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  • Bowman clinches Playoff berth with wild, rain-shortened Cup victory at Chicago

    Bowman clinches Playoff berth with wild, rain-shortened Cup victory at Chicago

    Alex Bowman capitalized on a gutsy late-race strategic pit call made by crew chief Blake Harris to race his way into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by winning the rain-shortened, second annual running of the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course on Sunday, July 7.

    The 31-year-old Bowman from Tucson, Arizona, led the final eight of 58-shortened laps in an event where he started in eighth place and navigated through the streets of Chicago’s wet conditions to record a total of 14 stage points between two stage periods, including the second and latest stage where he remained on the track on wet tires to settle in second place behind Joey Hand. At the conclusion of the second stage period, the event became a race against the clock to conclude at 8:20 p.m. CT instead of its scheduled distance of 75 laps due to an earlier rain delay period that spanned more than an hour and a half.

    For the start of the final stage period with 27 laps remaining, Bowman, who was among several front-runners who elected to continue to race on wet tires instead of dry slicks for the remainder of the event following a strategic call made by crew chief Harris, assumed the lead from Hand with 26 laps remaining. Then amid another late-race caution that gave him more time to lead as the event’s timed clock to conclusion kept expiring, he muscled away from the field during the next restart period with 22 laps remaining and led the next two laps before the event was then shortened to two laps remaining (75 to 58 laps overall) as the clock expired. Despite having Tyler Reddick challenging him over the final two laps, Bowman left little room to error around the Chicago Street Course’s 12 turns and he managed to fend off the competition to snap an 80-race winless drought and lock both himself and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team into this year’s Playoff field.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, July 6, Kyle Larson notched his fifth Cup pole position of the 2024 season after posting a 90.168 mph lap in 87.836 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 90.158 mph in 87.846 seconds.

    Before the event, several drivers including Brad Keselowski, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Harrison Burton, Ryan Preece and Erik Jones dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries. William Byron also started at the rear of the field due to a power steering failure. Notably, Josh Bilicki, who started at the rear of the field, was not permitted to qualify and was assessed a drive-through penalty at the start of the event due to his entry failing pre-race inspection three times.

    With rain occurring around the course as the field made the pace laps, the teams were given the option to switch from slick to wet weather tires. Select names including Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano and rookie Zane Smith pitted for wet tires while the rest led by Larson and Gibbs remained on the track on dry weather tires.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch amid a series of tire spins as Ty Gibbs launched his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE ahead with the early advantage through Turn 1. Gibbs proceeded to lead from Turns 2 to 5 while Tyler Reddick tried to close in from the runner-up spot. With the field then navigating through a long straightaway in South Columbus Drive, Gibbs retained the lead through the next series of turns starting in Turn 6 to East Balbo Drive to South Michigan Drive and the East Congress Plaza Drive through Turns 7 to 11. Through one final right-hand turn to Turn 12, Gibbs led the first lap over Reddick.

    Through the second lap, Gibbs slightly stretched his early advantage to more than half a second over Reddick as Kyle Larson, who lost the lead at the start, tried to challenge Reddick for the runner-up spot. Behind, Alex Bowman was trying to fend off Shane van Gisbergen and Bubba Wallace for fourth place before van Gisbergen overtook both Bowman and Larson to move his No. 16 Wendy’s Saucy Nuggets Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up to third place.

    Meanwhile, Truex had carved his way up to 10th place after pitting for wet tires as he tried to close in on Chase Briscoe for more while Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell were in seventh and eighth. With a series of on-course battles ensuing between those who pitted for wet tires versus those who did not, Gibbs retained the lead by a second over Reddick by the fifth lap mark. By then, McDowell, Ryan Preece and Harrison Burton pitted their respective entries for wet tires as rain was being reported within the north end of the circuit.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Gibbs, who remained on the course on dry tires, continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over a hard-charging van Gisbergen as Bell, Larson and Briscoe followed suit in the top five. Behind, Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, John Hunter Nemechek and Todd Gilliland trailed in the top 10 while Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., AJ Allmendinger, rookie Carson Hocevar, Joey Hand, Justin Haley and Kaz Grala rounded out the top 20 ahead of Chris Buescher, Austin Hill, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Daniel Hemric. By then, select names including LaJoie, Austin Dillon and Truex had pitted.

    A lap later, Gibbs, who was stuck behind Preece and Joey Logano as the latter two were struggling on wet tires and trying to remain on the lead lap, was overtaken by van Gisbergen for the lead through the South Michigan Avenue and entering Turn 11. With van Gisbergen leading through the frontstretch and at the Lap 12 mark, Bell would also try to follow suit in his No. 20 Craftsman Toyota Camry XSE, but Gibbs would fend him off as Bell bumped and nearly sent Logano sideways in Turn 1. With Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spinning in Turn 1 while the event remained under green flag conditions, select names including Burton, Logano, Preece, Erik Jones, Cindric and McDowell were lapped as van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to a second over Bell by Lap 14. Bell, however, would assume the lead from van Gisbergen on Lap 15.

    A lap later, the event’s first caution period flew due to LaJoie, who was scored in 29th place, spinning and crashing his No. 7 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the wall in Turn 5 as he was dodged by oncoming traffic, including the leader, while faced backward. By then, van Gisbergen had reassumed the lead from Bell as Gibbs, Briscoe and Larson were running in the top five.

    With the precipitation slowly increasing around the circuit, the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 20 concluded under caution as van Gisbergen claimed the first Cup stage victory of his career and of the 2024 season. Bell, who swept both stage periods a year ago at the streets of Chicago, settled in second ahead of Gibbs, Briscoe and Larson while Bowman, Wallace, Gilliland, Reddick and Suarez were scored in the top 10. By then, 30 of 40 competitors were scored on the lead lap as William Byron, LaJoie, Ryan Blaney and rookie Josh Berry were pinned a lap down.

    During the closing laps of the first stage period, NASCAR announced that the event’s conclusion would occur at 8:20 p.m. CT, even if the event did not reach its scheduled distance of Lap 75, which made the event a race against the clock for the scheduled time. Once the event’s leader crosses the start/finish line at the time when the clock expires, the next lap will be the final lap and the checkered flag will follow suit with no overtime rules occurring.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by van Gisbergen, including those on dry tires, pitted for wet tires while Zane Smith remained on the track. Following the pit stops, where the field stacked up upon exiting pit road to avoid an on-track safety vehicle, Bell exited first while Gibbs, Larson, van Gisbergen, Bowman, Wallace, Briscoe and Reddick, who ran into the rear of teammate Wallace, followed suit.

    The second stage period started on Lap 23 as Smith and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs managed to overtake both to reassume the lead in Turn 1. Shortly after, Wallace, who was battling in the top 10, spun at the exit of Turn 2 after Bowman made contact with Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE, which resulted in Wallace making rear-end contact with the tire barriers and sliding back into the path of both Bowman and Suarez.

    As the field continued to navigate through the course, the caution would then return just shy of Lap 25 due to Briscoe sliding sideways amid the slick conditions and slamming into the tire barriers on the driver’s side of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse in Turn 6 while also clipping van Gisbergen as both were racing in the top six. In the process, van Gisbergen slid and slammed into the outside wall on the right side in Turn 6 and came to a full stop towards the wall. The incident was enough for van Gisbergen to retire from competition as his hopes of winning on the streets of Chicago for a second consecutive season evaporated.

    “I just sort of turned in [to Turn 6], it looked pretty good and then just got smashed by [Briscoe],” van Gisbergen said upon being released from the infield care center on NBC. “Gutting. That sucks, but it’s an unfortunate mistake by him. I’m sure he didn’t mean it, but yeah, when he just clipped me, ain’t nothing I could do. It’s a shame to be out so early and shame we couldn’t have a proper crack at [the win] at the end.”

    During the caution period, the field led by Gibbs was directed to pit road and the race was placed in a red flag period for one hour and 43 minutes due to the rain as the on-track crews went to work to blow the standing water off of the course.

    Once the field led by Gibbs returned to the course under a cautious pace, some including Byron, Erik Jones, Suarez, Logano, LaJoie, Preece and Burton pitted for a fresh set of wet tires. By then, the race had approximately an hour before it would reach its scheduled time of concluding at 8:20 p.m. CT.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, where all competitors restarted in single-line formation, Gibbs retained the lead from teammate Bell through the first turn before navigating his way from Turns 2 to 5. Then through the South Columbus Drive, Bell drew even with teammate Gibbs before he gained the advantage and moved into the lead in Turn 6. With Denny Hamlin locking his tires and running into the rear of Stenhouse as both spun and hit the tire barriers in Turn 6, the race remained under green flag conditions as Bell retained the lead over teammate Gibbs over the next four laps. In the process, Larson began to ignite his challenge on Gibbs for the runner-up spot while Reddick and Gilliland carved their way into the top five over Nemechek, Elliott, Chastain, Allmendinger and Smith.

    Then on Lap 33 and with Bell stretching his advantage to more than a second, the caution flew after Larson, who was battling Gibbs for the runner-up spot, locked up his front tires and went dead straight into the tire barriers in Turn 6 as he got his No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 stuck underneath the barriers. With the assistance of a wrecker, Larson limped his car that had heavy front nose damage as far as he could around the course, starting from Turn 6, before he parked his car in Turn 8 and retired from further competition.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 36 featured Bell retaining the lead over teammate Gibbs, Reddick and Gilliland through the first two turns. With seventh-place Chastain barely hitting the wall in Turn 4, trouble struck as Josh Berry hit the tire barriers head-on in Turn 4. In the ensuing process, teammate Briscoe spun off the course in the exact same turn, but both continued without drawing a caution. Amid the chaos, Bell slowly stretched his advantage to more than half a second over teammate Gibbs during the ensuing four laps.

    Just past the Lap 40 mark, Bell retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Gibbs while third-place Gilliland trailed by four seconds. Behind, Nemechek and Reddick were in the top five as Allmendinger, Joey Hand, Chastain, Bowman and Justin Haley were in the top 10 ahead of Buescher, Grala, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Elliott.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage period and with nearly half an hour of racing left on the clock, select names including Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Austin Hill, McDowell, Blaney, Byron, Zane Smith, Cindric, Suarez and Wallace pitted their respective entries for slick tires. Teammates Bell and Gibbs along with Gilliland, Nemechek, Reddick, Allmendinger, Chastain, Haley, Buescher and Grala all pitted for dry tires during the next lap as Joey Hand cycled into the lead. In the process, Austin Dillon and Berry had on-track incidents of their own within separate turns, but the event remained under green flag conditions.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 45, Joey Hand, an accomplished sports car competitor from Sacramento, California, who was making his first NASCAR start of the 2024 season in Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s No. 60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry, captured the stage victory, which was also his first in the Cup Series level. Bowman followed suit in second along with Keselowski, Hocevar and Truex while Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric, Stenhouse, Burton and Hamlin were scored in the top 10. By then and with the top-10 competitors all remaining on the track on wet tires, Bell was mired in 13th place, but running two spots ahead of teammate Gibbs on his slick tires while Gilliland, Reddick, Nemechek, Allmendinger and Haley were mired within the top 20 on the course.

    With 27 laps remaining but less than 20 minutes left until the event reached its concluding time of 8:20 p.m. CT, the final stage commenced as Hand, who along with the rest of the field remained on the track during the second stage’s break period, led Bowman, Keselowski, Hocevar, Truex and the rest of the field through the frontstretch. At the start, Hand retained a slim lead in his No. 60 BuildSumbarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse over Bowman through the first two turns while Truex was trying to overtake Hocevar for fourth place. Hand would was lead through Turns 2 to 5 and through South Columbus Drive before he made his way into Turn 6 with the top spot. Behind, Keselowski retained third place ahead of Truex, Hocevar and Stenhouse just past Turn 6 while Hand maintained the lead by within half a second as he led the proceeding lap.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Hand continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bowman, who kept intimidating Hand through every turn, as Keselowski, Truex and Hocevar followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Bell, racing on slick tires, was mired in 11th place behind Stenhouse, Gragson, Hemric, Burton and Preece while Gibbs, Reddick, Briscoe and Nemechek were in the top 15 ahead of Berry, McDowell, Gilliland, Blaney and Hamlin. In the process, Allmendinger was recovering from spinning in Turn 12 without drawing a caution.

    Then just as Bowman assumed the lead from Hand in Turn 5 and was entering South Columbus Drive during the following lap, the caution returned due to Berry wrecking and getting his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse stuck underneath the tire barriers.

    With 22 laps but four-and-a-half minutes on the clock remaining, the race restarted as Bowman retained the lead ahead of Hand and the field through the first turn. Amid a strong start, Bowman retained a steady advantage through the next set of turns while Briscoe and Nemechek each wrecked separately. As the race continued to run under green flag conditions, Bell muscled his way up to eighth place behind Hocevar and Gragson while Bowman retained the lead entering Turn 6 before he navigated his way through Turns 7 to 11.

    The following lap, Truex got sideways in Turn 2 and he got teammate Bell, who was about to crack the top five, spinning sideways in front of Hocevar as both Bell and Hocevar collided into one another towards the wall. Despite all competitors continuing without drawing a caution, Bell’s progress to drive back to the front was derailed as he pitted and eventually retired from the race. In the process, Bowman kept his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 out in front of the field while running strong on his wet tires.

    Then as the time clock expired and the event’s duration decreased from 20 to two laps remaining, Bowman continued to lead by more than a second over Hand as Reddick, Gibbs and Stenhouse trailed in the top five. Reddick, who was on slick tires, would proceed to overtake Hand for the runner-up spot, but he trailed Bowman by more than three seconds.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bowman remained as the leader by two seconds over Reddick, who was mounting a late charge on slick tires and logging in faster lap times than Bowman. With Reddick hitting the inside wall in Turn 5 and losing ground amid his late-race charge, Bowman was able to navigate the final seven sets of turns within the streets of Chicago smoothly and to perfection as he returned to the frontstretch victorious for his first checkered flag in over two years.

    With the victory, Bowman achieved his eighth career win in the NASCAR Cup Series division, his first on a road course and street course venue and his first since winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2022. The victory was also the first for crew chief Blake Harris, who assumed the role as crew chief of the No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team at the start of the 2023 season. In addition, Bowman’s victory for Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48 team, which was the eighth of the season for the Hendrick organization and the ninth for the Chevrolet nameplate through 20-scheduled events, means that team owner Rick Hendrick has all four of his entries making the Playoffs and for the first time since the 2022 season.

    Bowman’s victory was also a redemptive moment for the Arizona native, whose championship hopes in 2022 evaporated when he wrecked at Texas Motor Speedway during the Round of 12 opener. The incident resulted in Bowman sustaining a concussion and missing five of the final six events of the schedule and also eliminated him from the Playoffs following the Round of 12. He then suffered a back injury following a sprint car accident in late April that forced him to miss three regular-season races in 2023 and resulted in him missing the 2023 Playoffs. The 2024 season will mark Bowman’s sixth time overall being a participant in the Playoffs in NASCAR’s premier series.

    “Anytime you go to the racetrack with Hendrick Motorsports, you got a shot [at winning],” Bowman said on NBC. “We have a trophy to take home. [I] Know it means a lot to this team. They put me in position to win the race. Man, I broke my back, had a brain injury and we kind of sucked ever since. You start to second-guess if you’re ever gonna get a chance to win a race again. Last one we won, we really didn’t get to celebrate. We’re gonna drink so much damn bourbon tonight. It’s gonna be a bad deal. I’m probably gonna wake up naked on the bathroom floor again, but that’s the part of this deal sometimes. Excited to get home. It’s gonna be a good night.”

    Tyler Reddick charged his No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE to a runner-up result for his eighth top-five result of the 2024 season while Ty Gibbs charged his way up to third place on slick tires and for his fifth top-five result of the season. Joey Hand notched a career-best fourth place while Michael McDowell came home in fifth place.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Todd Gilliland, William Byron, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Bubba Wallace, who ran into the side of Bowman after the race to express his displeasure over being spun by Bowman earlier in the race, rallied to finish 13th behind Daniel Suarez and Daniel Hemric. In addition, Brad Keselowski slipped to 18th, Chase Elliott ended up 21st behind Chris Buescher but ahead of Ross Chastain and Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin ended up 30th after he wrecked with Austin Hill into the tire barriers with two laps remaining and Martin Truex Jr. ended up 33rd following his late-race wreck. In addition, Christopher Bell, who was unable to finish, ended up 37th.

    There were nine lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 19 laps. In addition, 34 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 20th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson continues to lead the regular-season standings by 11 points over teammate Chase Elliott, 23 over Tyler Reddick, 42 over Denny Hamlin, 70 over Martin Truex Jr. and 72 over William Byron.

    Results.

    1. Alex Bowman, eight laps led

    2. Tyler Reddick

    3. Ty Gibbs, 17 laps led

    4. Joey Hand, seven laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Michael McDowell

    6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    7. Todd Gilliland

    8. William Byron

    9. Kyle Busch

    10. Ryan Blaney

    11. Daniel Suarez

    12. Daniel Hemric

    13. Bubba Wallace

    14. Noah Gragson

    15. Austin Cindric

    16. Justin Haley

    17. Zane Smith, three laps led

    18. Brad Keselowski

    19. Austin Dillon

    20. Chris Buescher

    21. Chase Elliott

    22. Ross Chastain

    23. Joey Logano

    24. Carson Hocevar

    25. Harrison Burton

    26. Kaz Grala

    27. Corey LaJoie

    28. Josh Bilicki

    29. Erik Jones

    30. Denny Hamlin

    31. Austin Hill

    32. Chase Briscoe

    33. Martin Truex Jr.

    34. Ryan Preece

    35. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down

    36. Josh Berry, one lap down

    37. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led

    38. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

    39. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

    40. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, nine laps led, Stage 1 winner

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, for The Great American Getaway 400. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 14, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Shane van Gisbergen dominates at Chicago for third Xfinity career victory

    Shane van Gisbergen dominates at Chicago for third Xfinity career victory

    Rookie Shane van Gisbergen left very little room to doubt his road-course expertise Saturday afternoon as he repeated the success that launched him to NASCAR stardom on the streets of Downtown Chicago a year ago, after winning the second annual The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Course on Saturday, July 6. It was his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season and his career.

    The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, led a race-high 14 of 50 scheduled laps after starting on the pole position and withstanding a series of on-track challenges from Kyle Larson to claim the first stage victory.

    Despite losing the lead to Larson at the start of the second stage period before getting shuffled before the following restart period on Lap 25 amid pit strategy, van Gisbergen methodically carved his way back to the front. He then capitalized during a three-lap shootout to overtake rookie Jesse Love and return atop the leaderboard. Once in the lead, he muscled away from runner-up Ty Gibbs to score the third Xfinity career victory in his rookie campaign.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup, rookie van Gisbergen scored his second career Xfinity pole position after posting a pole-winning lap of 88.543 mph in 89.448 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Kyle Larson, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 88.530 mph in 89.461 seconds.

    Before the event, Justin Allgaier and Sage Karam dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars. The following drivers, including Sheldon Creed, John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Sieg and Parker Kligerman also dropped to the rear of the field due to engine changes made to their entries. Daniel Suarez and Ryan Sieg also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, van Gisbergen rocketed ahead of Kyle Larson through the frontstretch and entering the first turn to lead. Larson then tried to make a move beneath van Gisbergen entering Turn 2 and he managed to pull even with van Gisbergen through Turns 3 to 5, just past DuSable Lake Shore Drive, before he muscled ahead with the top spot entering South Columbus Drive.

    After trailing Larson through the drive, van Gisbergen pulled his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro back even and reassumed the lead from Larson in Turn 6 while Ty Gibbs tried to challenge Larson for the runner-up spot. With Larson fending off Gibbs and Connor Mosack through the following six turns, van Gisbergen managed to pull away and lead the first lap.

    After van Gisbergen led the second lap, Larson made an aggressive move beneath the former while almost forcing him towards the wall entering the first turn to snatch the lead. Van Gisbergen fought back through the following five turns amid a side-by-side battle, but Larson withstood the advantageous lane and retained the lead through South Columbus Drive. Despite van Gisbergen intimidating him through a series of tight turns between South Michigan Avenue and the East Congress Plaza Drive, Larson led the third lap and would continue to fend off van Gisbergen through the fifth lap mark.

    Just past the fifth lap mark, van Gisbergen returned the favor as he overtook Larson entering the first turn before fending him off to retain the top spot prior to Turn 2. With van Gisbergen leading and stretching his advantage by more than a second over Larson by the seventh lap, Matt DiBenedetto was trying to rally from spinning in Turn 4 while Chandler Smith retired due to an engine issue in his No. 81 Smith General Contracting Toyota Supra.

    With the event’s first caution period flying on the seventh lap due to debris spotted on the course, some of the drivers, including Josh Williams, Daniel Suarez, Jeremy Clements and Andre Castro pitted, while the rest, led by van Gisbergen remained on the track.

    The start of the restart period on Lap 10 featured a tight side-by-side battle for the lead between Larson and van Gisbergen as Larson tried to make a move beneath van Gisbergen entering the first turn. Van Gisbergen, however, fended off Larson entering Turn 2 to retain the top spot momentarily before they both dueled for the lead through the following three turns and South Columbus Drive. Larson muscled ahead in Turn 6 as Gibbs, Mosack and Cole Custer trailed in the top five. With the race remaining under green flag conditions despite Josh Bilicki spinning in Turn 11 and Clements nursing a damaged No. 51 Impel Union Chevrolet Camaro to his pit stall, Larson continued to lead ahead of van Gisbergen and Gibbs.

    Shortly after, notables, including Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed ran into issues, with Allgaier pitting under green and spinning while trying to enter pit road amid contact with Ryan Sieg while Herbst ran Creed into the Turn 2 wall as both made contact before Herbst spun his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang in the following turn. Amid the on-track chaos, Larson was leading by a slim margin over a hard-charging van Gisbergen.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage period, van Gisbergen, who spent the previous five laps trailing Larson through every turn, pulled even with Larson through South Columbus Drive and through Turn 6 before he muscled ahead through Turns 7 and 8. With the clean air to his advantage for four final turns, van Gisbergen proceeded to claim his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season on Lap 15. Larson settled in second as they were followed by Gibbs, Mosack, Custer, AJ Allmendinger, rookie Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer and Parker Kligerman.

    Under the stage break, some of the drivers, led by Gibbs, pitted while the rest, led by van Gisbergen and Larson, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Custer was penalized for passing and bumping Gibbs’ No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra on pit road and before entering his pit stall

    The second stage period started on Lap 18 as van Gisbergen and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, van Gisbergen and Larson dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Larson muscled his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro clear with the lead entering Turn 2. As the field behind jostled for spots, Larson also stretched his advantage over van Gisbergen and Allmendinger through the next 10 series of turns as he would lead the ensuing lap.

    Then on Lap 20, van Gisbergen launched another side-by-side attack on Larson for the lead through the frontstretch and just past the first turn, but Larson would fend him off in Turn 2. With van Gisbergen attempting another side-by-side battle through South Columbus Drive, Allmendinger tried to close in from third place while Mosack and Austin Green trailed in the top five. Despite van Gisbergen’s challenges through every turn and straightaway within Chicago’s avenues, Larson was not to be denied as he continued to lead.

    Then on Lap 22, the caution returned when Allmendinger, who was running in third place, wheel-hopped entering Turn 6 just exiting S. Columbus Drive, slid sideways and pounded the tire barriers, which damaged the rear and right side of the No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro as Allmendinger limped his car to his pit stall. At the time of caution, Larson had fended off van Gisbergen to retain the lead while Mosack, Sammy Smith and Hill trailed in the top five.

    During the caution period, which surpassed the event’s halfway mark, some led by Larson, van Gisbergen and Mosack pitted while the rest led by Sammy Smith remained on the track.

    With the race restarting with five laps remaining in the second stage period, Hill overtook Sammy Smith through the frontstretch to assume the lead in his No. 21 Dow Coatings Chevrolet Camaro entering the first turn. He proceeded to lead during the following four turns while Sammy Smith, Love, Allgaier and Mayer followed suit in the top five.

    With Larson and van Gisbergen mired outside the top 15 due to the mixed pit strategies, Hill retained the lead for the following lap. Larson would then return to the top-10 mark by the following lap while van Gisbergen was mired in 12th behind Joey Logano while Hill maintained the advantage by a second over Sammy Smith and teammate Love.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 30, Hill captured his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Sammy Smith followed suit in second along with Love, Allgaier and Creed while Gibbs, Kligerman, Mayer, Nemechek and van Gisbergen scored in the top 10 as Larson ended up in 11th place. During the stage’s conclusion, Custer, who was running in 14th place, spun his No. 00 Andy’s Frozen Custard Ford Mustang in Turn 12 and plummeted to 26th place.

    During the stage break, select drivers, including Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Parker Retzlaff, Jeb Burton, Josh Bilicki, Andre Castro, Custer and DiBenedetto pitted while the rest, led by Hill, remained on the track.

    With 16 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Hill and Love occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out entering Turn 1 as Love assumed the lead in his No. 2 WAT Chevrolet Camaro. He would fend off teammate Hill and Gibbs entering Turn 2 and navigating through Turns 3 to 5 before he made his way onto South Columbus Drive. Behind, Gibbs moved up to second over Hill while Creed and Mayer were in the top five ahead of van Gisbergen and Kligerman. Meanwhile, Larson was mired in ninth behind Mosack while Nemechek, Logano, Herbst, Brandon Jones, Green and Brennan Poole were in the top 15.

    Another lap later, the caution quickly returned due to on-track calamity that struck in Turn 12 when Sage Karam ran into the rear of Josh Bilicki, who also made contact with Kyle Sieg as Andre Castro and Parker Retzlaff, whose hood came flying up, were all involved.

    The start of the next restart period with 11 laps remaining did not last long due to Preston Pardus stalling his car in the middle of Turn 11. Prior to the caution period, Brandon Jones spun in Turn 2 after Allmendinger collided with Leland Honeyman, who then collided and sent Jones’ No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro spinning in a cloud of smoke. Amid the chaos, Love had retained the lead over Gibbs and teammate, Hill. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen was up to fifth place behind Creed while Larson was still mired in ninth place behind Mosack.

    Down to the final eight laps of the event, the event restarted under green. At the start, Love mirrored his start from the previous restart period to retain the lead while Gibbs navigated his way to second place. Creed and van Gisbergen would all overtake Hill through South Columbus Drive and prior to entering Turn 6 before van Gisbergen made a bold move beneath Creed to claim third place in Turn 11.

    With van Gisbergen trying to fend off Mayer and Creed through the frontstretch, Gibbs then started to challenge Love for the lead during the following lap. He tried to bump and move Love out of the way in Turn 5, but Love maintained the lead through South Columbus Drive. The battle between Love and Gibbs, however, allowed van Gisbergen to close in on both entering Turn 6 as the top-five competitors on the track trailed the lead by under a second for the next six turns.

    Amid the late battles, the caution returned due to Leland Honeyman locking up his front tires and slamming his No. 42 Klean Freak Chevrolet Camaro head-on into the tire barriers in Turn 1. Before Honeyman’s wreck, van Gisbergen made a bold save entering the frontstretch sliding sideways and making light contact with the wall in front of Mayer and Creed.

    With the event restarting with three laps remaining, Creed muscled ahead to retain the lead while van Gisbergen bolted his way past Gibbs to move into second place. With Mayer spinning in Turn 1, the race remained under green flag conditions as van Gisbergen quickly closed in on Love’s rear bumper for the following four turns and through South Columbus Drive. Van Gisbergen then forced his way beneath Love to cycle back into the lead in Turn 7 as Gibbs capitalized on the battle to move into second entering Turn 8.

    During the proceeding lap and with Creed spinning in Turn 12 amid contact with Kligerman while running in the top five, Larson navigated his way past Love and into third place through Turn 5. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to a comfortable advantage over Gibbs through South Columbus Drive and he would continue to do so entering Turn 6 and through East Balbo Drive, East Congress Plaza Drive, South Michigan Avenue and East Jackson Drive.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained as the leader by a second over Gibbs while Larson, Kligerman and Love trailed in the top five by under five seconds. With Gibbs unable to close the deficit for a final lap and through 12 sets of turns, van Gisbergen smoothly navigated his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro through each turn before he made a hard right-hand turn to the frontstretch victorious for the third time of his career and of the 2024 season.

    With the victory, van Gisbergen joined Terry Labonte and AJ Allmendinger as the only competitors to notch their first three career Xfinity Series victories on road-course events, with the New Zealander winning for the first time since Sonoma Raceway in June.

    Van Gisbergen’s victory at Chicago also made him the first three-time Xfinity race winner of the 2024 season and the first competitor to win two NASCAR national touring series events on the streets of Chicago as he will attempt to sweep the weekend with Sunday’s Cup Series action at Chicago. Van Gisbergen won the inaugural Cup Series’ Chicago Street Race event in his premier series debut while driving for Trackhouse Racing.

    While van Gisbergen’s victory marks the third win of the season for Kaulig Racing and the team’s No. 97 Chevrolet entry led by crew chief Bruce Schlicker, the win was the 11th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    “That’s awesome! What a great race. It was pretty wild there at the end,” van Gisbergen, who kicked another rugby football into the frontstretch’s crowd, said on NBC. “I can’t thank [the] Kaulig Racing guys enough. [The] WeatherTech Camaro was amazing. Great race at the start with Kyle [Larson]. He was really good on the restarts and we made our car better for the second set of tires. That was fun at the end, passing all those guys. I had some great racing with everyone. [It was] Really cool. [I] Learnt a lot. [Larson] probably learned a lot off me, but hope to race him again for the win tomorrow [for the Cup Series event.

    “It’s a privilege to race here [at Chicago],” van Gisbergen added. “This event is amazing. What NASCAR’s done here, what a show. Pretty cool feelings. Hopefully, we can repeat tomorrow.”

    Ty Gibbs settled in second place for his first top-two result of the 2024 season, which occurred in his fifth start of the season, while Kyle Larson, who led 12 laps, ended up in third place for his second top-three result of the season and his first since winning at Circuit of the Americas in March.

    Despite setting in third place in his second and final Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season, Larson noted the on-track benefits he gained amid his battles with van Gisbergen that would place him in an advantage to be competitive for Sunday’s Cup Series event at Chicago.

    “[van Gisbergen] was obviously way faster than me and I think he was having fun, just playing with me,” Larson said. “I wanted to use this race to learn…That was big on my agenda and I felt like I learned quite a bit battling [van Gisbergen] and create different angles and all that. I think today was a success. Obviously, [I] would like to win, but our car just wasn’t quite as good as his.”

    Parker Kligerman came home in fourth place while Jesse Love, who also led a race-high 14 laps with van Gisbergen, settled in fifth place for his fifth top-five result in his Xfinity rookie campaign.

    Connor Mosack, Austin Hill, Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier and Austin Green completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were nine lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 16 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 18th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer leads the regular-season standings by 38 points over Justin Allgaier, 39 over Chandler Smith, 60 over Austin Hill and 109 over rookie Jesse Love.

    Results.

    1. Shane van Gisbergen, 14 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Ty Gibbs

    3. Kyle Larson, 12 laps led

    4. Parker Kligerman

    5. Jesse Love, 14 laps led

    6. Connor Mosack

    7. Austin Hill, eight laps led, Stage 2 winner

    8. Joey Logano

    9. Justin Allgaier

    10. Austin Green

    11. AJ Allmendinger

    12. Josh Williams

    13. Sammy Smith, two laps led

    14. Kyle Weatherman

    15. Jeb Burton

    16. Ryan Sieg

    17. Brandon Jones

    18. Cole Custer

    19. Sam Mayer

    20. Brennan Poole

    21. Ryan Ellis

    22. Kyle Sieg

    23. Matt DiBenedetto

    24. Blaine Perkins

    25. John Hunter Nemechek

    26. Sheldon Creed

    27. Daniel Suarez

    28. Riley Herbst – OUT, Overheating

    29. Alex Labbe, five laps down

    30. Anthony Alfredo, five laps down

    31. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident

    32. Preston Pardus – OUT, Electrical

    33. Sage Karam – OUT, Accident

    34. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    35. Andre Castro – OUT, Accident

    36. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    37. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    38. Chandler Smith – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, July 13, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Weekend schedule for the 2024 Chicago Street Course

    Weekend schedule for the 2024 Chicago Street Course

    The NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series return to the Chicago 2.20-mile asphalt street course this weekend for the second consecutive year.

    Eleven different Cup Series drivers have scored race wins this season and have secured their place in the 2024 Playoffs, leaving five available spots. Christopher Bell, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson have each won three races. Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez, have each scored one win.

    Keith Urban, The Chainsmokers, The Black Keys, and Lauren Alaina will provide a variety of entertainment throughout the weekend.

    Six Xfinity Series drivers have claimed a spot in the Playoffs with wins this year including Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Shane van Gisbergen, Justin Allgaier, and Jesse Love. Cole Custer is currently the series points leader and is guaranteed a place in the Playoffs, leaving five available.

    The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is off this week and will return to competition at Pocono Raceway on Friday, July 12.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available throughout the weekend.

    All times are Eastern.

    Saturday, July 6
    10 a.m.: Xfinity Practice – USA/NBC
    11 a.m.: Xfinity Qualifying – USA

    12:30 p.m.: Cup Practice – USA /MRN/SiriusXM
    1:30 p.m.: Cup Qualifying – USA/MRN/SiriusXM
    3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series The Loop 110 – NBC/MRN/SiriusXM
    110 miles/50 Laps
    Stages end on Lap 15/30/50
    Purse: $1,786,961

    Sunday, July 7
    4:30 p.m.: Cup Series Grant Park 165 – NBC/MRN/SiriusXM
    165 miles/75 Laps
    Stages end on Lap 20/45/75
    Purse: $7,978,831

  • Hendrick Motorsports returns the No. 17 entry for an expanded Xfinity schedule in 2024

    Hendrick Motorsports returns the No. 17 entry for an expanded Xfinity schedule in 2024

    Hendrick Motorsports will be fielding the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro entry sponsored by HendrickCars.com for 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series events, an increase from the previous two seasons, featuring five accomplished competitors throughout the 2024 season.

    William Byron, the 2024 Daytona 500 champion, will first field the HMS No. 17 “all-star” entry at Phoenix Raceway on March 9. He will also compete at Darlington Raceway on May 11, Pocono Raceway on July 13 and conclude the entry’s 10-race program by competing at Watkins Glen International on September 14.

    During Byron’s four-race Xfinity slate, Brandon McSwain, a lead engineer for Byron and the No. 24 HMS team in the Cup Series who graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a mechanical engineering degree, will also serve as Byron’s Xfinity crew chief.

    Kyle Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, will return to pilot the No. 17 HendrickCars.com entry at Circuit of the Americas on March 23 and at the Chicago Street Course on July 6 while Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, will compete at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25 and at Darlington Raceway on August 31.

    Lastly, Alex Bowman, a three-time Daytona 500 pole winner, will make his lone Xfinity start of the season in the No. 17 entry at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 22 while Boris Said, an accomplished road-course ringer with victories in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, will return to compete at Sonoma Raceway on June 8. Said, a former champion of the Rolex Sports Car Series GT Class, with a single victory across the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series, is also a partner at Hendrick Automotive Group’s BMW of Murrieta in Murrieta, California.

    For the events where Bowman, Elliott, Larson and Said pilot the No. 17 entry (six races total), Greg Ives, the 2014 Xfinity Series championship-winning crew chief with 10 Cup Series victories, will return to call the shots atop the No. 17 pit box.

    “The No. 17 is a big part of our story, and it would be special to see it win – and win often – during our 40th anniversary season,” Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports and chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group, said. “The sponsorship has been a big success for HendrickCars.com and our dealerships, and we’re pleased to add more races and take it to another level in 2024. It’s victory lane or bust.”

    Hendrick Motorsports first fielded the No. 17 HendrickCars.com entry in four Xfinity events in 2022, where Bowman, Byron and Larson contributed to a combined two poles, three top-five results and 71 laps led. The entry returned for six events in 2023, where Bowman, Byron, Rajah Caruth, Elliott and Larson contributed to a single pole, three top-three results, four top-10 results and 68 laps led.

    Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry is set to make its first start of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season with William Byron at Phoenix Raceway for the Call 811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 on March 9. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Shane van Gisbergen joins Kaulig Racing for part-time Cup Series effort in 2024

    Shane van Gisbergen joins Kaulig Racing for part-time Cup Series effort in 2024

    Shane van Gisbergen will be competing in seven NASCAR Cup Series events in a joint effort between Kaulig Racing and Trackhouse Racing for the 2024 season.

    The news comes as the three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, is set to compete with Kaulig for the upcoming Xfinity Series season on a full-time basis while under contract with Trackhouse Racing.

    Van Gisbergen will be piloting Kaulig’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry that will serve as the team’s “all-star” entry, where AJ Allmendinger and Josh Williams will also make select Cup starts throughout the 2024 season while Travis Mack will serve as the entry’s crew chief. The New Zealander will make his first start of the season at Circuit of the Americas in late March. His other Cup starts include both Talladega Superspeedway events (April & October), the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May), the Chicago Street Course (July), Watkins Glen International (September) and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (October). During the Cup events, he will compete alongside Daniel Hemric, who will be piloting Kaulig’s No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on a full-time basis.

    “When I first started talking with Trackhouse about moving to the U.S., we had no idea how many races we could secure but I knew I wanted to be with that team and organization,” van Gisbergen said. “There has been a lot of hard work to get to this point and I could not be happier to know that I get to race for an Xfinity Series championship and then get a proper go at the Cup Series on road courses and ovals. Kaulig is a proven winner in both the Xfinity and the Cup Series, and I know with the alliance with Trackhouse, this will be an incredible first year for me in NASCAR.”

    Van Gisbergen took the NASCAR competition by storm during the 2023 season when he piloted Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 entry to his first Cup Series win in his series’ debut at Chicago last July. In doing so, he became the 204th different competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series and the seventh to do so in a Cup debut. He would proceed to finish 10th in his second Cup career start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and 19th in his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, both occurring in August, all of which elevated his interest in transitioning from Supercars to NASCAR competition in the years to follow.

    Last September, van Gisbergen was announced to participate across NASCAR’s top three national touring series for the 2024 season as part of a development deal with Trackhouse Racing. Three months later, an alliance was formed with Kaulig Racing that would result in van Gisbergen inking a full-time Xfinity Series ride and a part-time Cup Series campaign. He will compete alongside Allmendinger and Josh Williams as full-time Xfinity competitors while Daniel Dye will make 10 Xfinity starts this upcoming season.

    In addition to his Xfinity and Cup efforts, van Gisbergen is set to compete in this year’s ARCA Menards Series’ season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway with Pinnacle Racing Group two weeks from now to receive approval to compete in superspeedway venues in NASCAR.

    “I’m excited to work with Trackhouse and have Shane join our Cup program this season,” Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing, said. “When we locked in [Shane van Gisbergen] for the Xfinity Series, it just became a natural next step on the Cup side since we have all the existing infrastructure and a relationship with the pit crews. Remember, SVG had to pass our car to win the Chicago race. We finished second. So, now we get to race with him which is kind of awesome.”

    “Shane is one of the best talents I’ve ever seen.” Justin Marks, owner of Trackhouse Racing, added. “We know he will be competitive on the road courses, so we needed to challenge him and ourselves on oval tracks against Cup Series drivers. This is a big freshman season for Shane, and I really appreciate Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice for helping us bring this to life.”

    Shane van Gisbergen’s 2024 part-time Cup Series campaign with Kaulig Racing is set to commence at Circuit of the Americas for the fourth annual running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. The event is scheduled to occur on March 24 and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Shane Van Gisbergen wins in NASCAR debut in inaugural Chicago Street Course event

    Shane Van Gisbergen wins in NASCAR debut in inaugural Chicago Street Course event

    History was made in the NASCAR Cup Series’ inaugural running of the Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course on Sunday, July 2, as Shane Van Gisbergen succeeded against the stars of NASCAR’s premier series by scoring his first NASCAR victory in his series debut.

    Van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, led nine of 78 over-scheduled laps, including the final eight, in a weekend where he made his inaugural presence in NASCAR as he was serving as the second-ever competitor to pilot Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 entry. Qualifying in third place, he finished in the top five and scored stage points during both stage periods while remaining within sight of the front-runners in an event that was delayed by 90+ minutes due to heavy precipitation that ultimately shortened the event to 25 laps of its scheduled distance.

    After keeping pace with the front-runners, Van Gisbergen, who nearly overtook Justin Haley for the lead with eight laps remaining amid a late caution period, fended off a late challenge from Haley during a restart with five laps remaining to assume the lead. He then appeared to be cruising to victory before the caution returned with two laps remaining for another on-track incident and the event was sent into overtime. During the event’s lone overtime period, however, Van Gisbergen was not to be denied as he rocketed away from the field and held off the competition through a two-lap shootout to win in his NASCAR debut.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 1, Denny Hamlin claimed his third Cup pole of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 89.557 mph in 88.435 seconds. Joining him on the front row was his 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 89.513 mph in 88.479 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. dropped to the rear of the field as all started the event in backup cars. William Byron, Austin Cindric, Todd Gilliland and Justin Haley also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars.

    Once the engines fired and the competitors rolled off of pit road amid a delay of more than 90 minutes due to heavy precipitation that nearly flooded the course, the competitors filed in a single file line under a cautious pace and behind the pace car for several laps, with the second lap featuring the competitors rolling through pit road.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid a single file start, Hamlin received an early challenge from Reddick entering the first left-hand turn. With Hamlin slipping the turn, Reddick would maintain his early challenge on Hamlin through E. Balbo Dr. and entering the second, right-hand turn. Both would duel for the top spot through Turns 3 to 5 until Reddick pulled ahead with the lead entering S. Columbus Dr. in between Turns 5 and 6. Reddick continued to maintain the top spot through Turn 6 while behind, Aric Almirola spun his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang just past Turn 5.

    Then ahead of Almirola’s incident, more early trouble ignited in Turn 6 when Erik Jones made contact with Brad Keselowski while trying to brake his No. 43 Draiver Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 amid the slick circuit entering Turn 6 as both competitors along with rookie Noah Gragson made light contact against the tire barriers with little damage to their respective entries. Amid the chaos, the race remained under green as all competitors continued. With the leaders returning to the frontstretch, Reddick proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry ahead of Hamlin.

    During the second lap and with the field still navigating its way through the 12-turn circuit under competitive, slick conditions, early trouble struck for the pole-sitter Hamlin, who slipped and made contact against the Turn 2 tire barriers. With Hamlin falling back to 14th and the race remaining under green, Reddick continued to lead by more than a second over Christopher Bell while third-place Shane Van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion who qualified an impressive third place in his NASCAR debut while piloting Trackhouse Racing’s No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, was in third. Behind, Daniel Suarez was in fourth ahead of Michael McDowell while Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Jenson Button and rookie Ty Gibbs were in the top 10.

    Then on the third lap, the first caution of the event flew when Kyle Busch, who was running in 16th, went dead straight into the Turn 6 tire barriers amid the slick conditions as the front nose and windshield of Busch’s No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was wedged underneath the tire barriers. In spite of the incident, Busch received assistance from a wrecker to have his car towed out of the barriers as he proceeded under a cautious pace.

    When the race restarted under green on the fifth lap, Reddick maintained the lead ahead of Bell, Van Gisbergen, Suarez and McDowell while the field behind remained in a long single file line before fanning out through the first five turns. With Reddick leading by more than a second over Bell, McDowell commenced his early charge to the front during the following lap by battling Suarez for fifth as Logano tried to close in to join the battle.

    On the eighth lap, Reddick slipped through Turns 6 and 7, which allowed Bell to capitalize and cycle his No. 20 Craftsman Toyota TRD Camry into the lead. By then, Van Gisbergen maintained third while McDowell and Truex were running in the top five ahead of Suarez and Kyle Larson.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Bell was leading by more than two seconds over Reddick followed by Van Gisbergen, McDowell and Truex while Suarez, Larson, Jenson Button, AJ Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs were running in the top 10. Behind, Logano had fallen back to 11th ahead of Hamlin, Chris Buescher, Corey LaJoie and Alex Bowman while Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon and Josh Bilicki were running in the top 20. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney was back in 21st ahead of Ross Chastain, Andy Lally, William Byron and Chase Elliott while Ty Dillon, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton, Kevin Harvick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were mired in the top 30. By then, Brad Keselowski was strapped back in 35th and Kyle Busch was running in 37th, dead last.

    Two laps later and amid a series of jostles and on-track battles ensuing around the 12-turn circuit, the second caution of the event flew when Noah Gragson wrecked his No. 42 Wendy’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 against the Turn 6 tire barriers as he smoked his rear tires while unsuccessfully trying to reverse his car out of the barriers. Like Busch’s incident, Gragson received assistance from the wrecker to have his car towed out from the barriers before he proceeded under caution.

    During the second caution period, select names that included Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Harvick and Gragson pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track.

    During the following restart on Lap 15, Bell launched ahead with a strong start as he maintained the lead through the first turn with Reddick in pursuit. With the field maintaining a long single file line through the first five turns, Bell started to stretch his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Reddick and more than a second over Van Gisbergen while Truex was in fourth ahead of McDowell, Suarez and Larson. In the midst of the on-track battles, Bowman and LaJoie, both of whom bumped and battled fiercely on the track earlier, battled hard for 14th through Turns 8 to 12 while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece battled behind for 16th.

    At the conclusion of the first stage period on Lap 20, Bell captured his first stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Reddick trailed in the runner-up spot by more than a second while Van Gisbergen, Truex, McDowell, Suarez, Larson, Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs and Jenson Button were scored in the top 10. Shortly after, select names that included Bowman, LaJoie and Briscoe pitted under green for slick tires. By then, Blaney, who slapped the Turn 6 concrete barriers, had plummeted to the bottom of the leaderboard as he continued without drawing a caution.

    With the event proceeding under green to start the second stage on Lap 21, Bell continued to extend his advantage to more than two seconds over Reddick while third-place Van Gisbergen also trailed by more than two seconds. During the Lap 22 mark, Logano wrecked against the Turn 6 tire barriers, but he managed to reverse his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang and proceed without drawing a caution. Shortly after, more trouble ensued as Jenson Button, who was trying to turn right and enter pit road under green in Turn 12, came across the path of Buescher as he was hit and spun backward towards the pit road entrance. Then as Button tried to loop his No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang around, he was nearly hit by Logano, who was also trying to pit, but both proceeded under a cautious pace for service.

    During the proceeding laps, a bevy of names that included McDowell, Buescher, Byron, Ty Dillon, Almirola, Todd Gilliland, Truex, Larson, Elliott, Andy Lally, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Hamlin, Cindric, Erik Jones and Kyle Busch pitted under green for slick tires. The leader Bell would then pit under green along with Reddick, Ross Chastain, Suarez and Stenhouse at the Lap 25 mark while Van Gisbergen cycled into the lead followed by Ty Gibbs and Preece. By then, Elliott, who had collided against the tire barriers in Turn 2 moments after pitting, proceeded without drawing a caution.

    Once Van Gisbergen and Ty Gibbs pitted for slick tires through Laps 25 and 26, Bell cycled back into the lead. Van Gisbergen would manage to exit pit road and run in second ahead of Reddick, Truex and Suarez.

    On Lap 29, the event’s third caution period flew when Gragson wrecked and got his car stuck against the Turn 6 tire barriers for a second time, with the Las Vegas native unable to reverse his car and proceed without assistance.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 33, Bell retained the lead while Reddick battled and overtook Van Gisbergen for second as Truex and Suarez battled for fourth. As the field made its way through the first five turns, Larson dive-bombed his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up to fourth over Truex and Suarez as Bell navigated his way through Turns 6 to 12 while extending his advantage to more than a second.

    Two laps later and at the Lap 35 mark, Larson continued his charge to the front as he overtook Van Gisbergen for third. Suarez, Van Gisbergen’s teammate at Trackhouse Racing, would follow suit while Bell stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Reddick. Behind, Truex fell back to sixth while McDowell, Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs and Buescher were in the top 10.

    By Lap 40, Bell was leading by more than three seconds over the new runner-up competitor, Larson, as Reddick fell back to third. By then, Suarez and Van Gisbergen remained in the top five ahead of McDowell and Ty Gibbs while Truex, who was battling for a top-five spot a few laps earlier, slipped back to eighth in front of Allmendinger and Buescher. Shortly after, the fourth caution period flew when Alex Bowman, who was running in 11th, was hit by Hamlin as he spun his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 11 and was mired with oncoming traffic while trying to straighten his car.

    With the event restarting under green with two laps remaining in the second stage, Bell retained the lead ahead of a hard-charging Larson through the first two turns as the field fanned out and jostled for positions. With the field still battling as Bowman parked his car near S. Columbus Dr. between Turns 5 and 6 due to a mechanical issue, Bell maintained the lead by over half a second over Larson while Reddick maintained third ahead of Van Gisbergen, McDowell, Ty Gibbs and Suarez, who hit the wall in Turn 1. With Bowman’s car starting to smoke amid the terminal mechanical issue, which affected his hopes of vying for a spot in the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs, the caution returned.

    The caution period for Bowman’s issue was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 45 to finish under caution as Bell captured his second consecutive stage victory. Larson settled in second ahead of Reddick, Van Gisbergen and McDowell while Ty Gibbs, Suarez, Truex, Allmendinger and Chase Briscoe were scored in the top 10.

    During the caution and stage break, a majority of the field led by Bell pitted while 11 competitors led by Justin Haley and Austin Dillon remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Bell exited first followed by Larson, Reddick, Ty Gibbs, McDowell, Suarez and Van Gisbergen. By then, NASCAR shortened its scheduled distance of the event from 100 to 75 due to the upcoming sunset and stemming from the early rain delay.

    When the final stage commenced under green with 27 laps remaining, Haley maintained a steady advantage over Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott while Logano, who restarted fourth, slipped in Turn 1, which allowed Byron to move up to fourth. With Bell strapped back in 11th, Haley maintained the lead through the first six turns before entering Turns 7 to 11 through S. Michigan Ave.

    Shortly after, the caution returned when Byron, who was running in the top five, collided into the Turn 11 tire barriers after overdriving his No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the corner. Byron’s incident ignited a massive stack-up as Harvick, who was trying to avoid hitting Byron, slipped sideways and spun his No. 4 Gearwrench Ford Mustang just past Turn 11 along with LaJoie, who got hit by Almirola as a host of competitors running within the top 15 towards the bottom of the leaderboard, had to jam on the brakes as the turn was blocked. Among the competitors stuck in the stack-up and the sideway competitors of Harvick and LaJoie included Bell, Larson and Truex while Reddick, Gibbs, Suarez, Van Gisbergen, Allmendinger and Buescher managed to escape the carnage.

    During the proceeding restart with 23 laps remaining, Haley rocketed away from the field following a strong restart as Austin Dillon tried to keep pace with Haley. With Elliott trailing in third place and more than a second behind, Logano was in fourth followed by Kyle Busch and Cindric while Reddick was still scored in seventh ahead of Ty Gibbs. With Truex spinning in Turn 5, the race remained under green flag conditions as Haley retained the lead by nearly half a second. Soon after, Wallace missed the corner in Turn 11 as he had to loop his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry around to proceed and blend back onto the racetrack without drawing a caution.

    With 20 laps remaining, Haley was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon, Elliott, Logano and Kyle Busch while Reddick, Cindric, Gibbs, Almirola and Larson were in the top 10. By then, Bell was mired back in 11th ahead of Byron, Van Gisbergen, McDowell and LaJoie while Harvick, Allmendinger, Buescher, Hamlin and Suarez were running in the top 20. Soon after, more on-track drama continued as Chastain and Gilliland made contact in Turn 1 while Gragson spun and hit the wall in Turn 6 again. Not long after, Bell’s run that started off on a strong note and soon went to bad became worse as he spun in Turn 1, though he managed to continue without drawing a caution.

    Then with 18 laps remaining, the caution flew when Reddick, who was trying to charge his way back to the front and running in fourth, collided into the Turn 6 barriers, with the Californian unsuccessful in reversing his car out of the barriers as he smoked the rear tires off of his No. 45 Toyota.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Haley maintained the lead over Austin Dillon and Elliott as the field remained in a long single-file line while jostling for late positions. Through the 12-turn circuit and back to the frontstretch, Haley would continue to lead in his No. 31 Benesch Law Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by half a second over Austin Dillon with Elliott’s No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in close pursuit.

    Then during the following lap, Austin Dillon, who tried to set a move on Haley for the lead, bounced off the wall entering Turn 12, which caused his No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to shoot back across the track and wreck against the tire barriers. Despite sustaining significant right-front damage to his car, Dillon proceeded without drawing a caution and would wait for the entire field to overtake him before he reversed his car onto pit road and to his pit box. This allowed Elliott to move up to second followed by Kyle Busch, Logano and Cindric while Haley retained the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Haley was leading by more than a second over Elliott followed by a hard-charging Van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch and Larson while Logano, Cindric, McDowell, Ty Gibbs and Almirola were in the top 10. By then, more on-track issues ignited as Truex slid into Harvick entering Turn 1 as both spun and wrecked with Harrison Burton also wrecking into the tire barriers while trying to avoid the carnage.

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Truex wrecked again, this time against the tire barriers in Turn 1. At the time of caution, Haley was scored the leader by over Van Gisbergen, who had overtaken Elliott a few turns earlier and had nearly overtaken Haley for the lead in between Turns 6 and 7.

    With the race restarting under green with five laps remaining, Haley maintained the lead entering the first turn ahead of Van Gisbergen. Then in Turn 2, Van Gisbergen made his move beneath Haley and overtook him for the lead. Haley, however, returned the favor through Turns 3 and 4 and briefly reassumed the top spot before Van Gisbergen crossed over in his No. 91 Enhance Health Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 over Haley’s Camaro and overtook him again in Turn 5 and through S. Columbus Dr. in between Turns 5 and 6. Van Gisbergen then began to extend his advantage to nearly a second over Haley as the field behind jostled for positions with four laps remaining.

    With two laps remaining, Van Gisbergen was still leading by more than a second over Haley while third-place Elliott trailed by more than two seconds along with Larson and Kyle Busch. Then not long after and with Van Gisbergen having full control of the event, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime when Bubba Wallace slid and sent Ricky Stenhouse Jr. into the Turn 1 barriers.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Van Gisbergen muscled away from Haley, Elliott and the field through Turns 1 and 2 before making his way through Turns 3 to 5 in clean air. Van Gisbergen started to place a reasonable gap between himself and Haley through S. Columbus Dr. before making his way through Turns 6 to 12 with the top spot.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Van Gisbergen remained as the leader by less than four-tenths of a second over Haley. With both Haley and Elliott unable to mount a late charge nor close back towards Van Gisbergen, the New Zealander was able to execute a flawless final lap out in clean air and through the 12-turn circuit in Downtown Chicago before he cycled back to the frontstretch and win in his NASCAR debut by more than a second over Haley.

    With the victory in the inaugural Chicago Street Course, Shane Van Gisbergen became the 204th different competitor to achieve a win in the NASCAR Cup Series and the first competitor in the modern era of NASCAR, seventh overall and the first since Johnny Rutherford won at Daytona in 1963 to win in a premier series debut.

    In addition to recording the fifth overall victory for Trackhouse Racing and the second in recent weeks after the team won at Nashville Superspeedway with Ross Chastain last week, the 33-year-old Van Gisbergen, who has notched three Supercars titles and holds 78 victories in the division, also recorded the first win for Trackhouse’s Project No. 91 entry led by former championship-winning crew chief Darian Grubb, who notched his 24th career victory and first since winning with Carl Edwards at Darlington Raceway in September 2015. The win was also the first for the number 91 in the Cup Series since 1953 made by Tim Flock.

    Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #91 Enhance Health Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, races to victory Sunday, July 2, 2023, during the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series street race, the Grant Park 220, through the streets of Chicago, Illinois. This is the first NASCAR CUP victory for the New Zealander in his first ever NASCAR Cup race. He is a three time Supercars champion. (Photo by Jim Fluharty/HHP for Chevy Racing).

    “No, of course not, but you always dream of it,” Van Gisbergen, who was asked on the possibility of winning, said on NBC. “Thank you so much to the Trackhouse team and the Enhance Health Project 91 [team]. Man, what an experience and the crowd out here. This was so cool. It’s what you dream of. Hopefully, I can come and do more. The racing was really good. Everyone was respectful and it was tough, but a lot of fun.”

    “Anything is possible,” Van Gisbergen, who evoked a message to his hometown fans in New Zealand, added. “The fans in Australia and New Zealand, the response and the support I’ve got from everyone, even over here, how welcoming everyone is, I can’t believe it. A dream come true. I’m doing one more year in [Australia] and then, I’d love to come over here [to NASCAR full time].”

    Haley, who led 23 laps compared to Van Gisbergen’s nine, ended up in the runner-up spot for his fifth top-five career result in the Cup circuit while Elliott, Larson and Kyle Busch finished in the top five.

    “It was tough,” Haley said. “It sucks, obviously, where we are right now. We aren’t in position to win every week, so coming that close, obviously, is not what you want, but [I’m] just really proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. What an awesome event. [I] Can’t wait to come back next year…What is there to be disappointed about? We’ll go to Atlanta next week, try our best.”

    Austin Cindric came home in sixth place while McDowell, Logano, Ty Gibbs and Buescher finished in the top 10. Notably, Hamlin ended up in 11th, Bell salvaged an 18th-place result after leading a race-high 37 laps, Jenson Button settled in 21st in his second NASCAR career start, Gragson finished 25th following numerous incidents in Turn 6, Suarez and Reddick fell back to 27th and 28th, respectively, Harvick ended up 29th and Truex settled in 32nd, a lap down.

    There were seven lead changes for five different leaders. The inaugural Cup Series event at the Chicago Street Course featured nine cautions for 21 laps. In total, 31 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With eight Cup regular-season events remaining on the schedule, Martin Truex Jr. continues to lead the regular-season standings by nine points over William Byron, 18 over Ross Chastain, 21 over Christopher Bell and 31 over Kyle Busch.

    Martin Truex Jr., William Byron, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are currently guaranteed spots for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and rookie Ty Gibbs currently occupy the remaining vacant spots in the Playoffs based on points, with Gibbs occupying the 16th and final vacant spot by six points over Daniel Suarez, 10 over Michael McDowell, 24 over AJ Allmendinger, 26 over Alex Bowman, 45 over both Justin Haley and Austin Cindric, 47 over Corey LaJoie and 55 over Chase Elliott.

    Results.

    1. Shane Van Gisbergen, nine laps led

    2. Justin Haley, 23 laps led

    3. Chase Elliot

    4. Kyle Larson

    5. Kyle Busch

    6. Austin Cindric

    7. Michael McDowell

    8. Joey Logano

    9. Ty Gibbs, one lap led

    10. Chris Buescher

    11. Denny Hamlin

    12. Aric Almirola

    13. William Byron

    14. Corey LaJoie

    15. Ryan Preece

    16. Erik Jones

    17. AJ Allmendinger

    18. Christopher Bell, 37 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    19. Todd Gilliland

    20. Chase Briscoe

    21. Jenson Button

    22. Ross Chastain

    23. Josh Bilicki

    24. Brad Keselowski

    25. Noah Gragson

    26. Andy Lally

    27. Daniel Suarez

    28. Tyler Reddick, eight laps led

    29. Kevin Harvick

    30. Harrison Burton

    31. Bubba Wallace

    32. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down

    33. Ryan Blaney, one lap down

    34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    35. Ty Dillon – OUT, Suspension

    36. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    37. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the second and final trip of the season to Atlanta Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 9, at 7 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Custer awarded victory in inaugural, rain-delayed Xfinity Chicago Street Course event

    Custer awarded victory in inaugural, rain-delayed Xfinity Chicago Street Course event

    Cole Custer took home the title of being named the inaugural winner of The Loop 121 at the Chicago Street Course in a highly anticipated weekend that commenced with a steady start before the event was pitted against an extensive battle and delay against Mother Nature on Saturday, July 1, before NASCAR conceded and declared the event official on Sunday, July 2.

    The 25-year-old Custer from Ladera Ranch, California, led all 25 laps prior to the delay from the pole position. Since the start of the event on Saturday, he muscled away from the field through a total of three restarts and he retained a steady advantage throughout the 12-turn circuit through Lap 24 of 55 when the event was placed under a caution period due to a lightning strike.

    A lap later, the field led by Custer was directed to pit lane and placed under a sustained lightning hold that eventually resulted in NASCAR postponing the event to early Sunday in the hope that the field could reach its halfway or scheduled-distance mark to deem the event official. With rain increasing throughout Sunday and amid another delay spanning more than two hours, NASCAR made the final decision to conclude the event three laps shy of its halfway mark and award Custer and the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team their second Xfinity victory of the 2023 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 1, Cole Custer notched his fourth Xfinity pole of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 87.590 mph in 90.421 seconds. Sheldon Creed, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 87.573 mph in 90.439 seconds, was scheduled to start alongside Custer on the front row, but he dropped to the rear of the field prior to the event in a backup car after wrecking his primary car during the qualifying session. As a result, John Hunter Nemechek, who posted the third-best qualifying lap at 87.308 mph in 90.713 seconds, started alongside Custer on the front row.

    In addition to Creed, the following names that included Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, Josh Williams, Blaine Perkins and Spencer Pumpelly started the event at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced on Saturday, Custer launched ahead with a strong start as he maintained the lead through the first left-hand turn ahead of John Hunter Nemechek while Austin Hill battled Connor Mosack for third. As the field navigated its way through the 12-turn circuit for the first time around the streets of Downtown Chicago, Custer proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Nemechek while Hill, Mosack and Justin Allgaier followed suit in the top five. By then, Sage Karam, who started and was running the opening lap in the top 10, made an early unscheduled pit stop under green due to a flat right-front tire.

    With the event proceeding under green flag conditions for the second lap, Custer stretched his advantage to more than a second over Nemechek as Hill, Mosack and Allgaier remained in the top five. Behind, Daniel Hemric was in sixth ahead of Brett Moffitt, rookie Sammy Smith, Parker Kligerman and Justin Marks while Riley Herbst, Preston Pardus, rookie Chandler Smith, Miguel Paludo and Alex Guenette were in the top 15.

    Then on the third lap, the first caution flag of the event flew when the No. 10 Jockey Chevrolet Camaro piloted by Justin Marks, owner of Trackhouse Racing, went up in smoke before the car came to a spin and a terminal rest in Turn 11.

    When the race restarted under green on the ninth lap, Custer launched ahead with another strong restart in his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang as he fended off Nemechek’s No. 20 Yahoo! Toyota Supra to lead the first through the first left-hand turn before entering a brief straightaway on E. Ballbo Dr. to Turn 2 and a right-hand turn onto S. Lake Shore Dr. towards Turns 3 to 5.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and after the field navigated its way through S. Columbus Dr., S. Michigan Ave. and E. Jackson Dr. through more left- and right-hand turns from Turns 6 to 12, Custer extended his advantage to more than a second over Nemechek while Hill, Allgaier and Mosack were in the top five. Behind, Moffitt was in sixth while Hemric, Smamy Smith, Kligerman and Chandler Smith were running in the top 10.

    At the conclusion of the first stage period on Lap 15, Custer claimed his fourth stage victory of the 2023 season. Nemechek settled in second followed by Hill, Allgaier and Mosack while Moffitt, Sammy Smith Hemric, Kligerman and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10.

    With the event proceeding into the start of the second stage under green, Custer continued to lead by more than two seconds over Nemechek as Hill, Allgaier and Mosack remained in the top five. With Moffitt and Sammy Smith running sixth and seventh, Hemric was slowly being challenged by Kligerman and teammate Chandler Smith for eighth while Miguel Paludo trailed in 11th.

    Then on Lap 16, the event’s second caution flew when Andre Castro, a USF Juniors championship competitor from New York City who was running within the top 20 during his series debut, rammed into the tire barriers on the driver’s left-hand side in Turn 1. During the caution period, a total of 17 competitors pitted while the rest led by Custer remained on the track.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 20, Custer retained the lead over Nemechek and Allgaier as the field began to bump and jostle for positions around the 12-turn circuit. Among those who were involved in the bumps and jostles included Hemric, Moffitt and Hill while Custer remained out in front.

    Then on Lap 24, the caution flew due to a lightning strike reported near the course. The field would then be brought down to pit road during the following lap and placed in a 30-minute hiatus period due to the sustained lightning. With the event being delayed further as even light precipitation began to fall on the course, the event would be postponed by NASCAR to resume the following day on Sunday. By then, Custer, who has led all 25 scheduled events from pole position, was scored the leader ahead of Nemechek, Allgaier, Moffitt and Hill while Sammy Smith, Hemric, Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Kaz Grala were scored in the top 10.

    When NASCAR returned on Sunday, the event was still placed under a weather delay, this time due to heavy precipitation as the course was flooded with rain. Initially planning for an 11 a.m. ET start time, the event would be delayed an extra two hours as the on-track workers attempted to drain the water out of the course. Then amid the delay, NASCAR made the call to declare the event official three laps shy of the halfway mark instead of anticipating a later start to the day or postponing the event a second time. As a result, Custer, who retained the lead since the start of the event, was awarded the victory.

    Following the call, NASCAR released a statement regarding the decision to terminate the event just shy of the halfway mark:

    “With standing water and flooding a significant issue at the racetrack 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 shy 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.”

    With the victory in the inaugural, rain-shortened Chicago Street Course, Custer became the third different competitor to achieve multiple Xfinity victories this season alongside John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill. He also racked the second Xfinity victory of the season for Stewart-Haas Racing and the 12th of his racing career.

    “[That was] The wildest win I’ve even been a part of, for sure,” Custer said in Victory Lane. “This is definitely not the way we want to get it. We want to run all the laps. We want to win it the proper way, but at the end of the day, we’re racers. We’ll take it how it comes. It’s just awesome. Everybody’s that’s a part of this team. We’re really hitting our stride here. We’re really running up front. We got everything working how we need to. Just got to keep it rolling.”

    “[This win] means a lot because I think we did have a really fast car,” Custer added. “It’s not like [the win] was given to us. It wasn’t just pure luck. It means a lot to still have a little bit of respect there. At the end of the day, we still want to run all the laps, but it’s not always gonna play out like that. [This event]’s the wildest thing I’ve ever been a part of and then, having this whole rain delay, this is just the wildest weekend I’ve ever been a part of.”

    With Custer being awarded the victory, Nemechek ended up in second place for the fourth time this season. Allgaier ended up in third for his ninth top-five result of the season followed by Brett Moffitt, who was making his 100th Xfinity career start. Hill settled in fifth while Sammy Smith, Hemric, Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Kaz Grala finished in the top 10.

    There were no lead changes for a single leader, that being the race winner Custer. The race featured three cautions for nine laps. In total, 35 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With 10 Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by 16 points over Austin Hill, 44 over Cole Custer and 45 over Justin Allgaier.

    Results.

    1. Cole Custer, 25 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. John Hunter Nemechek

    3. Justin Allgaier

    4. Brett Moffitt

    5. Austin Hill

    6. Sammy Smith

    7. Daniel Hemric

    8. Chandler Smith

    9. Parker Kligerman

    10. Kaz Grala

    11. Sheldon Creed

    12. Preston Pardus

    13. Miguel Paludo

    14. Kyle Weatherman

    15. Alex Guenette

    16. Parker Chase

    17. Blaine Perkins

    18. Sam Mayer

    19. Jeb Burton

    20. Jeremy Clements

    21. Alex Labbe

    22. Sage Karam

    23. Josh Berry

    24. Riley Herbst

    25. Ryan Sieg

    26. Brennan Poole

    27. Anthony Alfredo

    28. Spencer Pumpelly

    29. Parker Retzlaff

    30. Brandon Jones

    31. Ryan Ellis

    32. Brad Perez

    33. Joe Graf Jr.

    34. Brent Sherman

    35. Connor Mosack

    36. Josh Williams, three laps down

    37. Andre Castro – OUT, Accident

    38. Justin Marks – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’s second and final trip of the season to Atlanta Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, July 8, at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • NASCAR postpones remainder of Xfinity event at Chicago Street Course to Sunday

    NASCAR postpones remainder of Xfinity event at Chicago Street Course to Sunday

    The remainder of the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ inaugural running of The Loop 121 at the Chicago Street Course in Downtown Chicago, Illinois, has been postponed to Sunday, July 2, due to inclement weather stemming from reports of lightning that eventually led to light precipitation within the course.

    The event, which started 15 minutes earlier than initially scheduled at 4:21 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 1, was running on Lap 24 of 55 when the caution flew amid lightning strikes being reported near the course. A lap later, the field led by pole-sitter Cole Custer, was directed to pit road and the event was placed under an extensive red flag period before being pushed back to resume the following day. The event would have had to reach the halfway mark on Lap 28 for the event to even be considered official.

    At the event’s delay and postponement, Custer, who has led all 25 scheduled events and won the first stage from the pole position, was scored the leader ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Brett Moffitt and Austin Hill while rookie Sammy Smith, Daniel Hemric, rookie Chandler Smith, Parker Kligerman and Kaz Grala were scored in the top 10. In addition, 35 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap while Andre Castro (accident) and Justin Marks (engine failure) were the two retirees of the event.

    Amid the postponement, NASCAR released a statement regarding the event’s resumption for the following day:

    “Due to the potential for continued lightning strikes and in the interest of public safety and caution, the facility needed to be evacuated,” NASCAR said in a statement. “NASCAR had hoped to resume activities, but not until city officials allowed fans to return to the grandstands. The forecast for lightning extends into the next several hours, forcing NASCAR to postpone the NASCAR Xfinity Series race until tomorrow morning.”

    With the postponement, the remainder of the Xfinity Series event at the Chicago Street Course will occur on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET on USA Network. It will also occur as part of a doubleheader feature with the NASCAR Cup Series set to compete for the first time at Chicago at 5:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

    Update: Due to continuing rain with standing water and flooding at the track, NASCAR declared the Xfinity Series race official late Saturday afternoon and Cole Custer was declared as the winner.