Justin Haley started the Grant Park 220 from 37th after not being able to qualify due to unapproved adjustments.
Starting the race on rain tires, Haley lacked rear grip in his No. 31 Benesch Chevy. Haley pitted when the first caution came out on lap three, putting on rain tires with an air pressure adjustment. When the second caution flag fell on lap 12, Haley noted improvement, but needed track position. He would pit for fuel only under caution. Haley went on to finish the first stage in 25th before pitting on lap 21 for slick tires.
After switching to slick tires, Haley cracked the top 20 and made it as high as 15th before the caution came out on lap 30. Haley pitted once again for tires and fuel, while the majority of the field stayed out. He restarted 32nd on lap 33 before working his way up to 23rd, where he finished the second stage under caution.
After staying out at the end of stage two, Haley would take over the race lead to begin the final stage, but would need to save fuel if the remainder of the race were to go green. Haley continued to lead as more cautions fell throughout the final stage, leading a total of 23 laps. When a caution fell with eight laps remaining, Haley fought to keep his lead on the restart over the No. 91, who had 16-lap-fresher tires, but ultimately lost the battle for first. Haley went on to finish second, his best finish with Kaulig Racing.
“I put us in a tough spot yesterday during qualifying, but we stayed late last night putting a new body on the No. 31 Benesch Chevy and rewrapping it. Then to be in a position to win after starting last was big for this Kaulig Racing team. Coming that close and being one spot short is disappointing, but I’m so proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing and what we accomplished.” – Justin Haley
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Bath Planet Camaro ZL1
AJ Allmendinger qualified 10th for the Grant Park 220. Prior to the start of the race, the field put on wet weather tires for the track conditions.
Allmendinger was 11th when the first caution came out on lap three. Allmendinger told the team he had no traction compared to the cars around him, and lacked rear grip. The team stayed out under caution, and Allmendinger made his way up to ninth by lap 10. The second caution came on lap 12, and the team opted to stay out as the track conditions were not ready for slick tires. By lap 19, Allmendinger made it up to eighth where he would finish stage one.
On lap 21, Allmendinger pitted under green to put slick tires on. As green flag stops cycled through, Allmendinger made his way back into the top 10, telling his team on lap 28 his car still lacked rear grip, as he took over seventh position on lap 29. Allmendinger went on to finish the second stage ninth as the caution came out on lap 44.
NASCAR informed teams under caution the race would be shortened by 25 laps due to darkness. The No. 16 team changed its strategy and came down pit road on lap 45. Allmendinger would restart 24th with 27 laps remaining. He made his way up to 15th when the caution came out on lap 49 for a multi-car wreck. Allmendinger avoided the wreck, but told the team he may have suffered minor front-end damage after being shoved from behind into the corner. On lap 52, the No. 16 Chevy restarted 19th after several cars in the wreck kept their track position. Allmendinger moved quickly up to 15th by lap 57 when another caution came out. After the restart, he continued to gain track position, making it up to 12th by lap 62. The handling of Allmendinger’s car began to fade, as he fell to 17th where he would finish the race after one overtime attempt.
“We’re disappointed in our finish for sure. Our car wasn’t great; we lacked grip all day. Our strategy got thrown off when the race was shortened, and we just couldn’t get our car back up in the top 10. Congrats to my teammate, Justin Haley, on a good run today. Wish we could have been up there with him and had a better finish in our Bath Planet Chevy, but it just wasn’t our day.” – AJ Allmendinger
The Loop 121
Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet
Daniel Hemric qualified ninth for The Loop 121.
In the opening stage, Hemric made it to sixth place before the first caution fell on lap five. Hemric’s lap times were faster than the No. 00 and No. 20 who were running first and second, respectively, before the caution flag fell. Hemric restarted sixth but was shuffled back to ninth on the restart. Crew Chief, Jason Trinchere told Hemric his strength was entering turn one. With five laps remaining in stage one, Hemric sat in seventh position and was told to focus on not overdriving the car. Hemric finished stage one in eighth position, earning three stage points.
In stage two, Hemric fought a loose car for a majority of the stage. The team elected to stay out while others came in to pit. Restarting eighth on lap 21, Hemric was back up to sixth in only two laps. Hemric had saved enough fuel that he did not need to pit during the weather-shortened race. The caution flag was displayed on lap 25 for lightning, and the race was official, despite being two laps short of halfway. Hemric finished the race in seventh position.
“It was an interesting weekend to say the least, and a huge success on NASCAR’S behalf as far as putting all of this together. Obviously, execution with the weather couldn’t have gone much worse. At the end of the day, the whole sport had to rally together and do something unique and different, and we did that. All and all, it resulted in a seventh place finish for us and we will continue in the right direction and head to Atlanta.” – Daniel Hemric
Chandler Smith, No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet
Chandler Smith qualified 16th for The Loop 121.
Smith quickly jumped multiple positions at the start of the race to move into 13th before the first caution. On the first restart, Smith took advantage of the city-traffic jam to crack the top 10, where he’d finish stage one.
Shortly after the start of stage two, the No. 34 spun to bring out another caution. Smith told crew chief Bruce Schlicker that his tires felt good. Schlicker told Smith to save as much fuel as he could during the caution period to open up a new strategy for later in the race.
The Loop 121 was red flagged 25 laps into the race, as lightning struck near the course. After the delay led to the postponement of the event until Sunday, the race was deemed official three laps short of the official midway point, due to torrential rain. Smith finished eighth, per the running order at the time of the red flag.
“I’m always happy with a top-10 finish. Myself and the team needed it, especially after missing the chance to finish strongly at Nashville. It’s not like we didn’t have to work for it either. We gained a bunch of spots with just 16 laps of green flag racing. While the weather could have been much better, I was really happily surprised with the event as a whole.” – Chandler Smith
Justin Marks, No. 10 Jockey Chevrolet
Justin Marks qualified 12th for The Loop 121.
Marks’ day would end early, after a blown motor on lap five of The Loop 121, relegating him to a 38th-place finish.
“We had a really fun start to the day in Chicago, I just hate that we lost the motor so early in our No. 10 Jockey Chevy. That’s just part of it. I would love to have another opportunity at it.” – Justin Marks
About Kaulig Racing™
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and has won back-to-back regular-season championships. Before becoming a full-time NCS team, Kaulig Racing made multiple starts in the 2021 NCS season and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team expanded to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 with Justin Haley piloting the No. 31 Camaro ZL1, and an all-star lineup featured in the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. Haley will continue to drive the No. 31 full-time in 2023, alongside AJ Allmendinger, who will drive the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. The team will continue to field three, full-time NXS entries; the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by an all-star lineup, the No. 11 Chevrolet driven by Daniel Hemric, and the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by Chandler Smith. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHICAGO STREET RACE GRANT PARK 220 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT JULY 2, 2023
Van Gisbergen Steals Inaugural Chicago Street Race in NASCAR Cup Series Debut
Team Chevy Sweeps Top-Five
· Making the crossover from his Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the Supercars Championship to the No. 91 Enhance Health Camaro ZL1, Shane van Gisbergen’s victory came in his first career NASCAR Cup Series start.
· This marks the first time a driver has won in his first career NASCAR Cup Series start since 1963 (Johnny Rutherford – Daytona International Speedway).
· Van Gisbergen became the sixth driver born outside of the United States to win in NASCAR Premier Series – last accomplished by Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez (Sonoma Raceway 2022).
· Van Gisbergen is the sixth different Team Chevy driver to record a NASCAR Cup Series win this season.
· The victory marked Chevrolet’s series-leading 11th NASCAR Cup Series victory this season.
· The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now sits at 844 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series.
· Team Chevy drivers swept the top-five finishing positions in the NASCAR Cup Series street race debut – recorded by drivers from four different Chevrolet teams. The feat was last accomplished by the manufacturer one year ago at Road America.
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS: POS. DRIVER 1st Shane Van Gisbergen, No. 91 Enhance Health Camaro ZL1 2nd Justin Haley, No. 31 Benesch Law Camaro ZL1 3rd Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hooters Camaro ZL1 4th Kyle Larson, No, 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 5th Kyle Busch, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Atlanta Motor Speedway with the Quaker State 400 available at Walmart on Sunday, July 9, at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
SHANE VAN GISBERGEN, NO. 91 ENHANCE HEALTH CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 1st
Let’s be honest, Shane, when this deal came together, did you honestly feel like this was possible?
“No, of course not, but you always dream of it. Thank you so much to the Trackhouse team, Enhance Health, Project91. What an experience in the crowd out here. This was so cool. This is what you dream of. Hopefully I can come and do more.”
What were you telling yourself on those final few restarts?
“Wow, when we had that strategy back to 18th, I started to worry a bit. But had some full stands on some people, and the racing was really good, everyone was respectful. It was tough, but a lot of fun.”
It’s Monday back in Auckland but I’m sure there’s a party going on about 1:00 in the afternoon. What would your message be to the young drivers back there in Australia and New Zealand?
“Anything is possible. But the fans in Australia and New Zealand, the response this week and the coverage has been — I can’t explain it. Like the response and the support I’ve got from everyone and even over here how welcoming everyone is, I can’t believe it. Dream come true.”
You know everybody is going to want you to drive their car now. Are you up for a full-time Cup ride?
“I’m doing one more year in Oz and then I’d love to come over here.”
JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 BENESCH LAW CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 2nd
Justin Haley had the unenviable task of trying to hold off a three-time Supercars champion with 16 lap less fresh tires. Talk us through final laps there.
“Yeah, it was tough. I put it in the tire barrier yesterday and we stayed up all night. I stayed with the guys through the rain; rewrapped this thing and put a new body on it. Benesch came on for this weekend. Congrats to Project91. 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 just really proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing and what an awesome event. Can’t wait to come back next year.”
Once your crew chief, Trent, told you that you were okay on fuel, what clicked in your head to try and go get it because you had no idea where Van Gisbergen was?
“I was really struggling under the braking zones. Felt like I could get off the corner better than anyone, but, I mean, what are you going to do? He had 16 lap fresher tires.
Just strategy, and I feel like I put us behind yesterday putting it in the tire barrier. And then from there, it just kind of trickles and whatnot.
But what is there to be disappointed about, you know? We’ll go to Atlanta (Motor Speedway) next week and try our best. Appreciate Kaulig Racing, Matt Kaulig, Chris Rice, for giving me this opportunity and we’ll try to make the best of it.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 3rd
Was there anything more you had to go up and contend with the 91?
“Well, first off, I really appreciate everyone on our Hooters team for just fighting all weekend. I did not do a very good job yesterday, obviously crashing and crashing again today and just kept putting us in big holes. So I have to certainly be better, but I appreciate the effort and the willingness to keep fighting by everybody on our team. I appreciate that and looking forward to going back to work and trying to get better.
Huge congratulations to Shane (van Gisbergen), man that was a clinic. He made us look really, really bad. He is going to go home and tell all of his friends how bad we are. So, I am looking forward to getting to work and hopefully we can figure out how to run with him at the next one he comes to.”
He is pretty good, but what kind of momentum does this build for you guys in the Playoff push right now?
“Yeah, I am still of the mindset that we need to win. I need to do a lot better job than I did this weekend to go win. We were gifted an opportunity there at the end and I just could not comfortably out-brake someone enough than really putting myself in a vulnerable position. I felt like when we got the track position, I was trying to get Justin (Haley) as quick as I could. I knew Shane was coming and I needed to get that pass done quicker and try to get going there, but just needed more pace and needed to be faster in a lot of different areas. So, like I said, need to go to work a little bit, but proud of the effort and glad our group never quit.”
YOU WERE PATIENT IN THE WET, THEN YOU LIT UP LIKE FIRE WHEN YOU PUT THE SLICKS ON
“Yeah, I was trying to get my confidence built up while it was wet and I knew as long as it didn’t rain, it was eventually going to dry out. So, just didn’t want to hurt my car in the wet and tried to maintain the best I could, which we did. As soon as the lanes started to dry out, we were much better than the people braking. We just had a lot more confidence than the people braking around me and was able to get to second and the pit strategy cycle stuff happened and it kind of messed our race up a little bit. But we were able to rebound to finish fourth. So, a great points day for our team and we needed that. So, had a lot of fun and congrats to the Trackhouse team. I mean, so much respect to them because that was really cool to watch. Him out my windshield making the moves he was making and taking us all to school. So, he is an extremely amazing race car driver and I hope the rest of the world notices that. Its pretty damn cool. So just a pleasure to get to race with him and battle with him a little bit. I know all of Western Springs Speedway in New Zealand is pretty pumped up right now.”
DISREGARDING THE RAIN, WHAT WAS THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE LIKE HERE ON THIS TRACK IN CHICAGO?
“It was an amazing experience and I hope everybody here enjoyed it as much as I did. I hope the fans here that maybe had never been to a race before enjoyed it. I hope the city enjoyed it enough to welcome us back because I felt like the buzz around the city last handful of days was amazing. The crowd stuck around the whole race too. I mean, it was downpouring all race long and I was not sure what kind of crowd we were going to have once we got going and it was great. Without the rain we had yesterday and today, it would have been way better with the concerts and all that. So, hopefully we get another go at it last year because I enjoyed it, I thought NASCAR did a great job with the racetrack, and all that. It got a little messy with the stack up in 11, but aside from that……and we all need to look at that and see how we can do that better to get the lineup right. But, all in all, it was a great event and I just had a great time.”
KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1
Finished 5th
“The No. 91 passed me there towards the end of the race. Just finding a rhythm- I just couldn’t find that middle all day long. So when you see someone else do it, and you’re like ‘I’ll trust him, I’ll do it.’
We gave everything we had for the 3CHI Chevy. A good top-five finish; solid run. I wanted more, obviously. I felt like I could’ve got the next two, at least. Just trying to maintain and come home with a good top-five at the end.”
From wet tires to slicks, and the track was still wet in parts – what was that like?
“Just slick. Just ice to start. You’re trying to brake as hard as you can, as deep as you can, into these turn; but yet as soft as you can so you don’t lock up tires. That was my issue there getting into Turn Six – I just overstepped it a little bit and got the rears locked up. Just could never get it back under control the whole way in. Just was sliding.
Hate it for my guys that we got back behind there, but again, we had a good car that was able to get us good track position to get a good day out of it.
Thanks to Rowdy Energy, Chevrolet, 3CHI, everybody to get us a good finish again today. We’ll see if we can get this again next week.”
How did you think NASCAR managed the race with single-file restarts and everything?
“They did it alright. That was definitely the way to go. Just trying to finish out two-wide into Turn One with half the track dry, half the track wet, was not going to be good.
Talk about how your day played out in Chicago…
“I mean we put it in the tire barriers there early in the race. Didn’t do us any favors. Trying to get all you can in those icy conditions. It was a bit treacherous, but I just got locked up and couldn’t get it back. Just slid off the track into the tires. Thankfully we didn’t have too much damage. We were able to come in and fix it; get back rolling, get back out there and work on passing some guys. Really wasn’t going too far forward, so we were able to pull a different card on strategy being back there, being back in traffic, and just thinking – maybe, just maybe the race would get cut short for darkness. We played that option and it worked in our favor.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 GET BIOETHANOL CAMARO ZL1
Finished 36th
“Unfortunate ending to an exciting day. Road racing has never come easy to me, but the work and effort has started to show up. Proud of the fight today by the No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevy team. As far as clipping the wall, I knew it would be an issue. I even talked about coming to this place knowing you can’t peak out to get more air. In this instance, I didn’t feel like I peaked out, just had my car setup for an early apex, it was turning and just caught the wall. Thankful for our partners at Get Bioethanol. We had the green machine rolling pretty good. We will keep fighting.”
NOAH GRAGSON, NO. 42 WENDY’S CAMARO ZL1
Finished 25th
“Today was kind of crazy – it the course was so different than yesterday – I really had fun yesterday and today was just so different. It was definitely a learning experience for sure. We had good speed in qualifying and had an incident early on. Lost two laps and then got them both back so we battled a bit. We had a lot of fun with Wendy’s this weekend and it was so cool to see how many fans stayed through all that rain to watch the race. I’m proud of what all we did with Wendy’s for bringing out the Baconator to Chicago. We had a fast No. 42 Chevy last time in Atlanta so just looking forward to next week and getting back there. Overall a fun weekend, just wanted a better result.”
ERIC JONES, NO. 43 DRAIVER CAMARO ZL1
Finished 16th
“It was a good day for the DRAIVER Chevy. Just got up there and were in a good spot, then got a little behind and crossed up on pit strategy when they shortened the race. Lost a lot of spots there through that cycle and just never could get them back. Only had 25 laps there and a lot of them were yellow, so it kind of is what it is. I thought we had good speed, a good car. Just got mired too far back in the pack to try and get back up front and contend. Solid day, though. Good car and had a lot of fun.”
About Chevrolet Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
Noah Gragson Post-Race Thoughts: “Today was kind of crazy – the course was so different than yesterday – I really had fun yesterday and today was just so different. It was a learning experience for sure. We had good speed in qualifying and had an incident early on. Lost two laps and then got them both back so we battled a bit. We had a lot of fun with Wendy’s this weekend, and it was so cool to see how many fans stayed through all that rain to watch the race. I’m proud of what all we did with Wendy’s for bringing out the Baconator to Chicago. We had a fast No. 42 Chevy last time in Atlanta so just looking forward to next week and getting back there. Overall, a fun weekend, just wanted a better result.”
Erik Jones, No. 43 Draiver Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
START: 21st
FINISH: 16TH
POINTS: 30TH
Erik Jones Post-Race Thoughts: “It was a good day for our Draiver Chevy. We got up there and we were in a good spot but got behind and crossed up on pit strategy when they shortened the race then lost a lot of spots through that cycle. We could never really get them back. We only had twenty-five laps there at the end, and most of them were yellow, so it is what it is. I thought we had good speed, the car just got mired a bit too far back in the pack, but we tried to get back up front and contend. It was a solid day, with a good car, and I had a lot of fun.”
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (NCS) Jimmie Johnson. The club competes full-time in the NCS fielding the Nos. 42 and 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for drivers Noah Gragson and Erik Jones, respectively, along with the No. 84 part-time entry for Johnson in 2023. Richard Petty “The King” serves as team ambassador.
In 2021, Gallagher acquired Richard Petty Motorsports and renamed the team to Petty GMS. With the addition of Johnson to the ownership structure in 2023, the organization rebranded to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (LEGACY M.C.). With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level.
Based in Statesville, N.C., LEGACY M.C. operates alongside GMS Racing (GMS), which currently fields three full-time entries in the NASCAR Truck Series. Since the formation of GMS in 2012, Gallagher and Mike Beam, team president, have shared incredible success. GMS Racing captured the 2015 ARCA Racing Series championship, the 2016 and 2020 NASCAR Truck Series championships and the 2019 and 2020 ARCA East championships, accumulating over 65 wins across six national racing circuits.
To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow LEGACY MOTOR CLUB on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and at www.LEGACYMOTORCLUB.com.
Driver of Porter Pipe & Supply Toyota GR Supra a Top-Five Mainstay in Inaugural The Loop 121 Before Carburetor Issues Derail Strong Run
Date: Sunday, July 2 Event: Inaugural The Loop 121 Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series Location: Chicago Street Course (temporary 2.2-mile, 12-turn street circuit) Format: 55 laps, broken into three stages (15 laps/15 laps/25 laps) Start/Finish: 4th / 35th (Running, completed 25 of 25 laps) Race Winner: Cole Custer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford) Note: Race was shortened 30 laps shy of its scheduled 55-lap distance due to weather.
Overview:
Connor Mosack showed speed throughout the inaugural The Loop 121 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the 2.2-mile, 12-turn Chicago Street Course, qualifying a career-best fourth and running among the top-five for the majority of the race. An issue with the carburetor on his No. 19 Porter Pipe & Supply Toyota GR Supra, however, derailed Mosack’s strong run. The problem first developed on lap 21 when Mosack felt a loss of power, specifically in third and fourth gear. When the caution came out for a nearby lightning strike on lap 25, Mosack ducked into the pits for his crew to lift the hood and diagnose the problem. He returned to the track in 35th and shortly thereafter, the race was postponed for rain. But with a plan to replace the carburetor on the Porter Pipe & Supply Toyota and seemingly plenty of laps still remaining, Mosack eyed opportunity to work his way back toward the front when racing resumed. It never happened. Persistent rain forced NASCAR to call the race official after 25 laps, denying Mosack a chance to return to the top-five and saddling him with a 35th-place finish.
Connor Mosack driver of the No. 19 Porter Pipe & Supply Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing:
“I feel like we were a solid, top-five car. Even kind of riding around a little bit, I feel like we had some pace in the bank all weekend that we were saving for when we needed it. So we took it pretty easy in practice, and then used a little bit of it for qualifying – left a little bit out there, for sure, but we were pretty happy with where we started. The goal was to always stay in the top-five, at least for the first half or three-quarters of the race and just keep the thing in one piece and be there at the end. That was our goal, but we didn’t get that opportunity. We had a carburetor issue about lap 21 or 22 and started falling back quickly. Thankfully, we got a caution. We came down pit road to take a look at it and, obviously, we went to the back of the field before they called it yesterday for lightning. The plan for today was to get the carburetor changed and then we’d have 30 laps to make our way back to the front. But with them calling the race, we didn’t get that opportunity and it was really disappointing. I especially hate it for our partner, Porter Pipe & Supply. They brought a lot of people here and they were really excited to see the race and see the car. We know we’ve got the pace. There are things from the first half of the race that we certainly can learn from and apply to Road America. So it wasn’t a complete waste of a weekend, by any means, but we would’ve liked to have had a better result.”
Notes:
● This was Mosack’s 11th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start and his ninth of the season. It was his first start of 2023 with Joe Gibbs Racing.
● Mosack’s fourth-place qualifying effort was the best of his Xfinity Series career. He toured the 2.2-mile, 12-turn street course in 91.018 seconds at 87.016 mph.
● Mosack was the 10th-fastest driver in the lone practice session prior to The Loop 121. Mosack’s best lap in the session was 93.113 seconds at 85.058 mph.
● The Loop 121 marked the NASCAR debut for Porter Pipe & Supply. Based in Addison, Illinois, Porter Pipe & Supply is a third-generation, family-owned and operated wholesale supplier of commercial and industrial pipe, valves, fittings, plumbing supplies, HVAC and refrigeration equipment and mechanical products.
Next Up:
Mosack returns to the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli July 7-9, competing in the Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers TA2 Series event at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. A pair of TA2 test sessions on Friday kicks off the weekend around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit. TA2 practice takes place Saturday morning with qualifying set for later that afternoon. The 25-lap, 75-minute TA2 race is set for 12:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live streaming provided by the Trans Am Series and SpeedTourTV channels on YouTube, with a delayed re-broadcast on MAVTV set for 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 13. Mosack’s next Xfinity Series race comes with Sam Hunt Racing on Saturday, July 15 via the Ambetter Health 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. That race will be broadcast live at 3 p.m. EDT on USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Date: July 2, 2023 Event: Inaugural Grant Park 220 (Round 18 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Chicago Street Course (temporary 2.2-mile, 12-turn street circuit) Format: 100 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/25 laps/55 laps) Note: Race was shortened 22 laps shy of its scheduled 100-lap distance due to darkness. Race Winner: Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 2 Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
● Kevin Harvick (Started 35th, Finished 29th / Running, completed 78 of 78 laps)
SHR Points:
● Kevin Harvick (7th with 523 points, 68 out of first)
● Ryan Preece (25th with 312 points, 279 out of first)
● Aric Almirola (27th with 297 points, 294 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (31st with 207 points, 384 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Almirola earned his best result since finishing sixth April 16 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
● This was Preece’s sixth straight finish of 17th or better.
● Briscoe finished 10th in Stage 2 to earn a bonus point.
Race Notes:
● In his first career NASCAR Cup Series start, Shane van Gisbergen won the inaugural Grant Park 220, becoming the first driver in 60 years to win in his Cup Series debut. The New Zealander and three-time Supercars champion beat second-place Justin Haley by 1.259 seconds. The last time a Cup Series driver won in his first career start was Johnny Rutherford at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in 1963.
● Van Gisbergen was the 12th different winner in the 18 NASCAR Cup Series races run this season.
● There were nine caution periods for a total of 21 laps.
● All but three of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Martin Truex Jr., remains the championship leader after Chicago with a nine-point advantage over second-place William Byron.
Sound Bites:
“What an awesome event. It’s almost dark out and the city’s lit up. Amazing event. My hat is off to NASCAR, the city of Chicago, everybody who thought about putting on this event. What an amazing event. I’m glad to have a good run, too – the start of the turnaround of our season, hopefully. It was pretty dicey there in the wet. I’m not going to lie. I was tip-toeing around just trying to not crash, trying to survive, and I’m so glad that it finally dried out and we got slicks on and got those rain tires off. I was way more competitive in those conditions. Just super proud of Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) and everybody on this Smithfield Ford Mustang team. We’re grinding. We’re fighting and, hopefully, this is the turn we need to go get us a win here in the next few races.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang
“Truthfully, for a street course, I think it raced better than I thought it would. There are definitely parts that can be improved, like widening the track, but all things considered, it surprised me compared to what I thought it was going to be. I thought there were a ton of fans here, and I thought the event was cool. I would’ve loved for the weather to cooperate so we could’ve seen what this event could’ve really turned into, because there were still so many people out there for how bad the weather was. Hopefully, we can do it again, do a couple things better, and put on an even better race.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Atlanta 400 on Sunday, July 9 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The race begins at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 | Sunday, July 2, 2023
Ford Finishing Results:
6th – Austin Cindric
7th – Michael McDowell
8th – Joey Logano
10th – Chris Buescher
12th – Aric Almirola
15th – Ryan Preece
19th – Todd Gilliland
20th – Chase Briscoe
21st – Jenson Button
24th – Brad Keselowski
26th – Andy Lally
29th – Kevin Harvick
30th – Harrison Burton
33rd – Ryan Blaney
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – CONSIDERING WHERE YOU STARTED THE DAY, IT SEEMED TO WORK OUT. “The entire 2 team started the day with very wet shoes and socks. I know everyone was kind of in that same boat, but these guys have been working their tails off since I hit the same wall twice yesterday. I’m just really proud of the team, not just the effort. I mean, Jeremy made a great strategy call and had great forethought with what was gonna happen with the weather and the timing and everything. We kept it off the wall and was able to have some speed at the end of the race to really contend inside of the top 10 and really earn a good finish. I’m just proud of everybody on this Discount Tire Ford Mustang. It’s not what I want. I want to win, but we’ve had a really tough stretch and this is a good step in the right direction.”
WHAT ABOUT HOW THIS EVENT PLAYED OUT AND THE ADVERSITY EVERYONE HAD TO OVERCOME? “I really hope we come back. The city of Chicago, everything that NASCAR has done to do this for the first time, I give it an A-plus by both parties. I think we all really enjoyed it and I think that we know it would have been bigger without the weather and with the concerts. I was watching the whole race and people started coming back. By the end of the race, we had people lining fences on both sides every corner, so it’s cool to see. We have a lot of momentum in the sport, but I hope we come back.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Chicago Pneumatic Compressors – WHAT WERE YOUR OVERALL IMPRESSIONS OF RACING THIS TYPE OF COURSE? “Yeah, it was a wild race – starting in a decent amount of rain and then drying out. Even when it was dry though, there were wet spots which is pretty crazy. Unfortunately, with the race being shortened, our strategy wasn’t for that, right? So, we ended up restarting like 18th there. Happy to pass a lot of cars to get back there, but we just didn’t quite have enough to get to the front.”
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE RACES LIKE THIS ON THE SCHEDULE? “Yeah, I like it. I think that the weekend was such a great opportunity to put on a really good show, and hopefully we did. You know, I hate it for all the fans – missing all the concerts and all the extra activities. But, glad we got the race in. We all fought hard there.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang – WHAT WERE YOUR OVERALL IMPRESSIONS OF THE WEEKEND? “It was hard to race. I mean, there were some passes made. It’s not probably any harder than any other track that we go to. Overall, I’d say this was a success. I’d say more cautions than normal on a road course because of the walls, but hey, we got it in today. That was good.”
DO YOU THINK MOST DRIVERS WHO HADN’T EXPERIENCED THIS STYLE OF RACING CAME TO GRIPS QUICKLY TO IT? “Somewhat. It took longer than normal. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do.”
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE RACES LIKE THIS ON THE SCHEDULE? “It’s not up to me. I thought as far as an event, for NASCAR, I think it was a total success from that standpoint. I think the racing was probably pretty decent, too. I don’t even get to see a part of the race – I was inside the car. It was probably a better race than I think.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang – “What an awesome event. It’s almost dark out and the city’s lit up. Amazing event. My hat is off to NASCAR, the city of Chicago, everybody who thought about putting on this event. What an amazing event. I’m glad to have a good run, too – the start of the turnaround of our season, hopefully. It was pretty dicey there in the wet. I’m not going to lie. I was tiptoeing around just trying to not crash, trying to survive, and I’m so glad that it finally dried out and we got slicks on and got those rain tires off. I was way more competitive in those conditions. Just super proud of Drew and everybody on this Smithfield Ford Mustang team. We’re grinding. We’re fighting and hopefully this is the turn we need to go get us a win here in the next few races.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang – THAT WAS A WILD RACE. TAKE US THROUGH YOUR DAY. “It was pretty smooth for us in our Fastenal Mustang. I’m proud. We made some good changes after practice and had a fast race car there. We strategized to go to 100 laps and that call kind of mid-strategy really got us. I felt like then just trying to figure out all the cars getting spots back. I don’t understand. It felt like a lot of things didn’t make sense to me today, but the course was pretty decent. At the end of the day it was pretty decent. It put on some decent racing at certain times and in different spots. I think we had a better car than where we finished, I know we did, but we just got caught up in the way the race played out. I can’t believe we raced today, either. Congratulations to van Gisbergen. That’s pretty impressive to come to your first race and run that well and win the thing. He was really good yesterday, so that’s pretty impressive. Congrats to them. I’m proud of our team. That’s another top 10, but that should have been a better day and I don’t feel like we got any way to show it.”
YOU’VE HAD SPEED ALL YEAR. DOES THIS GIVE YOU MOMENTUM? “It certainly does. Our whole team has come so far in the last 18 months. We had some mulligans early last season and we’ve been rolling really well since. We’ve had a really strong year with lots of really good races for us. We’re working on the points part of it and working on working our way into the playoffs that way, but really just want to get a win. We’re in the hunt. We need a little bit more to be consistently hunting for that win, but these top 10s are stacking up and I’m really proud of our group for that and all the work that continues to go into it. I want a checkered flag.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang – WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE RACING TODAY ON THIS STYLE OF COURSE? “Truthfully, for a street course, I think it raced better than I thought it would. There are definitely parts that can be improved like widening the track and other certain things. But, all things considered, it surprised me compared to what I thought it was going to be. I thought there were a ton of fans here, and I thought the event was cool. I would have loved for the weather to cooperate, so we could have seen what this event could’ve really turned into. Because, there were still so many people out there for how bad the weather was. Hopefully, we can do it again, do a couple things better, and put on an even better race.”
DO YOU LIKE THE LEVEL OF VARIABILITY NASCAR HAS INCORPORATED INTO ITS SCHEDULE? “Yeah, I think so. We’re definitely the most diverse series there is with the amount of different things we run on. I do think that it opens up the playing field for guys to come in, and you don’t see the same guy winning week-in and week-out because it is so different week-in and week-out. I don’t know if we need more than one or two of them, but it was encouraging and really cool.”
JENSON BUTTON, No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP THIS RACE? “I was enjoying it until I got turned around on the way into the pits. It was a real shame. I think we pitted at the right time. We went from wets to dries. It was a tricky choice. I couldn’t see out of the wind screen it was so dirty, but I think it was the right choice. When we got turned around we lost 15 place plus, so that made it very difficult, but it was fun out there. I had some good fights. I got overtaken by some, but I overtook a lot more, so it was enjoyable. There’s definitely a bit of work for us all to do to challenge the Toyotas especially.”
THE NEXT ONE IS THE INDY ROAD COURSE FOR YOU. THOUGHTS? “I feel that this one was more positive because it’s like a shorter track. I think it’s gonna be tricky in Indianapolis. I’m a little bit worried, but I’ll look forward to it and do the best that I can.”
GIBBS LEADS TOYOTA WITH NINTH-PLACE FINISH AT CHICAGO STREET RACE Ties Career-Best Finish in Historic Street Race
CHICAGO (July 2, 2023) – Ty Gibbs led Toyota with a ninth-place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Chicago Street Course that was shortened to 75 laps due to darkness. Gibbs tied his career-best series finish with the ninth-place result on Sunday. Denny Hamlin won the pole for the first-ever NASCAR street race and joined Gibbs in the top-15 for Toyota. Christopher Bell led a race-high 37 laps (of 78) and went on to finish 18th.
Toyota Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Chicago Street Race Race 18 of 36 – 220 miles, 100 laps (race shortened to 75 laps due to darkness)
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Shane Van Gisbergen*
2nd, Justin Haley*
3rd, Chase Elliott*
4th, Kyle Larson*
5th, Kyle Busch*
9th, TY GIBBS
11th, DENNY HAMLIN
18th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
28th, TYLER REDDICK
31st, BUBBA WALLACE
32nd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TY GIBBS, No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
What was your experience like in the Chicago Street Race today?
“It was really good. I felt like we had a really fast Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry. I think we had a really good points day. We got in the fence there a little bit from the 22 (Joey Logano) and hurt the right rear a lot so I couldn’t really make a charge back up front. I feel like we could maybe have had a top-five day. It was good to finish ninth, so we’ll just keep going.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Yahoo Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 11th
How was your race today?
“We had a really fast car. We were extremely fast, and we’ve made such huge strides on road courses, that was a lot of fun. I wish I didn’t give up the track position early in the wet. Once we got dry this thing was just so fast. Then, we got flipped (in the running order) because they changed the end of the race. There were 15 cars there that unfortunately ended up with a better strategy that was unplanned. I’m pretty happy with our Yahoo Camry and I’m looking forward to going to the Indy road course now.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 22 electrified options.
Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
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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 Tom Copeland/HHP for Chevy Racing)
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Kyle Busch: Like many drivers, Busch slammed into the Turn 6 tire barrier and had to be helped out by a tow truck to continue. Busch recovered and charged to a finish of fifth, posting his sixth top-five of the year.
“Luckily,” Busch said, “I know exactly what to do in a situation like that. I can’t tell you how many times, one instance very recent, in which I’ve needed to be pulled out of a serious jam.”
2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started on the pole at Chicago and survived an early spin to come home 11th in the Grant Park 220.
“It was tricky driving on a wet track,” Hamlin said. “You could say I ‘lost it,’ which is pretty much what I do in every episode of my podcast, ‘Actions Detrimental.’ Considering my spin, this week’s podcast will be subtitled ‘Traction’s Instrumental.'”
3. William Byron: Byron hit the tire barrier in Turn 11 on Lap 50 and caused a chain reaction, which blocked half the track, causing a massive logjam as cars tried to find a way through. Byron lost track position and ultimately finished 13th.
“I felt helpless,” Byron said. “Heck, all I could do was ‘sit there and watch,’ which made me remember that I’m happy to have Liberty University as a sponsor.”
4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex ran in the top five for the majority of the Grant Park 220, but his day was ruined when he spun exiting Turn 5 and fell to 35th. His day ended for good on Lap 67, when he slid deep into a tire barrier. He finished 32nd.
“I think NASCAR needs to add more street circuits,” Truex said. “I think it’s cool to drive a track and be able to look up and see skyscrapers, which is also the only vantage point in which fans can actually see the action.”
5. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 22nd at Chicago.
“I really wasn’t a factor at all in this race,” Chastain said. “When I am a factor in a race, I’m usually the winner or the reason someone doesn’t win.”
6. Christopher Bell: Bell won Stage 1 and 2 at Chicago and finished 18th after a lot of late-race drama.
“I just had a lot of bad luck,” Bell said. “First, I lost all my track position when William Byron caused a pileup on Lap 49, then I hit the tire barrier in Turn 1 in my haste to make up ground. It just goes to show that on a street circuit, anything can happen, including a driver winning in his very first Cup start, beating pretty much every full-time Cup driver. His name is Shane Van Ginsbergen. He just put New Zealand on the map. Most NASCAR fans couldn’t find New Zealand on a map.”
7. Kyle Larson: Larson started charging in Stage 2 and finished fourth in the Grant Park 220.
“Saturday’s Xfinity race was postponed halfway through due to inclement weather,” Larson said. “What’s worse, the Chainsmokers concert was totally canceled. Many fans remember the good old days of NASCAR, like in the 1970s, when if you mentioned the ‘chainsmokers,’ you were referring to every single NASCAR driver.”
8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 29th at Chicago.
“I’ve just got one suggestion,” Harvick said. “If you’re holding a race called the Grant Park 220 on a street circuit, why not just call in the ‘Grant Prix?'”
9. Joey Logano: Logano survived a trip into the Turn 6 tire barrier on Lap 22, and continued with little to no damage. He methodically made his way to the front and finished eighth.
“That Turn 6 tire barrier really had a busy day,” Logano said. “I think nearly every driver made contact with it. That tire barrier has subsequently been renamed ‘Ross Chastain.'”
10. Ryan Blaney: Blaney tagged the Turn 6 wall hard on Lap 18, the damage of which severely compromised his car. He finished 33rd.
“This city is known for its Chicago-style hot dog,” Blaney said. “It’s a little different from the Martinsville hot dog, in that it’s not lethal.”
Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 91 Enhance Health Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, celebrates his victory Sunday, July 2, 2023, after winning 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 Harold Hinson/HHP for Chevy Racing).
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.
