Grant Park 165 – Chicago Street Course
Chicago, Ill. – July 6, 2025
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG
START: 27TH STAGE 1: 25TH STAGE 2: 23RD FINISH: 27TH POINTS: 15TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Discount Tire team showed steady progress in Sunday’s Grant Park 165 on the streets of Chicago, but their day was ultimately derailed by a late-race incident that left the team with significant damage and a 27th-place result. Cindric started the race from the 27th position and gained several spots following a multi-car incident on Lap 4, moving up to 16th. He stayed out under the yellow and restarted just outside the top 15 on Lap 7. As the opening stage wore on, the handling began to shift free and he pitted on Lap 18 for four tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment, just prior to finishing Stage 1 in 25th after the early pit stop. The race returned to green on Lap 25, only to see another caution shortly after. With a few laps remaining in Stage 2, the team brought Cindric back to pit road for another set of tires and adjustments, wrapping the segment in the 23rd position. Cindric lined up 16th for the start of the final segment and began working his way forward. With less than 20 laps to go, he cracked the top 15 and was scored 14th when a caution flew with 16 laps remaining. The No. 2 team stayed out and Cindric restarted from the 11th position. Unfortunately, his run came unraveled just a few laps later when he was involved in an incident with 12 to go, suffering heavy damage and a broken right rear toe link. The team made repairs on pit road and Cindric returned to the track to finish the race. The event ultimately ended under caution, with Cindric scored 27th at the checkered flag.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “Definitely an interesting day out there. We made some gains early and had a shot at a solid finish, but just got caught up late. Appreciate the effort from everyone on the No. 2 Discount Tire team to get us back out there at the end.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/DUTCH BOY FORD MUSTANG
START: 17TH STAGE 1: 16TH STAGE 2: 1ST FINISH: 12TH POINTS: 7TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney picked up his fourth stage win of the season as the Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang Dark Horse came away with a 12th-place finish in Chicago Sunday. After taking the green flag from 17th, Blaney made his way around a pileup on lap three while sustaining minimal nose damage, prompting a red flag during the opening run. Once the 20-lap first stage resumed, Blaney was called to pit road with four laps remaining in the segment in order to flip track position as he crossed the line 16th in Stage 1. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler made the call to run the entirety of the second stage without making a trip to pit road as Blaney cycled into the top-five before taking the lead with two laps to go in Stage 2 and went on to pick up the stage win. Following a four tire stop under caution, Blaney lined up to restart 23rd before making contact with the wall in turn 11 on lap 52, causing the right front tire to go down and consequently making an unscheduled stop on pit road. Despite losing a lap in the process, Blaney got himself back on the lead lap after a caution with 12 laps remaining and charged through the field during the final run to salvage a 12th-place finish on the day.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “I thought overall it was a pretty decent day. It was nice to win that stage. I knew we were going to lose track position, but we were fine. We made up really good ground on the restart in the third stage and then I hit the inside wall in [turn] 11 and popped the right-front tire. We had to work our way back from there, but, overall, it was a decent recovery.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 12TH STAGE 1: 15TH STAGE 2: 19TH FINISH: 11TH POINTS: 12TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse team were involved in a late-race incident Sunday afternoon in Chicago but rallied back in the closing laps to pick up an 11th-place finish. After starting 12th, the 22 team opted to flip the opening stage and pit with three laps remaining in the 20-lap segment, resulting in a 15th-place finish in Stage 1. Logano worked his way into the top-10 by lap 28 before crew chief Paul Wolfe called him to pit road with three to go in the second stage to set up their track position for the final run of the afternoon as Logano crossed the line 19th in Stage 2. Following a caution with 16 laps remaining, Logano lined up ninth to take the green flag before making his way through a stack up in turn one, but contact from the No. 1 heading into turn two sent the Shell-Pennzoil Ford spinning into the tire barrier – collecting the No. 47 in the process – as the caution flag flew moments later to reset the field. After a four tire stop under yellow prior to the final restart of the 75-lap event, Logano worked his way from outside the top-20 back up to 11th in the closing laps to cap off the day.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “Proud of the effort today and all weekend from our 22 team. Definitely think our finish should have been a few spots better with how our track position was playing out on the second-to-last restart, but still showed decent speed at the end to come back through the field on that final run.”
The NASCAR Cup Series heads west to Sonoma for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday, July 13. Coverage from Sonoma begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on TNT and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
