CHICAGO STREET RACE
Saturday, July 5 — NASCAR Xfinity Series, 4:30 p.m. ET (CW)
Sunday, July 6 — NASCAR Cup Series, 2 p.m. ET (TNT)
The NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Xfinity Series will compete on the streets of downtown Chicago for the third consecutive year this weekend. In addition to those two races, fans will also be treated to a showcase event featuring the Ford Mustang Mach-E NASCAR Prototype electric vehicle and driver David Ragan.
CHICAGO TOP 10 FINISHERS
Ford is still looking for its first NASCAR Cup Series win on the streets of Chicago, but five drivers have managed top 10 finishes through the first two years of the event. In 2023, Austin Cindric led the way with a sixth-place finish while Team Penske teammate Joey Logano was eighth and RFK’s Chris Buescher 10th. Last season, Front Row Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland led the way in seventh while Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney was 10th.
FORD IN-SEASON
TOURNAMENT ADVANCERS
Five Ford drivers advanced to the Round of 16 and four of those drivers will be involved in matchups against each other this weekend, meaning no more than three will make it to the quarter finals. There’s a chance all three could be from RFK Racing because Brad Keselowski goes against Ty Dillon while Ryan Preece squares off against Noah Gragson and Chris Buescher faces Zane Smith.
RAGAN PART OF ELECTRIC ATMOSPHERE
David Ragan may be retired from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing, but he’s been a consistent part of Ford Performance’s development with the Mustang Mach-E NASCAR Prototype. This weekend, Ragan will be driving the electric vehicle as part of a three-car exhibition showcase that will also feature models from NASCAR and General Motors. All three cars will turn laps together on the Chicago Street Course Sunday morning for fans. It will mark the second time Ragan has run the car on a NASCAR weekend after doing it a few weeks ago at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
RYAN PREECE – “I’ve enjoyed the fact that it’s rained and the reason I’ve enjoyed it is it kind of shakes things up. A street course is really tough. It’s very tough to pass, so when you have moments like rain and other things you can’t predict, it makes it a little bit more exciting and opens up the box for strategy, so I’ve enjoyed it. I think it’ll be different if we go there and there isn’t rain.”
CHRIS BUESCHER – “We’re heading to another road course. For us, I love road racing. It’s a lot of fun for me. The Chicago Street Course. I’d love to be there when it’s dry one time. Surely, that can happen and we don’t have to go through some monumental rain, but if we can do that, we’ve had some good speed there. It’s been a better passing racetrack than I anticipated going in and so that does give us some options and I appreciate that. From where I’m at behind the wheel, I like the fact that I feel like we have some options to make some big passes there and be able to move through the field. We’re ready for it.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC – “I really look forward to going to Chicago because I feel like, one, I hope it doesn’t rain. Let’s be honest, it’s rained every time we’ve gone there, so it’s a place that I feel like deserves a good run in dry weather for us and the fans. I love street course racing. We haven’t had the best results the last couple of years, so we’re definitely looking to improve on where we’ve been at that track, but otherwise it’s a fun event. It’s cool and it’s definitely different from the norm.”
ZANE SMITH – “It’s very unique and pretty cool to say the least. I heard a lot about Chicago because I had never been there, but I thought it was awesome. The track is like nothing I had ever done, so hopefully we’ll be able to run inside the top 10 and have a good day. I enjoy road courses and enjoy things that are different like racing through a city. I feel we learned some things in Mexico before we wrecked, and I feel like we can apply those to Chicago, and I feel confident in some speed we’ll bring there.”
SOLDIER FIELD CUP HISTORY
NASCAR hosted one Cup Series race inside historic Soldier Field on July 21, 1956. The 200-lap race was held on a half-mile track and Fireball Roberts led a Ford Motor Company sweep of the top three positions as only five cars finished on the lead lap. Roberts drove to victory in a ‘56 Ford while Jim Paschal was second in a ‘56 Mercury and Ralph Moody third in a ‘56 Ford. Both Roberts and Moody were driving for owner Pete DePaolo, winner of the 1925 Indianapolis 500, as part of Ford’s first full season of factory-backed stock car racing. The end result that season was 14 series victories and Ford’s first manufacturers’ championship.
SOLDIER FIELD CONVERTIBLE HISTORY
In addition to the Cup Series race, NASCAR also held three convertible races at Soldier Field – two in 1956 and one more in 1957. NASCAR Hall of Famers Curtis Turner (left in photo above) and Glen Wood both drove their respective ‘56 Fords to victory during that time. Turner, driving for DePaolo, led a race-high 329-of-500 laps while teammate Joe Weatherly led the other 171 circuits to give Ford a 1-2 finish on Sept. 9, 1956. Wood beat Possum Jones on June 29, 1957 as those were the only two drivers to take the checkered flag on the lead lap.
MAYER POSTS ANOTHER TOP 5
Sam Mayer’s third-place finish last weekend at EchoPark Speedway marked his eighth Top 5 run and solidified his spot in the point standings. Mayer, who is still looking for his first win with Haas Factory Team, is second overall and 137 points above the cut line for the 12-driver playoff with nine races remaining in the regular season. Ford has three other drivers in contention for the postseason and all of them are currently on the bubble as Sheldon Creed (11th), Ryan Sieg (12th) and Harrison Burton (13th) are separated by only one point.
CUSTER CLAIMS FIRST CHICAGO STREET RACE
Cole Custer became the first NASCAR driver to win on the streets of Chicago when he captured the rain-shortened The Loop 121 last year. Custer started on the pole and led all 25 laps before rain and standing water forced the race to be called three laps before the scheduled 55-lapper would have been official. The win was Custer’s second of the season and second straight on a road/street course after taking the race in Portland a few weeks earlier.
The Ford Mustang, celebrating its 61st anniversary in 2025, is the world’s best selling sports car. It is also one of the planet’s most popular race cars. With Mustang-based race cars competing in international sports car competition (GT3 and GT4), NASCAR, NHRA, Formula Drift, in Australian Supercars, at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and in its own bespoke one-make series – Mustang Cup and Mustang Challenge – the platform has an unprecedented global reach. This weekend, 27 Mustang race cars are scheduled to race across all disciplines. Learn more at FordPerformance.com.
