

Note: Drivers in bold have provisionally clinched a playoff spot by virtue of winning. There are seven races remaining in the regular season.

RankDriverCutoff
1Kyle Larson3 WINS
2Denny Hamlin3 WINS
3Christopher Bell3 WINS
4William ByronWIN
5Shane van Gisbergen2 WINS
5Ryan BlaneyWIN
6Austin CindricWIN
7Joey LoganoWIN
8Chase BriscoeWIN
9Josh BerryWIN
11Chase ElliottWIN
12Ross ChastainWIN
13Tyler Reddick+143
14Alex Bowman+39
15Chris Buescher+35
16Bubba Wallace+2
ELIMINATION LINE
17Ryan Preece-2
18AJ Allmendinger-43
19Kyle Busch-46
20Erik Jones-50
21Ty Gibbs-66
22John Hunter Nemechek-68
23Carson Hocevar-75
24Michael McDowell-77
25Zane Smith-80
26Ricky Stenhouse Jr.-82
27Austin Dillon-128
28Brad Keselowski-136
29Daniel Suárez-136
30Todd Gilliland-137
31Justin Haley-149
32Ty Dillon-152
33Noah Gragson-178
34Cole Custer-202
35Riley Herbst-217
36Cody Ware-299


NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

Shane van Gisbergen’s win at Chicago did nothing to alter the complexion of the Xfinity Series playoff race since he’s not eligible for points in this series.

Drivers provisionally qualified for playoffs with a win (7): Justin Allgaier (three wins), Austin Hill (three wins), Connor Zilisch (two wins), Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Jesse Love and Nick Sanchez.

Winless drivers more than 100 points above the elimination line (one): Sam Mayer (+149).

Biggest movement: Sheldon Creed gained 30 points and moved up two spots in the standings to 10th after his third-place finish at Chicago.

Note: Drivers in bold have provisionally clinched a playoff spot by virtue of winning. There are eight races remaining in the regular season.

RankDriverCutoff
1Justin Allgaier3 WINS
2Austin Hill3 WINS
3Connor Zilisch2 WINS
4Brandon JonesWIN
5Sammy SmithWIN
6Jesse LoveWIN
7Nick SanchezWIN
8Sam Mayer+149
9Carson Kvapil+63
10Sheldon Creed+30
11Jeb Burton+12
12Taylor Gray+8
ELIMINATION LINE
13Harrison Burton-8
14Ryan Sieg-30
15Christian Eckes-60
16Dean Thompson-61
17Daniel Dye-65
18Brennan Poole-103
19Josh Williams-127
20Jeremy Clements-130
21Anthony Alfredo-174
22Matt DiBenedetto-179
23Kyle Sieg-206
24William Sawalich-207
25Parker Retzlaff-213
26Blaine Perkins-214
27Ryan Ellis-225
28Kris Wright-287

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES

The Craftsman Truck Series is off until July 25 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, so there were no changes in the standings this week.

Drivers provisionally qualified for playoffs with a win (7): Corey Heim (five wins), Chandler Smith (two wins), Layne Riggs, Tyler Ankrum, Daniel Henric, Stewart Friesen and Rajah Caruth.

Note: Drivers in bold have provisionally clinched a playoff spot by virtue of winning. There are three races remaining in the regular season.

RankDriverCutoff
1Corey Heim5 WINS
2Chandler Smith2 WINS
3Layne RiggsWIN
4Tyler AnkrumWIN
5Daniel HemricWIN
6Stewart FriesenWIN
7Rajah CaruthWIN
8Kaden Honeycutt+67
9Grant Enfinger+64
10Ty Majeski+38
ELIMINATION LINE
11Jake Garcia-38
12Giovanni Ruggiero-65
13Ben Rhodes-68
14Tanner Gray-101
15Connor Mosack-141
16Matt Crafton-153
17Andres Perez-165
18Jack Wood-175
19Matt Mills-189
20Dawson Sutton-206
21Spencer Boyd-248
22Toni Breidinger-273
23Frankie Muniz-280
Posted on by Staff Report

Ross Chastain and Joey Logano had a pointed post-race conversation following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the Chicago Street Course.

During a Lap 64 restart, Austin Cindric locked his rear brakes entering Turn 1, sliding forward into traffic ahead of him — particularly Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece. Larson was sent forward into Chastain, who spun just ahead of Logano’s No. 22 Ford.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos

Chastain spun from the Larson contact and backed into the Turn 1 tire barriers, but he was able to quickly refire and continue with Logano directly in his sights. In the next corner, Chastain bumped Logano entering Turn 2, sending Logano into Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and sending both cars for a spin.

“The [expletive] is his problem?” a livid Logano radioed after contacting the Turn 2 tire barriers. His frustration continued moments later when the caution flag flew for Cindric’s stalled car: “Ross better get the [expletive] information right before he goes and wrecks somebody. There’s … six cars behind me wrecking into me and then he destroys me from four (car lengths) back. That [expletive].”

Chastain went on to finish 10th and Logano 11th. Upon arriving on pit road, Logano exited his car and confronted Chastain, leading to a heated discussion between the two before they parted ways.

“He admitted he wrecked me on purpose,” Logano told reporters post-race. “He admitted it — which means he should get fined if he admittedly wrecked someone on purpose. That’s not OK. … It’s just typical Ross. He just sees red and does dumb stuff. That’s all. And that’s twice this year on road courses at the end of these things I’ve been cost by Ross. Just over it.”

Chastain was not available for comments after the race.

The two competitors were indeed displeased with one another earlier this year. Their first run-in came at Circuit of The Americas in March, when contact from Chastain to AJ Allmendinger forced Allmedinger wide into Logano while all were battling inside the top 10. Chastain finished 12th while Logano finished 24th. Four weeks later at Martinsville Speedway, contact from Chastain to Chase Briscoe sent Briscoe into Logano, spinning Logano from sixth place. After that event, Logano said: “He [Chastain] just races like a jackass every week, and I keep paying the price. I’m sick of paying the price.”

Chastain responded later that week, noting he was “disappointed” and “confused” by Logano’s comments.

The latest chapter was written Sunday afternoon in Chicago.

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

CHICAGO — Dashing through the downtown streets, Tyler Reddick and his crew chief Billy Scott made a heads-up call in the final nine laps to try and put themselves in position to win.

What changed the game for Reddick and Scott was a Lap 62 pit stop before the final two restarts. Though they’d lost track position and were forced to restart 13th the very next lap, the advantage on fresh tires allowed the No. 45 driver to navigate rush-hour traffic easily.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“When you have a tire advantage, you have a lot of options,” Reddick said after the race. “As long as you can get within one or two car lengths, you have many opportunities, many choices. I kind of experienced it with other cars coming through the field. If they choose to block, then they’re kind of opening the door for you to be aggressive and then use them up as well.”

Being a top-10 car for most of the 75-lapper, Reddick’s charge from the middle of the pack with fewer than 10 to go forced him to deal with a host of slower cars essentially for the first time of the afternoon. They were no match for the grip of the No. 45 machine, however.

“The second-to-last restart, that first restart there, we put those tires on. We got through Turn 1 OK, but the 2 [Austin Cindric] and 17 [Chris Buescher], some other cars had damage. Someone got spun around and on the driver’s left of Turn 2, and got some toe-link damage or something on the left rear. So lost some braking ability, and then that’s when we lost our track position, too, like the 19 [Chase Briscoe], the 42 [John Hunter Nemechek].

“Some of those other cars that were on the same tire strategy as us, we had to work our way back through them. There were other cars throughout the field on the way up that were difficult.”

Reddick could’ve had a shot to challenge eventual winner Shane van Gisbergen when Cody Ware went nose-first into the Turn 6 tire barrier on the second-to-last lap. However, the caution flew after SVG had taken the white flag, signaling an end to the event and leaving the No. 45 thinking: what if?

“I saw what Shane was willing to do to win at the race on Saturday. And, you know, for us needing a win to lock ourselves into the playoffs. You know, I would have raced really hard because I think he would have done the same, but it didn’t happen. But we can all dream and speculate what it could have been.

“(A caution) could (have) totally changed the outcome for the top 10, the top 20 in the race. … I think it definitely would have opened up Pandora’s box if you will, and, you know, drivers 10th on back would have been really aggressive for two laps, us on our fresher tires. We would have been able to be very aggressive as well in those two laps, so it’s just a tough deal. You know, it’s racing, sometimes that’s how it goes.”

The call for fresh tires was another master stroke for Scott atop the pit box, who stuck with a fuel-milage gamble to score back-to-back third-place finishes in the first two stages.

“The yellow came out at a fairly opportune time. We knew we were already pretty tight on fuel and having to work on saving toward the end, and we already had more laps than a lot of those guys we were racing.” Scott told NASCAR.com. “So you know, having already fallen back to third, we took the opportunity to get tires and make another shot at the win.

“I think we could have got second if it stayed green. Yes, we really knew we needed, from early on, the yellow to come out to have another shot at another restart, to really contend for the win.”

Reddick remains 13th on the playoff bubble after a third-place finish in Chicago, sitting 143 points to the good and keeping his $1 million hopes alive in the In-Season Challenge. But with another road course on deck next week at Sonoma Raceway, it presents a shot for the No. 45 not to have to worry about stacking more points and just winning his way into the playoffs.

Posted on by George Winkler

No. 32 seed Ty Dillon’s Cinderella run in the In-Season Challenge continued in the Chicago Street Race as his competitor, No. 17 seed Brad Keselowski, bowed out early in the Lap 3 wreck that mangled multiple cars. That was good enough for Dillon, who finished 20th at Chicago and upset Denny Hamlin last week, to advance to the third round at Sonoma. How far Dillon can take it is anyone’s guess at this point (he’ll face Alex Bowman next week), but his story added some flair to what was another dramatic weekend in NASCAR’s inaugural tournament on TNT Sports.

Here’s where we stand after Chicago and before next Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway:

RELATED: Race results | Check your bracket

Chicago Street Race winner: Shane van Gisbergen made it two wins in three races at Chicago as the driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet continued to exert his dominance at the road courses. However, his victory had no bearing on the In-Season Challenge because SVG wasn’t among the top 32 drivers in points after Nashville who qualified for the tournament.

Who advances to Round 3: (6) Ty Gibbs, (8) Alex Bowman, (12) John Hunter Nemechek, (14) Zane Smith, (15) Ryan Preece, (20) Erik Jones, (23) Tyler Reddick and (32) Ty Dillon.

Bowman pushed Bubba Wallace out of the way with six laps to go at Chicago and went on to win their matchup in what was one of the most dramatic moments of Sunday’s race. It was the second straight season where Bowman and Wallace had a dust-up at Chicago with Bowman benefitting both times (including last year’s win). The drivers gave each other a good-natured ribbing in the lead-up to Sunday’s race, but the tone post-race didn’t sound as chummy. There could be plenty of chances for Wallace to spoil Bowman’s fun next week on the winding road course at Sonoma.

For the second straight year at Chicago, Ty Gibbs ran up front and had one of his better races of the season, finishing second to SVG and beating out noted road-course ace AJ Allmendinger (who finished sixth). Gibbs, who was second on the final restart, held off Allmendinger, in third, and pulled away from him to win their matchup comfortably. Up next is No. 14 seed Zane Smith, a California native. Gibbs will be the favorite, but only slightly if you consider his previous finishes at Sonoma of 18th and 37th.

Most interesting matchup in Round 3 of the challenge: No. 12 seed John Hunter Nemechek vs. No. 20 seed Erik Jones. Legacy Motor Club teammates will battle it out in Wine Country with a trip to the final four on the line. Nemechek finished 15th and just ahead of Chase Elliott in 16th to advance, while Jones’ 25th-place result was good enough to beat Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who spun in the final stage and finished 31st. Jones has an average finish of 17.7 in 10 races at Sonoma. Nemechek has just one start at Sonoma in the Cup Series, but in the Xfinity Series, he had a best finish of eighth place in two races. In head-to-head matchups against each other, Jones has prevailed 30 times to Nemechek’s 25 times, according to Racing Insights.

Who’s up

Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. Reddick finished third at Chicago to easily take down Carson Hocevar, who ignited the Lap 3 multicar wreck that ended the No. 77’s day. It was the continuation of a hot start to the In-Season Challenge for Reddick, who finished fourth last week at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway). Reddick appears to have recovered from his lull at Mexico City and Pocono that led to him getting the No. 23 seed. Reddick will face No. 15 seed Ryan Preece at Sonoma, a driver he holds a 58-35 advantage over head-to-head.

Who’s down

Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford. With several top seeds knocked out at EchoPark, the In-Season Challenge seemed to be there for the taking for the No. 3 seed Buescher, especially with two road courses on tap. However, Buescher found himself on pit road with the hood up in Stage 1 at Chicago thanks to a problem with the electronic control unit, and although his team worked hard to get him back in the race, he couldn’t recover enough to get past No. 14 seed Zane Smith, who finished 14th to Buescher’s 18th. In addition, Buescher remains winless this season and in a dogfight just to make the playoffs.

Posted on by Zack Albert

CHICAGO – A key In-Season Challenge matchup between old rivals ended in contact Sunday in the Chicago Street Race, with Bubba Wallace getting the short end of a tightly fought contest with Alex Bowman inside the top 10.

The two drivers sorted it out with a post-race chat on the passageway to the NASCAR Cup Series garage area, stopping in front of a boisterous group of fans, who had a front-row seat for the talk as they left the Grant Park grounds. That brief conversation, though, left Bowman with a different impression than his first hunch, that their rivalry had been stoked anew.

The duo collided multiple times in a fierce fight for seventh place late in the Grant Park 165. Bowman, the No. 8 seed in the bracket-style tournament, was charging forward with a bit of an advantage, riding on fresher tires than the No. 9-seeded Wallace had.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos

Bowman made contact with Wallace from behind exiting Turn 2 at Lap 70 in the 75-lap affair, spinning Wallace down DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Bowman – the 2024 Chicago race winner – continued to an eighth-place finish, but Wallace’s No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota suffered a broken toe link in the incident and was saddled with a 28th-place result, five laps down. Both appeared in a pre-race interview Sunday with TNT Sports to joke about their past incidents together ahead of their In-Season Challenge head-to-head matchup. Bowman moved on to the Round of 8, while Wallace was eliminated.

After exiting his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Bowman initially said he thought the rivalry pendulum had swung back to the antagonistic side.

“I thought we had squashed our beef, but clearly we’ve not,” Bowman initially told reporters post-race. “I don’t know. I followed the 45 (Tyler Reddick) past him. He ran me into the inside wall in (Turn) 8. Still felt like I passed him clean, then he absolutely just demolished me into (Turn) 12. I gave it back a little bit into 1, and then he demolished me again into 2, ran me into the outside wall and then I’m just a pinball between him and the outside wall at that point.

“So certainly not trying to crash anybody. I mean, I’d have to watch it back to be certain, but I felt like he did it to himself because I kept pinballing between him and the outside wall. So yeah, wasn’t the intention.”

That tune changed after his conversation with Wallace, who had just left the track’s care center for an evaluation.

WATCH: Bowman, Wallace in spirited discussion on pit road

“I wish I would have talked to him before all my interviews, because I did all the interviews under the context that he thought I right-reared him and just crashed him,” Bowman told NASCAR.com outside the No. 48 hauler. “And then I talked to him, and he thought I was crossing him over and he was clear outside. Spotters can’t see over there, and I was just outside of him, and he moved up. And I hate to say he did it to himself, but he did it to himself, and that’s what he was saying, like he thought I was crossing over.

“So yeah, I hate that I did a bunch of interviews like, ‘what the hell, man?’ But yeah, I’m sure he’s not happy that he got crashed, but at the same time, like I’m between him and the fence. There’s not so much you can do.”

The two drivers had a run-in during last year’s street race as well, with Wallace turned sideways off the nose of Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet early in the 2024 contest. Wallace recovered to finish 13th while Bowman surged to the victory, and Wallace initiated contact with Bowman’s door on the cooldown lap, drawing a $50,000 fine from NASCAR days later.

RELATED: See 2024 dustup between Bowman, Wallace

It was an adventure-filled day for Wallace, who dropped to the rear of the field for the start of Sunday’s race after incidents in Saturday’s qualifying session. He made it up to 18th at the end of Stage 1, but his No. 23 entry was sent spinning after contact with the No. 5 Chevy of Kyle Larson on Lap 25, knocking him back to 32nd in the running order.

Wallace rallied and netted fifth place at the end of Stage 2, residing in the top 10 when his contest with Bowman came to a head on Chicago’s cozy street layout.

“I’m just proud of the effort,” Wallace told NASCAR.com outside the care center. “You know, late call on the 5 that got us spun. Hated that. Just when you think everything’s going OK, but we were able to jump ship and switch up plans, put us right back in the race. So man, I was passing cars, having fun, showing that we keep improving and keep building confidence. We’ll be fine. So hate to see it end that way. It was fun. Fun with the 48. No love lost, all good.”

Bowman had also fought his way back up through the field in his defense of last year’s Chicago Street Race victory and in his quest for a win that would solidify his Cup Series Playoffs footing. The No. 48 also dropped to the rear after issues in Saturday’s preliminaries, and he was one spot in front of Wallace in fourth at the Stage 2 break.

Bowman emerged with a measure of continued momentum, posting his fourth consecutive finish of 11th or better. He also left Chicago with a better grasp of how the decisive late-race clash played out.

“Yeah, I feel better now understanding what happened there,” Bowman told NASCAR.com. “Yeah, lots of ups and downs, and it was a fight. It’s a standard 48 day. We fought hard and glad it worked out there in the end.”

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Reid Spencer

CHICAGO — Once again, Shane van Gisbergen asserted his superiority on the streets of Chicago, and in doing so, he matched a major NASCAR milestone.

In winning the Grant Park 165 on the Chicago Street Course, the New Zealander completed a weekend sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series races, both from the pole position.

Taking the checkered flag under caution, after Cody Ware plowed into the Turn 6 tire barrier as van Gisbergen charged through Turn 12 on the next-to-last lap, SVG matched Kyle Busch’s sweep of both races from the pole at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July of 2016. No other driver has won races in NASCAR’s top two divisions from the pole on the same weekend.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

The three-time Australian Supercars champion said he was panicked at the possibility of a caution and potential overtime after Ware’s wreck, but he reached the start/finish to start the final lap before NASCAR called the caution.

“What an amazing weekend for me,” said van Gisbergen, who drove the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to his second Cup victory on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn circuit, his second win this season and the third of his career.

“Lucky guy to drive some great cars. I thank Trackhouse, WeatherTech Chevy and all these guys and girls here — what an amazing weekend. Thanks everyone for coming out, and hope we put on a good show.”

Ty Gibbs ran second, equaling his career-best finish last year at Darlington. Tyler Reddick restarted 15th on fresh tires with nine laps left and climbed to third before he ran out of time.

Van Gisbergen took the lead for the final time on Lap 60, moving to the inside of front-running Chase Briscoe in Turn 2, racing side-by-side with the recent Pocono winner through Turn 3 and out-braking him into Turn 4 to gain the top spot.

From that point, SVG had to survive two cautions and restarts, the latter for Austin Cindric’s stalled car.

After that sixth yellow, Gibbs, running second, didn’t get a strong launch on the final restart and fell a car-length behind before reaching Turn 1. SVG pulled away from the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from that point on.

“Well, it really depends on the restart zone, because it’s right in that last corner, and the dude on the outside gets shafted every single time,” said Gibbs, who restarted on the outside approaching Turn 12.

“If you watch every one of them, the inside guy wins almost every time. He just got a good enough gap, had a good restart. I had a little bit of rear tire degradation that didn’t really help me on my launch off the corner. (He) just got a good gap and got away from me.”

SHOP: Winner gear

For Reddick, the race was a case of déjà vu. Last year, he chased race winner Alex Bowman with a faster car over the closing laps and finished second.

“We kind of ended up in a tough spot there on the penultimate restart, I guess,” Reddick said. “Some of the cars were spinning — I can’t name them all, but unfortunately we kind of just got stuck in the wrong lane where I had to check up. I got behind those cars that we were on the same tire strategy as us, so we just lost a bit of time there passing those cars back.

“It’s great to finish third, but it’s for sure a bummer when you look at how much ground you made up.”

For the first time in the three years of the Chicago Street Race, rain didn’t play a role — but anticipation of possible thunderstorms did.

As the race neared conclusion, fog and storm clouds began to roll in from the north, but rain didn’t reach the track until after the checkered flag.

“The strategy was a bit all over the place, as we knew it would be today, racing the weather, racing cars and different (pit) stops,” Van Gisbergen said. “Stephen (Doran, crew chief) did a really good job on the box all day of just painting the picture in my head of who I was up against.

“We had two great pit stops. Just so stoked to get (sponsor) WeatherTech in Victory Lane for their home race.”

Michael McDowell got past SVG at the start of the race and led the first 31 laps and won Stage 1, but he had to take his car to the DVP (damaged vehicle policy) area to repair a stuck throttle and lost 22 laps in the garage.

A massive eight-car crash on Lap 3 blocked the track between Turns 10 and 11 and forced a stoppage of 14 minutes, 42 seconds. Carson Hocevar started the melee when he clipped the inside wall in Turn 10 and crashed into the opposite wall with enough force to move the Jersey barrier.

WATCH: Hocevar slams wall, cars collide

Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet turned sideways, and the cars of Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suárez, Todd Gilliland, Will Brown and Riley Herbst piled into the wreck. Only Herbst and Suárez were able to continue.

“I didn’t see it until the last second,” Keselowski said. “I slowed down, and I actually felt I was going to get stopped, and then I just kind of got ran over from behind. It’s just a narrow street course, and sometimes there’s nowhere to go.”

Keselowski’s early exit made a winner of No. 32 seed Ty Dillon in the In-Season Challenge. Dillon will face Bowman in next Sunday third-round event at Sonoma Raceway, after Bowman traded shot after shot with his Chicago opponent, Bubba Wallace, until Wallace spun in the closing laps to lose the head-to-head battle.

John Hunter Nemechek finished 15th, one spot ahead of Chase Elliott, to eliminate the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet from the In-Season Challenge. Nemechek will face his Legacy Motor Club teammate Erik Jones, who advanced when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. retired after colliding with a barrier.

Ryan Preece ran seventh and eliminated 30th-place finisher Noah Gragson. He’ll face Reddick, who ousted Hocevar. Gibbs prevailed over sixth-place finisher AJ Allmendinger and will race against Zane Smith at Sonoma.

Smith came home 14th and knocked out 18th-place Chris Buescher, who ran most of the race with an engine down on power.

Series leader William Byron was out of the race with a broken clutch after one lap and finished 40th. His lead in the Cup Series points standings over second-place Elliott shrank to 13 points.

The Cup Series continues its road-course stretch with a westward trip to Sonoma Raceway next Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming van Gisbergen as Sunday’s winner.

Posted on by Staff Report

Mechanical issues thwarted a promising effort for Michael McDowell and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports team in Sunday’s Chicago Street Race.

McDowell started second and led each of the opening 31 laps of the Grant Park 165 after passing polesitter Shane van Gisbergen in the opening corner. But an issue with his throttle cable sent him to pit road under the third caution period of the 75-lapper, dropping the 2021 Daytona 500 champion from race-winning contention.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

The team was forced to go behind the wall to a designated area to work on the car under NASCAR’s Damaged Vehicle Policy.

“We’re gonna have to drive to DVP here to go work on our throttle pedal cable,” crew chief Travis Peterson radioed to McDowell. “We’re gonna have to do it over there. That’s where the part is, and it’s gonna take forever to get this fixed for the car.”

McDowell is a two-time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, most recently earning a victory in August 2023 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He drove the No. 71 Chevrolet to the Stage 1 victory in Sunday’s race in Chicago to score Spire Motorsports its first stage win.

The No. 71 car returned to the race at Lap 57 and finished 32nd, 22 laps behind race-winner van Gisbergen.

“The throttle cable just broke,” a dejected McDowell said post-race. “I don’t know what caused it or how it got to that spot, but that’s what happened. I feel like we had control of the race the whole race. I think it would have been a battle, no doubt. I felt like any time I needed to open a gap on SVG, I could. We were just working on our strategy. We knew we were going to one-stop it, so I was taking care of the tires and doing all the things I could.

“I was behind the pace car, and the throttle stuck wide-open. Luckily, I got to the switches fast enough before I ran into something, and then a cable broke after that. It’s just a shame. We had a great car. We’ve got some good momentum heading into Sonoma, and we know what we’ve got to do.”

MORE: Cup Series standings | Cup Series schedule

McDowell exits Chicago 24th in the provisional playoff standings, 77 points out of the 16-driver postseason grid with seven races remaining in the regular season. A victory would propel McDowell into the playoffs. His next opportunity comes Sunday at Sonoma Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). But he believes his best chance yet was this weekend in Chicago.

“I know what would have happened. We would have won the race,” McDowell said.