NASCAR, Premier Partners launch new ‘Thank You, Fans’ campaign as part of 75th anniversary celebration

Posted on July 5, 2023July 5, 2023 by NASCAR Official Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – This week, NASCAR is launching a new national campaign called “Thank You, Fans” alongside its four Premier Partners – Busch Light, Coca-Cola, GEICO and Xfinity – celebrating the millions of dedicated followers fueling America’s No. 1 motorsport throughout its first 75 years and well into the future.

Led by a 30-second television spot that debuted during the first-ever NASCAR Chicago Street Race this past Sunday, “Thank You, Fans” marks the first time the four Premier Partners have joined forces with the sanctioning body on an integrated marketing campaign. It will come to life throughout the next five weeks across a multitude of traditional, social and experiential marketing touchpoints ranging from fan-centric content features to giveaways and surprise-and-delight moments at the track.

“Thank You, Fans” will include a national sweepstakes inviting fans to share their stories of becoming a NASCAR fan for a chance to win an all-expenses-paid, premium experience at NASCAR’s Championship Weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

“NASCAR fans are the most passionate and brand-loyal you’ll find in all of sports, and we simply would not be here without them,” said Michelle Byron, NASCAR senior vice president of partnership marketing. “Our incredible partners like Busch Light, Coca-Cola, GEICO and Xfinity have seen that passion firsthand throughout the years, and we’re ecstatic to come together to truly recognize our fans – new and old – for the energy and effort they put into NASCAR as we continue celebrating this milestone anniversary.”

Dubbed the “diamond experience” in honor of NASCAR’s 75th “diamond” anniversary, the sweepstakes grand prize package will treat one fan and a guest to the race weekend of a lifetime, including behind-the-scenes access and premium hospitality with unique elements from each Premier Partner. For more information and to enter the sweepstakes, fans can visit www.nascar.com/thankyoufans.

On the campaign’s opening weekend on July 8 and 9, NASCAR Fan Rewards – the sanctioning body’s free loyalty program launched earlier this year – will award double points all weekend long for fans who check in via the NASCAR.com leaderboard while watching NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, or Craftsman Truck Series races.

Throughout its run, “Thank You, Fans” will be anchored by original social and digital content produced by NASCAR Studios, including a weekly video feature series highlighting the many unique fans at the racetrack. The content plan also includes messages of gratitude to the fans straight from their favorite drivers.

Additional surprise-and-delight moments will take place for fans at individual tracks throughout the campaign window, with “Thank You, Fans” content and campaign elements coming to life in the NASCAR Experience midway activation at Richmond Raceway and Michigan International Speedway as well.

The NASCAR season rolls onto Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend. Fans can tune in to the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 available at Walmart this Sunday, July 9, at 7:00 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Tickets are available for purchase at www.nascar.com/tickets.

Posted on July 4, 2023July 5, 2023 by Zach Sturniolo

At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, some may describe Trackhouse Racing team owner Justin Marks as NASCAR’s latest visionary. It sure is hard to deny it two-and-a-half years and now five wins into NASCAR Cup Series team ownership.

Long before the sport’s sanctioning body determined a street race was feasible anywhere — let alone the roads of downtown Chicago, of all places — Marks was adamant stock-car racing needed to be brought to the people. Long before Shane van Gisbergen sat behind the wheel of NASCAR’s Next Gen vehicle — after two starts in the same car by 2007 Formula One champion Kimi Räikkönen — Marks believed motorsports’ elite global talents from outside the stock-car ranks deserved a competitive opportunity to contend in a Cup race.

Not only have those things now occurred, earning their rightful passage in the history of NASCAR’s 75-year lore, but Marks and his astounding team at Trackhouse Racing find themselves at the forefront of their intersection after van Gisbergen drove the team’s Project 91 Chevrolet to a stunning triumph in his Cup debut Sunday in the series’ inaugural Chicago Street Race.

MORE: Relive historic Chicago Street Race | NASCAR dazzles the Windy City, sparks optimistic future

“It’s so amazing and important and meaningful for Trackhouse to be the company to win the inaugural street race,” Marks said, “because obviously it’s a huge moment for the sport, and it’s incredibly important for the company to be able to be the winners of the inaugural race. I think we’re all just incredibly humbled to be the ones standing in Victory Lane.”

Marks had visions for a Cup team that appeared so out of the box they didn’t seem realistic. A road-course ringer hadn’t won a Cup Series race since Mark Donahue was victorious in Riverside, California in 1973.

That, in part, is the beauty of Trackhouse’s Project 91, an open entrant into Cup competition designed to attract only the world’s best drivers into NASCAR headed by the team’s performance director, Darian Grubb, previously a longtime and title-winning crew chief.

“As far as Project 91 goes, this was a shower idea,” Marks explained. “It was me thinking, I’m a huge fan of all different kinds of motorsports, and I’ve raced in all different kinds of motorsports. I wanted to bring my love of global motorsport to NASCAR and put a brand around it and create sort of a landing spot for the elite talent globally that wanted to come and try NASCAR instead of just putting them in a car and crossing our fingers and watching them do that but actually building a program that’s catered to elite motorsport talent and have a training protocol and preparation protocol so we can be successful. A lot of work went into that.

“For us to be in Victory Lane with Project 91, it’s hard to find the words. It’s incredibly, incredibly humbling. Kimi Räikkönen and Chevrolet were a big part of getting this thing going, and for us to be able to grab a guy like Shane, who I’m a huge fan of and have been a fan of for a long time, to put him in this position and watch him do his thing was not just great for our company, but an incredibly compelling thing for the fans and for the industry and for everybody that was here this weekend.”

RELATED: Who is Shane van Gisbergen?

Van Gisbergen wasted no time getting up to speed. The three-time Australian Supercars champion was granted an orientation test on a variation of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on June 26, practiced pit stops at the shop just up the road in Concord, North Carolina and was eager to continue readying for Chicago however best he could since arriving in the United States.

“His feedback in the car matched exactly what we were expecting with simulation programs and everything we do with Chevrolet, having their background over there and what we have here with Chevrolet,” Grubb, crew chief of the Project 91 car, said of the Charlotte test. “It was really awesome to see that feedback all match up.”

The buildup culminated in the single fastest lap of Cup practice Saturday afternoon ahead of a third-place qualifying run. And after strategy and the subtraction of 25 scheduled laps due to impending darkness altered the running order, van Gisbergen charged from 18th to the lead in the final 26 laps.

Chris Graythen | Getty Images

Disruptors indeed: Led by Mexico native Daniel Suárez and Florida’s Ross Chastain as its Cup regulars, Trackhouse has accumulated five victories since the start of 2022, which began the sport’s Next Gen era and a new world for Marks and Trackhouse after the purchase and acquisition of Chip Ganassi Racing. The organization has now won with drivers from three different countries at a variety of race tracks: Chastain’s triumphs at Circuit of The Americas, Talladega Superspeedway and most recently Nashville Superspeedway just one week before Chicago; Suárez’s breakthrough win at Sonoma Raceway in June 2022 and now van Gisbergen in the Cup Series’ inaugural street race.

“A lot of what we’re trying to do at Trackhouse is new and different and exciting for the sport,” Marks said. “We’re trying to inject something into the sport that it hasn’t seen before, that the fans haven’t seen before. So I think it’s really important because it comes out of that creativity that we all share and the passion that we have in trying to put something out on the racetrack that’s really unique and compelling.

“(Project 91 is) kind of a — it’s not a crazy idea. People have done this before. But to put a brand on it and to actually build a group around it that Darian leads and go to the company and say, this is an idea that we want to do, and it’s actually like a unit within the company, I mean, to put that into Victory Lane is — I mean, it’s hard to find the words for it because it’s so different.

“It doesn’t put anybody in the playoffs. It doesn’t really do any of that. But it’s an incredible moment for the fact that we are trying to be a special team that’s different and compelling and exciting for the fans. For an idea, a concept that I came to these guys with and said, would you take this on? Would you do the extra work and take this on? And for them to embrace it and to put it in Victory Lane is really — it’s sort of like anything’s possible. If you can dream it, you can do it.”

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Press Release

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Bobby McCarty has been declared the winner of the July 1 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 presented by Grand Atlantic Ocean Resort at South Boston Speedway as a result of the disqualification of apparent winner Carson Kvapil.

Speedway officials placed the race results in unofficial status following the event as items found in the post-race inspection process were deemed to be questionable. After a diligent review of the findings of the post-race technical inspection McCarty, the race runner-up, has been declared the race winner.

In addition, Landon Huffman, who finished third in Saturday night’s 200-lap race, has also been disqualified.

Bobby McCarty (Photo: Sanjay Suchak/NASCAR)

McCarty’s win in Saturday night’s event is his second in three years. McCarty previously won this event in 2021.

“We never want to have to alter race results after an event, but the integrity of our on-track competition is paramount in our operation, and sometimes decisions like these have to be made,” said Jeff Bomar, director of competition for South Boston Speedway.

Added Chase Brashears, general manager of South Boston Speedway: “Racing is an extremely competitive sport, and with that comes innovation and trying to get every ounce of advantage that teams can, and sometimes that innovation unintentionally steps outside the scope of the rule book. We’re extremely appreciative of the professionalism shown by all teams involved in the post-race inspection process, and we congratulate official race winner Bobby McCarty.”

During the inspection process, the No. 8 car driven by Kvapil was found to have a left rear shock that was out of compliance with the 2023 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series rule book. The shock’s internal piston was the piece deemed as non-compliant.

Huffman had a rear-end housing with camber on the left and right axle tubes, which is not permitted per the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series rule book. The car was also found with a left rear spring and shock assembly that was out of compliance.

With the disqualification of Kvapil and Huffman and McCarty being declared the official race winner, the official top-10 finishers consist of McCarty, Brenden Queen, Trevor Ward, Landon Pembelton, Jacob Borst, Mason Bailey, Logan Clark, Carter Langley, Brandon Pierce and Stacy Puryear.

Posted on July 3, 2023February 8, 2024 by Cara Cooper

On June 22, Dylan Jones saw a post on the NASCAR Roots Facebook page announcing he was one of two NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series track champions who would have their names written on Ryan Blaney’s Cup Series car at Nashville Superspeedway.

Fewer than 24 hours after seeing the post, Jones was on a flight from Arizona to Nashville having purchased tickets for the Ally 400. Jones’ name on a Cup Series car was something he had to see in person.

“We had to pay astronomical prices for tickets because it was last minute, and I had to sneak myself into the pits because I couldn’t get anything,” Jones said. “And as soon as they all found out [who I was], they all let me go in the garage and take a picture, got Ryan over there to take a picture, and they were all about it, all the crew members.”

Jones and his wife Carissa had never visited Nashville. Now it’s a trip they won’t forget.

“It was, like, the coolest thing ever, actually,” he said. “It was surreal. … Your name is on a Cup car on a Sunday. It’s like, holy cow.”

Jones’ name was on the car to celebrate his track championship at Tucson Speedway last season. Advance Auto Parts has been spotlighting NASCAR track champions on Blaney’s car all season as part of its Home Track Highlights program, with the name of two 2022 champions written on his car every week.

Last year’s title marked Jones’ fourth at Tucson, a NASCAR-sanctioned, 0.375-mile paved oval located just south of Tucson, Arizona. It was his first championship in the track’s Super Late Model division.

“The previous year, I met Brett Yackey and those guys out of Colorado,” Jones said. “He was the previous champion, and he helped us better our program, so I raced with those guys the last two years, and we just kind of progressed ourselves into a championship last year with their help.”

(Photo courtesy of Dylan Jones)

Jones began racing at age 8 in a go-kart, following in the footsteps of his older brothers who were also in the sport. He began racing at Tucson about 15 years ago when he was 15.

This year, he’s tried to learn a new style of racing, getting into a dirt modified and traveling around Arizona and Colorado. After finding success on pavement and in the super late model, Jones said he wanted to challenge himself in a car that has a lot of popularity in the southwest.

“When you switch from pavement to dirt… you feel like you can be a little more successful right out of the gate,” he said. “When you race pavement you have tires and practice and all this other stuff leading up to racing, versus dirt you just line up and go. … The preparations on the pavement car versus the preparation on dirt, you feel like the pavement car needs more time and preciseness and being correct. The dirt stuff is more like luck of the draw, I feel.”

Jones isn’t the only one in his family getting used to new race tracks. His wife Carissa is in the shop with him during the week setting up the car and tires. She serves as his spotter on race day.

“My wife is the No. 1,” he said. “She’s basically the crew chief of the program. She does the tires and puts the headset on and spots for us, too. She’s a very, very valuable asset to the team.”

(Photo courtesy of Dylan Jones)

Racing is big in the entire Jones household. His 5-year-old daughter is also getting into the sport, and she just started practicing in a quarter-midget.

“It’s definitely way more exciting than driving a car for yourself is watching your kids drive,” Jones said. “My whole family does it with me, my kids and my wife. We just kind of look at it as a family night out versus a night into town.

“Saturday night under the lights is kind of the thing we go for. It keeps our family together. A busy race family is a safe family.”

Jones hopes to go to Colorado for an SRL Southwest Tour race later this summer, looking for better results than earlier this year when the tour came to Tucson and engine issued prevented him from qualifying.

He’ll also return to Tucson for super late model races at least two more times before the year is done.

“Hopefully we can go snag a win,” he said.

Posted on July 3, 2023July 3, 2023 by Zack Albert

CHICAGO – Steve O’Donnell said the logistical race-day meetings began Sunday morning at 6 a.m., nearly 12 hours before the Chicago Street Race’s main event would take the green flag. It was many more hours before everyone’s socks, shoes and any clothing not covered by a poncho would dry out.

“What are we going to do, what’s it look like,” were the questions that O’Donnell, NASCAR’s chief operating officer, and his group worked through, coordinating with city representatives, competition officials and everyone else who made the first street-circuit weekend for stock-car racing’s top series come together. The touch-bases continued every half-hour, O’Donnell said, even as the Windy City morphed into one of the rainiest places in the country for a day.

By the time the meetings had ended, the Chicago Street Race weekend had delivered a Cup Series race worth remembering – a hard-to-fathom feat that was built on taking a chance and seeing such a dream through. The circumstances and coordination and communication required to make the unique stock-car event a reality would have proven challenging even with ideal, chamber-of-commerce weather, but the degree of difficulty spiked in the face of record-setting rain that briefly turned pit road into a canal.

It didn’t stop the curious from turning out to see what the commotion was, even with uncertainty about a Sunday start and whether the conditions would allow the event to happen. Once the skies finally relented and lifted to provide a pleasant sunset, residents and hotel guests peered out of the surrounding trackside buildings, and new fans captured the action from cell phones, stacking into the temporary grandstands or finding higher ground wherever possible at each of the 12 corners.

Justin Marks, the founder of Trackhouse Racing, had every reason to be beaming after bringing Kiwi import Shane van Gisbergen to the Cup Series for a victorious debut in the team’s Project 91 entry. But Marks also indicated there was a sense of pride and accomplishment that stretched beyond his organization.

“I’m a big fan because I think that there’s an important — it’s important for racing series to take the product to the fans and to be able to take it into these cities and expose a lot of new fans to it,” Marks said. “I’ve been a huge fan of the Chicago Street Race, the concept of NASCAR going street racing from the get-go. A huge supporter of it, and I think that they knocked it out of the park this weekend. The track was great. Everybody was really — there was a ton of people there, everybody walking the sidewalks and really excited about it. And even in the industry, everybody that I talked to in the garage area was like, man, I had some trepidation about it, but this is unbelievable. This is awesome. Everybody was wide-eyed and really excited about it.”

The real-world hype had been established well before any of the track’s barriers had been set into place. The Cup Series schedule used to be something you could set your wristwatch by – a counted-on repetition that was comforting in some ways, but humdrum in so many others.

The reveal of the NASCAR calendar each year now has some oomph to it, with new tracks and new places to showcase the sport – in a football stadium at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, on a makeshift dirt track at Bristol or in a brilliantly revived speedway once left for dead in North Wilkesboro. Add downtown Chicago as the latest chapter of this innovative era for illustrating what’s possible.

“As we said going through the scheduling process, this is a journey,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing development and racing strategy. “We announced a lot of things in our 2021 schedule, we went to new markets. Next evolution of that for us, naturally the Coliseum. This is kind of the next iteration of that. And as we go through it, we’re by no means saying that everything is going to be perfect from Day 1. But you don’t know unless you try, and we gave it a really good effort today, and certainly proud of all the work that everyone has done.

“I think the city showed so well, certainly on broadcast today, and then the energy around the field and around the park today was palpable.”

MORE: Recap Chicago Street Race moments | Official race results

What’s next for the time being, Kennedy said, is a wide-ranging post-mortem on what took place. That includes what went off-plan, including an extra-abbreviated Xfinity Series race and the storm-related cancellation of a pair of concerts that sapped a smidge of the festival feel, but what else went right as officials and organizers stayed nimble to quickly get going once the weather allowed. The drying-out process included a compelling race, one that delivered on the otherworldly aspect and thrill of a rumbling pack of cars darting through Grant Park with Chicago’s postcard-quality skyline looming.

What’s next in the longer-term scope is a blue-sky range of possibilities – a potential return for Round 2 in Chicago or taking the Cup Series to another metropolitan area, either stateside or abroad. NASCAR’s participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Garage 56 project exposed the sport to the European motoring crowd last month, and American stock-car racing is getting some extra pop Down Under with van Gisbergen’s stunning triumph in his first NASCAR go.

O’Donnell noted that global presence in his post-race remarks, and the prevailing thought of an international expansion for NASCAR’s top tours has gained momentum. Chicago’s proof-of-concept statement this weekend made an important step in that direction.

“I’m not going to put a timetable on it, but I think we’re all confident at NASCAR that we could take the Cup Series anywhere we want,” O’Donnell said. “I think — I don’t think, I know — the race we put on today would sell and would be embraced globally for sure.”

Posted on July 2, 2023July 3, 2023 by Zack Albert

CHICAGO – Justin Haley and Chase Elliott both started at the back of the field in Sunday’s Chicago Street Race after crashes in the previous day’s practice and qualifying sessions. The early miscues meant an early deficit, hurdles to overcome in challenging conditions, and, in Haley’s case, some extra work in car prep.

“We repaired it, and I wrapped like half the car myself,” said Haley, who started dead last in the 37-car field. “I feel like that was pretty cool.”

Haley finished second in the downtown Chicago inaugural after a brief but brilliant scrap with debut NASCAR Cup Series winner Shane van Gisbergen, who charged past on fresher tires to lead the final eight laps, including an overtime session in the dusky light of evening. Right behind was Elliott, who was one of multiple drivers who rallied from on-track incidents in Sunday’s main event and netted his third consecutive top-five result.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Chicago

For both drivers, the golden opportunity to snatch up a playoff spot was ever-so-close after starting so, so far back. Haley sits 21st in the standings in his second year with Kaulig Racing, and Elliott – a Championship 4 driver the last three seasons – ranks 24th after missing seven races because of injury and a suspension.

Haley didn’t think he’d be in the photo at the checkered flag, quipping, “I would have told you I’d be in the frame getting lapped, not finishing second.” The 24-year-old Hoosier has one Cup Series victory to his credit – a surprise triumph in a rain-shortened event at Daytona nearly four years ago to the day. It’s a scenario he’d admittedly like to find himself in more often.

“I felt like where we’re at right now as an organization, we’re just trying to get better. This is my and the team’s second full-time season, and unfortunately, I haven’t been in a position like that legitimately to try to hold off championship-caliber drivers,” said Haley, who led his first 23 laps of the season Sunday. “I’ve just never found myself in that position early in my career. Definitely was battling some demons in my head there just trying to stay focused and trying to get to the finish. But I felt like my lack of experience and his better tires were just how he won today.

“I don’t feel like it was a complete loss. We still finished second. But definitely wish I would have been better. But that just comes down to being in that position more often.”

Haley was among the handful of drivers to be in a position to contend when NASCAR competition officials made the midrace call to shorten the event from the scheduled 100-lap distance to 75. Trent Owens, crew chief of the No. 31 Kaulig entry, opted to keep Haley out on the track to stretch his final fuel run, hoping that late caution periods would help the team conserve gas.

Five yellow flags in the abbreviated final stage helped that cause, but Haley didn’t quite have enough to stave off van Gisbergen, an Australian supercars standout who had tires nearly 20 laps fresher on his Trackhouse No. 91 Chevy for the final push to the checkers.

“The biggest thing, he kept a good head on him, and we knew the car was good,” Owens told NASCAR.com. “In the middle of the race, we thought we could hold on if we could get up there, and an opportunity presented itself when NASCAR shortened the race. So that really was the changer for us. We were within five laps of making it to the end and decided to chance it on caution laps, which we got. Just, it was good to see him getting the lead, do those restarts and hold him off.

“Congrats to Trackhouse. That car was fast all weekend, and I don’t know the driver, but obviously, he’s made a name for himself pretty quick. So, congrats to those guys, but so close. It would have been great to win, but we’ll take second.”

MORE: Cup standings | Cup schedule

One spot better would have shaken up an already intriguing playoff picture with eight regular-season races remaining.

“You know, I want to make the playoffs, if we make the playoffs,” said Kaulig Racing president Chris Rice. “Today, he led a lot of laps, so I want to make it and be able to contend, continue on, and that’s what we want to do at Kaulig Racing. We’re planning on contending, and Jay Haley did a really good job today. Very proud of it.”

Elliott had rallied from the back of the pack to put his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 11th place early in Stage 2, but a Lap 25 wall hit threatened to derail his day. He recovered to land among the top five at Chicago but didn’t have enough to overtake the front-running two.

“I didn’t do a good enough job; it wasn’t as good as Shane and those guys. “I had my opportunity to win the race, I just couldn’t comfortably figure out how to out-brake Justin enough. I feel like I was outpacing him, and anytime I fell back, I could gain time back to him. I just could never get close enough exiting some of the corners coming to a good brake zone. I was just a tick too far back to try to jump in there on him. I thought I was gonna crash us both. So just need to do a better job and didn’t want to be that guy.”

Posted on July 2, 2023July 3, 2023 by Reid Spencer

CHICAGO — When the Grant Park 220 turned topsy-turvy at the 49-lap mark, the change didn’t slow New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, the first driver to win a race in his first NASCAR Cup Series start since Johnny Rutherford accomplished the feat 60 years ago.

Driving the No. 91 Chevrolet under the aegis of Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 program, the three-time Supercars champion charged from eighth on a Lap 61 restart to the front of the field and won the series’ first street race on the Chicago Street Course in overtime.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Chicago

Asked whether he thought victory was possible in his NASCAR debut, van Gisbergen chuckled.

“No, of course not, but you always dream of it,” he said. “Thank you so much to the Trackhouse team and (sponsor) Enhance Health, Project 91. What an experience in the crowd out here. This was so cool. This is what you dream of. Hopefully, I can come and do more.”

What changed the tenor of the race dramatically was NASCAR’s decision near the midpoint of the event to shorten the race from the scheduled 100 laps to 75, putting a large group of cars that had pitted on Lap 43 inside their fuel window.

After the previously dominant cars of Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick pitted with others for tires and fuel on Lap 47 — van Gisbergen among them — Justin Haley, Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott led the field to green on a single-file restart on Lap 49. At the time van Gisbergen was 18th, but not for long.

“Wow, when we had that back strategy back to 18th, I started to worry a bit, but the racing was really good,” said van Gisbergen. “Everyone was respectful. It was tough, but a lot of fun.”

SHOP: Buy Chicago gear

The Kiwi passed Haley for the lead on Lap 71 and beat him to the finish line by 1.259 seconds after the sliding car of Bubba Wallace knocked Ricky Stenhouse’s Chevrolet into the Turn 1 tire barrier to cause the ninth caution on Lap 74 and force overtime.

The decision to shorten the race was a saving grace for Elliott, who had crashed his No. 9 Chevrolet during qualifying and started from the rear of the field in a backup car. Elliott held third after the final restart and finished ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch, who were fourth and fifth, respectively.

“Once they changed that race distance, we got pretty fortunate to end up being able to make it on gas,” Elliott said. “We kind of inadvertently flipped the strategy.”

Haley, who started 36th after crashing in practice on Saturday, said he was beaten by a world-class driver on 16-lap better tires.

“Yeah, it was tough,” Haley said. “I put it in the tire barrier yesterday and we stayed up all night. I stayed with the guys through the rain and rewrapped this thing, put a new body on it…

“Obviously congrats to Project 91. It sucks, obviously, where we are right now we don’t have a… we aren’t in position to win every week, so coming that close obviously is not what you want.

“But just really proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing and what an awesome event. Can’t wait to come back next year.”

Shortening the race wasn’t what Bell wanted or needed. He had overtaken Reddick for the lead on Lap 9 and won the first 20-lap stage by a comfortable margin. After a cycle of green-flag pit stops, Bell held an advantage of nearly nine seconds before Noah Gragson’s third adventure into the Turn 6 tire barrier caused the third caution on Lap 29.

By then, drivers had transitioned from wet tires at the start of the event to slicks as the racing line dried out.

Bell survived two subsequent cautions and won Stage 2 under yellow after Alex Bowman stopped on the track at the exit from Turn 5 because of engine issues. By then, Larson had worked his way into the second position and was hounding Bell before the caution.

After the field flipped, Bell finished 18th, thanks to a late spin into a tire barrier.

WATCH: Ben Kennedy, Steve O’Donnell comment on remarkable weekend

Delayed for nearly 75 minutes by rain, the historic race was eventful from the start. As soon as the green flag waved, Reddick pulled even with pole-winner Denny Hamlin. The drivers raced side-by-side until Reddick cleared Hamlin through Turn 5.

Aric Almirola spun near Turn 6 on the opening lap. Erik Jones drove too deep into Turn 6 and collected Brad Keselowski and Gragson. All three drivers extricated themselves from the tire barrier and continued.

On Lap 2, Hamlin slid sideways into the tire barrier on the outside of Turn 2 and lost 11 positions. A lap later, Busch lost control while making a move off the racing line and plowed nose-first into the tire barrier, causing the race’s first caution.

After a safety crew pulled Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet from the barrier with a tether, Busch rejoined the field without losing a lap. On Lap 13, Gragson buried the nose of his No. 42 Chevy into the barrier in Turn 6, which proved an early trouble spot on the wet street course.

Hamlin never recovered from his accident and finished 11th. Busch, on the other hand, rebounded from his early pit stop to come home fifth.

Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.

Note: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issues, confirming van Gisbergen as the race winner. No cars will be taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center.

Posted on July 2, 2023July 2, 2023 by Staff Report

Persistent rain delayed the start of the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race on the Chicago Street Course.

The Grant Park 220 was scheduled for a 5:05 p.m. ET green flag with live coverage on NBC, Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and the NBC Sports App, but persistent rain in the area pushed the race to a 6:37 p.m. green flag.

MORE: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Chicago

Denny Hamlin started from the Busch Light Pole, earned in Saturday’s qualifying session over 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick. Three-time Australian Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen qualified third in the No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. Van Gisbergen, preparing for his Cup debut, posted the quickest lap in practice ahead of the time-trial session.

Posted on July 2, 2023July 3, 2023 by Reid Spencer

CHICAGO — Drenching rain and standing water on the Chicago Street Course forced NASCAR to declare Cole Custer the winner of The Loop 121 NASCAR Xfinity Series race three laps short of halfway and five laps short of the completion of Stage 2.

Custer led all 25 laps of NASCAR’s first-ever street course race before lightning strikes in the area on Saturday caused NASCAR to red flag the race and then to postpone completion until Sunday morning. But the rain persisted, forcing NASCAR’s hand.

MORE: Race results | Sunday schedule from the Windy City

“It’s been an awesome weekend overall,” said Custer, who drives the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. “The whole event, the whole thing that NASCAR’s put on here — the whole city — it’s been pretty unreal… The course is such a blast to drive.

“Today, we definitely wish we could have run all the laps. We don’t want to win it this way, but at the end of the day, we had a really fast car. I think everybody knew that.”

NASCAR rules state a race is ruled official either at its halfway mark or at the conclusion of Stage 2, whichever comes first. In this instance, Lap 28 would have signified halfway and deemed the event official. However, because of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the street course, officials chose to instead rule the Xfinity Series race complete per Section 1.6.B of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Rule Book, which states that in “circumstances … that are either unforeseen or are otherwise extraordinary,” the sanctioning body, “as a practical matter, may make a determination regarding the conduct of an event.”

NASCAR issued a statement explaining the decision to curtail the race:

“With standing water and flooding a significant issue at the race track and throughout the city, there was no option to return to racing prior to shifting to NASCAR Cup Series race operations. Throughout the entire planning process for the Chicago Street Race, our relationship with the City of Chicago has been strong and among the most valuable assets in reaching this historic weekend. In the spirit of that partnership, returning on Monday for the completion of a NASCAR Xfinity Series event two laps short of halfway was an option we chose not to employ. Based on several unprecedented circumstances, NASCAR has made the decision to declare Cole Custer the winner of the race.”

The victory was Custer’s second of the season, the 12th of his career and his 10th straight top-10 finish this season.

John Hunter Nemechek finished second and leads the series standings by 16 points over Austin Hill, who was credited with a fifth-place result. Nemechek clearly was impressed with the spectacle of NASCAR’s first street race.

“Racing downtown on the streets of Chicago was pretty amazing,” he said. “The whole experience, the atmosphere and how many fans were here — I give a lot of props to everyone at NASCAR. Everyone involved with the Chicago Street Course did an amazing job. Riding around under caution yesterday, being able to see all of the fans lined up three or four rows deep along the fence with no open spots was incredible. Probably one of the best attendances we’ve had so far this year in the Xfinity Series.

“The race went OK for us. I ran P2 from the drop of the green flag until Lap 25 when they called it (Saturday). We needed a good stop to be able to make an adjustment and have a shot to contend with Cole for the win and just never had that opportunity. We’ll take that second place, and we’ll move on from it.”

Justin Allgaier finished third and Brett Moffitt fourth. Sammy Smith, Daniel Hemric, Chandler Smith, Parker Kligerman and Kaz Grala earned positions six through 10, respectively.

Justin Marks, co-owner of Trackhouse Racing in the Cup Series, started 12th in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. But an engine failure at Lap 5 eliminated the vehicle from contention, leading to a plume of smoke through Congress Plaza before the car spun in Turn 11 at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Jackson Drive.

Making his NASCAR national series debut, Andre Castro crashed hard on Lap 17 into the Turn 1 tire barriers at the end of the frontstretch after an apparent mechanical failure sent his No. 34 Jesse Iwuji Motorsports Chevrolet out of control. A native of Chicago, Castro climbed from the car unharmed and was credited with a 37th-place finish after qualifying 28th.

Note: Post-race inspection concluded without issues, confirming Custer’s victory.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on July 2, 2023July 2, 2023 by Staff Report

CHICAGO — Heavy rain and storms delayed the resumption of the NASCAR Xfinity Series event Sunday on the Chicago Street Race circuit. (UPDATE: NASCAR called the race and declared Cole Custer the winner.)

The Loop 121 — the series’ first race on the downtown Chicago course — began Saturday afternoon before adverse weather forced the remainder of the race to be postponed to Sunday. The race was scheduled to resume at 11 a.m. ET on USA Network, but holds for lightning in the vicinity plus torrential rain caused further delays.

Competition and track officials worked to mitigate standing water around the 2.2-mile layout, with several trouble spots of pooling rainfall. The race had completed 25 of a scheduled 55 laps.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer was shown atop the race leaderboard, having set the pace for every lap from the pole position. Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek was scored second with Illinois native Justin Allgaier third for JR Motorsports.