GIBBS, REDDICK AND HAMLIN EARN TOP-FIVES IN CHICAGO STREET RACE
Four Toyota Camrys advance to third round of In-Season Challenge
CHICAGO (July 6, 2025) – Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin earned the second, third and fourth-place finishing positions, respectively, in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the streets of Chicago. Gibbs and Reddick were towards the front of the field for most of the 75-lap race after both started from inside the top-10, claiming the final two spots on the podium by the checkered flag. Gibbs has now finished inside the top-10 in all three Chicago street races, with two straight top-three results.
Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing team showed tremendous perseverance today, after beginning the race from the last starting position. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE showed pace and utilized pit strategy in the back half of the race to get him towards the front of the field and claim the fourth position.
Today’s race also marked the second round of the Cup Series’ In-Season Challenge where Gibbs and Reddick, along with LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones, advanced to the third round of the tournament, which takes place next weekend at Sonoma Raceway.
Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Chicago Street Course
Race 19 of 36 – 165 miles, 75 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Shane van Gisbergen*
2nd, TY GIBBS
3rd, TYLER REDDICK
4th, DENNY HAMLIN
5th, Kyle Busch*
15th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
17th, RILEY HERBST
23rd, CHASE BRISCOE
24th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
25th, ERIK JONES
28th, BUBBA WALLACE
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What more did you need to compete for the win there?
“Yeah, feel like we had a fast Monster Energy Toyota Camry (today). Just need some more front turn. Feel like I wasn’t as – free enough to get my points and exits right, but there’s things I can work on as well to make it better. We had a good day overall and executed well. Just need to be a little bit faster and I think we could’ve got him (Shane van Gisbergen).”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Did you think you could’ve gotten around Ty Gibbs if the caution hadn’t come out?
“Shane (van Gisbergen) was just a little too far ahead. When we did pit and put those tires on the No. 8 (Kyle Busch) got spun and a couple cars got spun on the restart and we were just in the wrong lane and stacked up and a lot of the cars that run the same strategy as us we got behind. Lost time trying to pass them and then passing those cars on the older tires. Just part of it. Chaos on a street course at the end there, but I was really proud of our whole 23XI Racing team. This Jumpman Toyota Camry was really fast, it just – we needed that restart to go a little differently. I definitely think we had the pace to get to Shane. It was hard to say how much he was saving or not, but it felt good to have a shot of it.”
How does it feel to put together a good race today?
“We’re improving. We’ve always been able to come here and have a lot of pace certainly. It’s nice to be able to run that strong, but obviously we’re for sure chasing wins.”
Can you take us through the final laps of today’s race?
“We kind of ended up in a tough spot there on the penultimate restart, I guess. Some of the cars were spinning – I can’t name them all but unfortunately, we kind of just got stuck in the wrong lane where I had to check up. Those cars that we were on the same tire strategy as I got behind, so we just lost a bit of time there passing those cars back. It’s great to finish third, but it’s for sure a bummer when you look at how much ground you made up. It’s really cool to bring this Jordan Brand Toyota Camry to Chicago and have it run on the home streets again. It’s been fun over the years and unfortunately, we just haven’t gotten the job done but we’ve shown a lot of speed pretty much every time we’ve been here.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How were you able to make your way through the field to a fourth-place finish after starting last?
“Just a good job by the team. I had some pace and really the whole Progressive Toyota team did a great job. I’ve got to thank the whole team for working hard to kind of get us back to where we were running there. Truthfully, that’s where we were at on pace. It wasn’t a crazy strategy or anything like that. Just thought the car was really, really good. I would’ve loved to not have to save fuel with the No. 54 (Ty Gibbs) and the No. 88 (Shane van Gisbergen) there just to see how far off I am and how much I stack up. I’m really happy overall with the day.”
How were you able to run that long on the final run?
“I was really saving (fuel) the entire run and was running good lap times. Truthfully, I felt pretty good all day. We marched forward all day long. The car had pace in it and that’s the key to getting a good finish, but beyond that once I was able to get towards the front I could save and take it easy on my tires. I would’ve loved to have been on equal tires just to see how far off I am from the front two guys. It just didn’t seem like that much.”
Did you get a view of the chaos on the track today?
“No, for once it was behind me. I’ve got to give great credit to Chris Gayle (crew chief) and this whole Progressive Toyota team. Obviously, yesterday went really rough. Just not one of those days we needed and today we bounced back and executed good. One of the first green races where we didn’t have any issues on a road course. This is the kind of finish and kind of pace we need to have.”
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