EVENT: Grant Park 165
DATE: July 6, 2025
RACE: NASCAR Cup Series 19 of 36
TRACK: Chicago Street Course | 2.2-mile, 12-turn street course

CLUB MINUTES:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE KING: On Wednesday, July 2, Richard Petty, “The King” will celebrate his 88th birthday.

FIRECRACKER 200th WIN: On July 4, 1984, Richard Petty achieved his 200th and final Cup Series victory at the Firecracker 400 in Daytona, a race President Ronald Reagan attended. Petty edged out Cale Yarborough by a narrow margin as the caution flag came out, securing his milestone win for the ages.

TNT IN SEASON BRACKET: Round One of TNT’s in-season tournament bracket has come and gone with both LEGACY MC drivers advancing to the next round after surviving the mayhem that was Atlanta. Erik Jones, the 20th seed, bested Ross Chastain last weekend. He’ll face the No. 47 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. whom Jones passed for a top-five finish at the start-finish line coming to the checkered flag in Saturday’s race at Atlanta. Nemechek, the 12th seed, beat his opponent Josh Berry in the first round on Saturday as well. He’ll go head-to-head against the No. 9 of Chase Elliott this Sunday.

RACING IN THE WINDY CITY: The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the iconic city of Chicago for its third annual Chicago Street Race. The series debuted its first ever street course in 2023 in a rainy battle that ended up with Shane Van Gisbergen as the ultimate winner. They returned the following year to experience more rain, some epic racing, and a finish that left Alex Bowman victorious. The 2.2-mile, 12-turn road course along Lake Michigan now enters its third year with teams full of notebooks and strategies to try after two years of experience.

PLAYOFF PICTURE WITH EIGHT TO GO: The NASCAR Playoffs kick off on Aug. 31 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. With only eight races until the regular season finale Aug. 23 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek are battling for spots in the 12-driver post-season field. Jones is currently 18th in the playoff points standings, 59 points below the cutline. Nemechek is 92 points below the cutline in. Both still have a chance to race their way in via points if they can collect a series of good finishes and ample stage points, but a win in any of the next eight races would eliminate playing the points game.

NEVER SETTLE: Join ESPN’s Marty Smith and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s co-owner Johnson for their weekly podcast, “Never Settle”. The podcast airs live on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 at 2 p.m. ET every Wednesday and can be downloaded wherever fans source their podcasts. This week’s guest is PGA Tour Golfer Keith Mitchell.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JHN AT CHICAGO STREET: John Hunter Nemechek has three starts at the Chicago Street course- one in Cup and two in the Xfinity Series. His 2023 outing in the Xfinity Series saw Nemechek with a third place start and a runner-up finish on the brand-new course. Last season he did double duty in both Xfinity in Cup finishing 25th and 35th respectively.

ROAD COURSES THIS YEAR: Mexico City was the first road course of the season for the No. 42 team and Nemechek stepped up to the plate for it. After qualifying deep in the field in 31st, Nemechek, Mack and the pit crew outsmarted the field with strategy and had a strong long run Toyota Camry to place sixth for a career-best Cup Series finish for the young driver.

CHALLENGING CHASE: In this week’s In Season Challenge for TNT, Nemechek is paired with last week’s Atlanta race winner, Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports. Nemechek passed through to the second round after finishing better than Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry in round one.

CHICAGO FIRE FC: On Wednesday afternoon, Nemechek will visit the facilities of Major League Soccer team Chicago Fire FC where the driver will participate in practice drills and social media collaboration with some of the players. Fans can follow along on social media to see the crossover play out.

TMACK CHICAGO STATS: Crew chief Travis Mack has experience with two road course racers, Daniel Suarez and Shane Van Gisbergen. Van Gisbergen, who had won the inaugural event in 2023, led nine laps before becoming involved in a crash and Suarez finished 27th.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE: 
“I’m looking forward to going back to Chicago. It’s a really cool course running through downtown, and last year we had one of our strongest road course cars there. It might be our last shot here, so we’re ready to make it count.”

TRAVIS MACK QUOTE: 
“Last year John Hunter had a good race at Chicago, and we are going to capitalize on our performance at Mexico City, so I feel really positive about the direction we are pointed in. We had a ton of speed last week at Atlanta, just got caught up in some of the action. John Hunter is very confident about Chicago as he has run well there in the past.”

ERIK JONES
NO. 43 ADVENTHEALTH TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
FIFTH AT ATLANTA: Erik Jones earned his second fifth-place finish of the 2025 season last Saturday night in Atlanta. After facing several situations during the race that saw him involved in wrecks and starting at the back of the field multiple times, Jones was able to rebound from every incident to make a dash to the front in the final laps of the race. In the final five laps, he jumped from battling for 11th to securing his fifth-place finish.

JONES CHICAGO STATS: Sunday’s Grant Park 165 will mark Jones’ third NASCAR Cup Series start in the Chicago Street Race. In the inaugural race at the track in July 2023, the driver of the No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE started 21st and finished the rainy event in 16th. He followed that up with a 25th-place qualifying effort last season before finishing 29th. He has completed all the possible laps at Chicago though in its two events. Now after showing some speed on road courses this season, he hopes to continue to see that on the unique road course in the Windy City.

BESHORE AT CHICAGO: Crew chief Ben Beshore has two NASCAR races on top of the box on the Chicago Street Course. The first came in the inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series race in July 2023 with John Hunter Nemechek. He started third for the rain-shortened event and ended up second. The duo ended up returning together the next year in the NASCAR Cup Series where they qualified 12th but finished 35th.

FOURTH OF JULY WITH ADVENTHEALTH: Prior to Sunday’s Grant Park 165, Jones will join AdventHealth to participate in the Hinsdale Fourth of July Parade. Jones will be riding on the float representing AdventHealth during the parade.

200 STARTS WITH TOYOTA: Sunday’s race at Chicago will mark Jones’ 200th NASCAR Cup Series start with Toyota. Jones started his career with Toyota back in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where he won the 2015 Championship for the manufacturer. He moved up to the Xfinity Series in 2016 still under the Toyota banner at Joe Gibbs Racing before moving up to the Cup Series in 2017 with Furniture Row Racing. He spent the first four years of his Cup Series career in a Toyota. Prior to the 2024 season, LEGACY MC announced that it would be joining the Toyota lineup and reunited Jones with a manufacturer he’s seen so much success with over his career.

ERIK JONES QUOTE: 
“Chicago is fun with it being a street course. It’s obviously been unique over the last handful of years from NASCAR, and I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been a different style of racing than anything I’ve done, but it’s been a lot of fun and unique with the rain the last few years. Hopefully, we can have a dry race to see how things play out. I’m proud of this No. 43 team. We’re running really well right now – gaining a ton of points and climbing through the standings. We’re on the verge of pointing our way into the playoffs. Hoping to keep that rolling here to keep gaining some good points and lock ourselves in.”

BEN BESHORE QUOTE:
“Chicago is a track that we approach similar to the rest of the road courses, but it just takes a little bit different of a setup package. Turn 4 there is really bumpy kind of going across traffic there. That’s the main challenge though – a bumpy braking zone and the track’s extremely tight in terms of runoff, so the risk of mistakes is high. You can put yourself in a backup car pretty quick at Chicago. We have to be prepared from a team standpoint that way. Street racing from a strategy standpoint is really that it’s hard to pass because it’s so narrow. You want to keep your guy out of trouble so minimizing time on pit road is big. Honestly, you’ll probably see guys try to pit as few times as possible for fresh tires. More often than not track position will outweigh fresh tires at Chicago.”

CLUB APPEARANCES:
Fans can see Jones on Friday, July 4 for the Hinsdale Fourth of July parade where he’ll be riding the AdventHealth float. The parade kicks off at 10 a.m. local time.

In addition, Jones will be at the Toyota Gazoo Racing display in the Chicago Street Race fan zone on Sunday at 10:20am local time.

TUNE IN:
Fans can tune in to watch the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course on Sunday, July 6 at 2 p.m. EDT on TNT, MAX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: (LEGACY MC) is a premier auto racing organization co-owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Jimmie Johnson and Knighthead Capital Management, LLC. Drawing from a rich tradition of success, LEGACY MC is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of motorsport and setting new standards of excellence. The CLUB competes under the Toyota Gazoo Racing banner in the NASCAR Cup Series with the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE piloted by Erik Jones and the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE driven by John Hunter Nemechek. Johnson also races on a limited basis in the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE. With NASCAR legend and Hall of Famer Richard Petty, “The King”, serving as CLUB Ambassador, LEGACY MC blends timeless racing traditions with a new forward-thinking vision. As an inclusive community for motorsport enthusiasts, LEGACY MC honors both its storied past and the promising future of its members, always striving for victory and championship glory at the pinnacle of NASCAR competition.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Chicago Street Race Media Availability
Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the NASCAR Cup Series, finished seventh in last season’s Chicago Street Race. As the series heads back to the Windy City this weekend, Gilliland spoke about the street course and his hopes for Sunday afternoon.

TODD GILLILAND, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHERE DO YOU STAND IN TERMS OF GOING BACK TO CHICAGO. DO YOU WANT TO SEE A DRY WEEKEND? “First off, I’m excited to go back to Chicago. It’s definitely a really fun place, a fun city to hang out and all that. I’m looking forward to going back there. Myself, I don’t necessarily mind the rain. We’ve ran well there in the past there, but on the flip side of it I’m ready for Chicago to have a weekend go as planned and hope the fans can experience all of that fun stuff behind the scenes. I think the whole experience would be much smoother without rain and I’m hoping that for the fans for sure.”

HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO LOOK BACK ON THE INCIDENT WITH HAMLIN? “Yeah. I’ve watched the replay of that probably 100 times. I really don’t know. I feel like the 11 had the 42 jacked up and the 42 was pushing the guy in front of him. There was literally eight of us in the train. Obviously, looking back now knowing they wrecked, I should have had a bigger gap. That’s on me to look out for those guys, but they were all tight in front of them. I think he got the 42 sideways and that kind of slowed them down a little bit and then I got to their bumper, slowed down, and then I was getting pushed as well. I don’t know. To me, I hate that I was part of it. I definitely contributed to it, but on the flip side of it, it definitely seemed like maybe more of a racing deal.”

HOW DOES THAT RACE CARRY OVER TO THIS WEEKEND? “I don’t necessarily think much carries over, except the racing was great and that’s something we can expect both weekends. I’m excited about it. I think what Atlanta has turned into has been really, really fun. I’ve enjoyed it the whole time. It’s definitely aging more. The gap between cars is getting bigger. Handling is gonna start to matter more. I’m excited about that and then going to Chicago is another big weekend for NASCAR as a whole.”

WILL THIS BE AN AGGRESSIVE RACE IN CHICAGO? “I think Chicago is probably the biggest risk vs. reward racetrack that we go to because being aggressive doesn’t really pay off there. Whether it’s getting as close as you can to the apexes, which are all walls, using up all the exit room, but on the flip side of it the risk of it is massive because you’re not gonna run off and get stuck in gravel or hit a curb. You’re gonna hit a wall or a tire barrier, so it’s definitely about managing all that stuff. There’s a time and a place to put it all on the line, but you have to finish the race. The toe links and suspension and all that stuff has to be intact, so that’s the main goal and definitely balancing aggression is big.”

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO IMPROVE YOUR ROAD RACING SKILL SET? “For me, I don’t know. I think it’s just been more so race experience. I never grew up go-karting or anything like that. I’ve always ran ovals my whole life. I remember my first road course race in the K&N Series not too long ago, but on the other side of it, since I’ve been in the Cup Series I’ve had a couple of go-karts and been out to the go-kart track a little bit. At the same time, it’s not necessarily the same. I’ve run a ton of laps on the simulator. I think that is probably the biggest thing that I focused on. I feel like just about every driver at the Cup Series level, after three laps at a road course, you’re gonna be fairly close and in the ballpark. For me, just one thing I’ve tried to focus on and be as good as I can at is that first lap. Having a good idea of brake markers, running so many laps on the sim that you know the course like the back of your hand. Stuff like that. The field evens out very, very quickly, but that’s what I’ve been working on myself is hitting the track and being at my best right away.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY EXTRA FILM STUDY YOU DO GOING BACK TO CHICAGO FOR THE THIRD TIME? “To me, line-wise Chicago is pretty self explanatory because it’s a lot of 90-degree corners. You want to be as far out on entry, you get to the apex as late as you can and then get a straight shot down the next straightaway to most likely another 90-degree corner. Like I said, line-wise it’s not that hard, but a different technique and stuff that we see at a street course with the roughness, the braking and the apex. Like I said, how you angle into them and all that stuff. We’re looking at all of it, for sure.”

THIS IS THE LAST YEAR OF THE DEAL TO RACE IN CHICAGO. THERE HAS BEEN TALK OF OTHER CITIES, BUT WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE NASCAR TAKE A STREET RACE TO? “That’s a tough one. All of the talks are interesting. I think it’s fun to go to different places. I don’t think we could even get close to L.A. with the traffic that we had when we went to the Coliseum. We had to close down a lot of streets for that. I think New York City would be sick. Obviously, you have the views and the feel of that city is obviously massive, so that would be my pick.”

HOW HAS IT BEEN AS THE MOST EXPERIENCED DRIVER AT FRONT ROW THIS YEAR? “Yeah, I think there’s always constant evolution of us as people and our roles. It’s definitely switched a lot with Michael leaving. He was here for a long time and built a lot of great relationships. For me, it’s about getting relationships deeper with the guys here and them trusting me, me trusting them. Just going above and beyond in a lot of different ways. That’s what Michael did for a long time and that definitely helped him out. I definitely trust my teammates a lot. I think Noah and Zane are great. It’s a different atmosphere here, I would say, than year’s past, just a younger feel of energy of everyone, but I definitely think we’ve all been good leaders this year. Being here the longest, it’s definitely been a fun role.”

SONOMA FOLLOWS CHICAGO, WHERE YOU ALSO HAD A TOP 10 LAST YEAR. WHERE WOULD YOU RATE YOUR ROAD COURSE SKILLS VERSUS OTHER STYLES OF TRACKS AND DO YOU CONSIDER ROAD COURSES YOUR BEST CHANCE AT A WIN? “I think to kind of balance or rank where I feel like we could go out and, at this point of the year, and get a win, I feel like Atlanta would have been a strong one for us. Superspeedways are the highest. Maybe short tracks as number two. Road courses and then probably intermediates, so I definitely feel strong anywhere. I thought we looked really, really strong in practice at Mexico City. We had a strong qualifying effort there, but just didn’t race really well. I think we have really good speed, but I think that’s what separates average guys on road courses to really good guys is having that speed right away, which I feel like I have now. But making it last over the course of a run and being smart with your tires and all that stuff. I still think we have a little bit of room to go to have race-winning speed at a road course, but I definitely think we’re getting closer, especially with our results last year. It definitely seems like we’re pretty close.”

DOVER IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY IS DIFFERENT FROM WHERE IT’S BEEN IN THE PAST. HOW DO YOU THINK A RACE AT THAT TIME OF THE YEAR WILL LOOK? “I don’t think I’ve ever finished a Cup race better than probably 35th at Dover, to be honest with you. I’ve wrecked a lot there, so I’m hoping the track is completely different and it doesn’t even feel like the same place I’ve been at. That’s the goal, hopefully. Like you said, the temperature will definitely make a big difference. Dover is extremely fast. It’s not necessarily rough, but just all the seams in the concrete make it feel kind of rougher, so it’s a fun area. It’s usually earlier in the year and we generally struggle a little bit with the rain here and there, but hopefully it’s beautiful weather and the track widens out a little bit with warmer temperatures.”

IS THIS WEEKEND IN ESSENCE A GAME OF CHICKEN AS OPPOSED TO OTHER TRACKS AS FAR AS GETTING UNDERNEATH PEOPLE AND MAYBE MOVING THEM UP? “I think a little bit of it is that’s the way it is in this series, but I just think it’s the results of your actions. Here, you’re not gonna get away with it. If you go in there side-by-side, even if you’re the guy trying to make a pass and you make a mistake going into a 90-degree corner, if you lock up the inside tire, you could easily stuff yourself and the guy you’re trying to pass in the tire barrier. You just really, really have to balance it – risk versus reward. It’s definitely a tougher place to pass. There are obviously a lot of really good braking zones, but it’s almost like playing a game of chicken with yourself. I feel like as a driver you have a good idea of where the grip is at and the balance and what you’re able to do, whether it’s braking or taking the corner or whatever, but you definitely have to push yourself right to that limit, if not past, to make a pass. It’s definitely not the most comfortable, but it’s risk versus reward to the max at Chicago.”

YOU WILL BE PITTING THE OPPOSITE WAY THIS WEEKEND. WHAT IS THAT LIKE? “I would say, in general, the biggest issue people see is guys turning into the pit boxes too early because also at a lot of these places the pit boxes aren’t real big. I don’t know if it’s a NASCAR thing. When they’re on the left side, they’re more normal for our size of cars, where like at COTA the pit boxes are very small and then Chicago, I don’t remember them to be very big, so you turn in and kind of clip that fourth box. That’s a penalty, whether in or out. Another random thing about the right side pit road is usually they give me a water bottle, tear off, every pit stop because my window is right there and they can give me a water bottle while they’re changing the right side tires, come around and then the guy is out of the way, whereas at Chicago my interior guy would have to run all the way around the car and kind of be in the way and it just wouldn’t work out, so I have to do a little bit different setup on the water bottle and all that stuff. Then at Chicago specifically it’s pretty tight around that last corner to actually get into pit road, so you just have to be smart about making sure that if you’re gonna pit, you get to pit road and then also the pit road light was a little tough to see last year, so all of those things. It’s easy to make mistakes. You have to be on top of your game.”

WHAT DO YOU DO TO GET A WATER BOTTLE THEN? “I just have to pack all of my water, like a big water bottle. I think some guys do this week to week, but almost like a camelback type of water bottle system with just a long hose. For me, I just like it really cold with ice and water, so I’m kind of out of luck on that by the end of the race, but you just pack as much ice in there and as much water as you can and you’re stuck with just that.”

WHAT ABOUT YOUR FLAME PICKLE CAR YOU JUST REVEALED WHERE YOU’RE BURNING PICKLES WITH A BUTANE TORCH? “I haven’t even seen that, to be honest (the video). I’ve seen it at the shop and know what it looks like, but it’s a big weekend for Grillo’s. It’s fun to have them on the car and away from our normal paint scheme. The fire car and big display of a bunch of stuff in Chicago, so it’ll be a big weekend for them and I’m excited to have them on.”

• In five NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Chicago Street Course, Spire Motorsports has logged one top-15 and two top-20 finishes. Corey LaJoie earned a team-best 14th-place finish in the inaugural Grant Park 165 in July 2023. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet ZL1s in the Cup Series for Justin Haley, Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar, respectively.
• The Grant Park 165 will be televised live on TNT and streamed on MAX, Sunday, July 6 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 19th of 36 points-paying races on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series calendar will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Justin Haley – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

• Justin Haley will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165.
• Haley has recorded two Cup Series starts at the Chicago Street Course, highlighted by a second-place finish in the inaugural 2023 event where he started 37th and led 23 laps. Over those two starts, the 26-year-old Cup Series regular has logged a 9.0 average finish, posting one top-five and two top-20 finishes.
• Chicago marks the third-of-six road course events of the 2025 season. He finished 16th and 17th, respectively, in the series’ stops at Circuit of the Americas and Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
• Last week in Atlanta, Haley started 22nd, led three laps and raced with the leaders for much of the night, but ultimately came home 23rd after being collected in a late-race incident.
• Haley is one of just 41 drivers to have won races in all three of NASCAR’s National Touring Series. The driver of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevy has collected one win in the NASCAR Cup Series, four in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and three in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
• The Indiana native is a veteran of 162 Cup Series starts and has earned one top-10, completed 4,513 of 4,571 laps (95 percent) and recorded a 22.3 average finish in 2025. Over the course of his career, Haley has notched one win, five top fives, 16 top 10s and led 106 laps in NASCAR’s premier division.
• In total, Haley has made 61 Cup Series starts for Spire Motorsports, including his first start in NASCAR’s premier division at Talladega Superspeedway on his 20th birthday.

Justin Haley Quote
What are your thoughts heading to Chicago?
“Chicago is one of my favorite races of the year. The atmosphere and crowd are incredible, so it’s always a special weekend. I’ve been looking forward to the Chicago Street Race all season. Our cars were fast at both road races this season, so I’m eager to see how we’ll do on the street course.”

Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Ryan Sparks

Ryan Sparks serves in a dual role as both Spire Motorsports Competition Director and crew chief for driver Justin Haley. He was first paired with Haley at Bristol Motor Speedway in September 2024.
The Winston Salem, N.C., native has called 184 NASCAR Cup Series races where he’s earned three top-five and nine top-10 finishes.
In total, Sparks has called two Chicago Street races, both with driver Corey LaJoie and calls a 2023 14th-place finish a venue best.

Michael McDowell – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

• Michael McDowell will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 DePaul Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series’ Grant Park 165 through the streets of The Windy City.
• The Glendale, Ariz., native owns two starts at the 12-turn, 2.2-mile street course, earning one top-five and two top-10 finishes in NASCAR Cup Series competition. He qualified third and registered a venue-best fifth-place finish in last year’s contest.
• The 2021 Daytona 500 champion will have a familiar voice on the spotter stand this week where McDowell’s cousin, Jason Noll, will assist primary spotter Michael Fisher during the Cup Series’ third visit to Grant Park.
• Across his two attempts at the Chicago Street Course, the father-of-five has an average start of 4.5, a sixth-place average finish and has yet to finish outside the top seven.
• McDowell survived what seemed to be a full-field wreck in last weekend’s race in Atlanta, and after considerable work to repair damage to the rear suspension of the Delaware Life Chevy, McDowell and Co., rallied to earn a hard-fought 18th-place result.
• The two-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner owns an 18.0 average start and a 20.7 average finish at road courses over 18 seasons, a career-best at track configuration.
• McDowell collected the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Road America, where he led 24 of 48 laps on an overcast Saturday afternoon, making the trip to Victory Lane in his lone start behind the wheel of Richard Childress Racing’s No. 2 Chevrolet.
• DePaul University will serve as the primary sponsor for this weekend’s 75-lap contest. An educational fixture of Chicago, DePaul University is the largest Catholic university in the United States offering over 22,000 students a place to study 130 undergraduate and 170 graduate programs.
• As part of Spire Motorsports’ partnership with DePaul University, Chicago Street Race promoters have provided DePaul students a 20-percent discount on select race tickets.
• In collaboration with the NASCAR Chicago Street Race, DePaul’s School of Hospitality and Sports Business introduced a special topics course, HSB 198: A NASCAR Experience. As part of the curriculum, students will play an integral role in designing and executing the newly created College Tailgate at Turn 7—a fan engagement event tailored to college students during the race. Further anchoring this collaboration in the local community, the longstanding NASCAR internship program will continue to empower DePaul students and alumni, offering them leadership roles and on-the-ground experience during one of Chicago’s most prominent sporting events.
• DePaul University provides exceptional academics and real-world experiences to prepare students for a changing world. With more than 21,000 students across more than 300 academic programs, DePaul has two campus locations in Chicago. Students richly benefit from the city’s many opportunities. In turn, DePaul is one of the forces that shapes Chicago’s future. The university was founded in 1898 by the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians), a Roman Catholic religious community dedicated to following the ideals of St. Vincent de Paul. DePaul is among the nation’s top universities for diversity because of its long tradition of providing a high-quality education to students from a broad range of backgrounds. DePaul is one of the largest private, nonprofit universities in the Midwest and one of the largest Catholic universities in the nation. Visit DePaul.edu to learn more.
• DePaul’s 15 intercollegiate athletic teams compete in the NCAA Division I, BIG EAST Conference. DePaul University began sponsoring athletics teams in the early 1900’s, with intercollegiate athletics coming to fruition in the 1920’s. Legendary coach Ray Meyer helped put DePaul on the map in the 1970’s as the men’s basketball program helped elevate the university to national prominence. Through a bold new vision for the future, DePaul Athletics looks to become the premier program in the BIG EAST Conference through a focus on winning championships with integrity, building champion students through education and intentional development, and serving as a visible ambassador for DePaul University and the Chicago community. DePaul Athletics has a storied tradition and is uniquely positioned to support the university’s mission and commitment to academic excellence, real world experience, community engagement, and systemic change. Further, the department is steadfast in its commitment to grow the university’s national exposure and enrollment through athletics. Visit DePaulBlueDemons.com to learn more.
• The No. 71 team earned a $100,000 payday and a trip to Victory Lane after winning the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge during NASCAR’s All-Star Weekend at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. The crew’s blazing 12.587-second stop topped all entries for both the NASCAR All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race, earning the title of the fastest team on pit road.
• McDowell has claimed three Xfinity Fastest Lap awards this season, clocking the fastest lap in the Daytona 500, Phoenix Raceway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
• McDowell secured Spire Motorsports’ first Busch Light Pole Award at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. His 28.833-second lap marks the fastest lap in NASCAR’s seventh-generation Cup Series car (2022-present) at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval.

Michael McDowell Quote
What are your thoughts heading back to a track where you have back-to-back top-10’s and how do you feel about NASCAR’s attempt at street racing?
“I am looking forward to Chicago, it is a fun track and hopefully we can get a smooth weekend with no rain. It is a place we have finished in the top five and top 10 a couple of times, and I feel confident going there. Our road course program is getting better each race and I really feel like we are building on something. We still have things to learn, but I feel like going into Chicago and Sonoma back-to-back gives us a couple of good opportunities to win, and get into the playoffs.”

Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Travis Peterson

Crew chief Travis Peterson heads to Chicago having called 12 NASCAR Cup Series races on road courses. Peterson called McDowell’s win in the 2023 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 34-year-old Cup Series topkick has earned a 14.7 average finish at road courses, his best average finish at any track type with a minimum of 10 attempts.
Peterson has called 95 races in NASCAR’s premier series, securing one win, five top fives, 19 top 10s and seven pole awards.

Carson Hocevar – Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

Carson Hocevar is back behind the wheel of the No. 77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet ZL1 for Spire Motorsports as the NASCAR Cup Series takes to the streets of Chicago for the Grant Park 165. Sunday’s race will mark the third event held at the 12-turn, 2.2-mile street course that will see drivers race down Michigan Avenue, past the Buckingham Memorial Fountain and through Grant Park.
Hocevar started 13th in last year’s event Grant Park 165, his first start in the Chicago Street Race, and finished 24th.
In two road course starts this season, Hocevar has a best finish of 13th earned at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Hocevar owns a total of seven Cup Series starts on road courses highlighted by a third-place effort in last year’s Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

Carson Hocevar Quote
How does a street course differ from the traditional road courses the Cup Series typically visits?
”The biggest difference, which is also the most obvious, is we’re racing on a surface that sees high traffic on a daily basis compared to a purpose-built track that holds events a few times a year. The City of Chicago and NASCAR do a great job making sure the course is prepared for us and we’ve seen improvement each year the series has gone back to Chicago. Because we’re racing on streets that are built for people to navigate through a city, the corners are usually a bit more narrow and that’s where we’ve seen a lot of incidents in the past. You run out of room quickly when everyone is fighting for the preferred line. Weather has been a factor the last two years so I guess we’ll see what comes of that, but that’s pretty normal for this time of year, anywhere we race. I’m really excited for this weekend’s race. There’s always a lot of action on track and a lot of fun things to do in the city.”

Atop the No. 77 Box – Crew Chief Luke Lambert

Crew chief Luke Lambert will call his 39th Cup Series road course race from atop the pit box, including the 2023 and 2024 races in Chicago.
While the Mount Airy, N.C., native has yet to visit Victory Lane as the winning crew chief on a road course, he’s collected a total of two top-five and four top-10 finishes in the Cup Series and four top fives and seven top 10s in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win on April 7, 2022, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on May 30, 2025, when Rajah Caruth took the checkered flag in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.

In 2025, Spire Motorsports campaigns the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team also fields the Nos. 07, 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and the No. 77 Chevrolet in the ARCA Menards Series in select events.

Allmendinger Partners with Ready-to-Drink Cocktail Brand for Sonoma Weekend

Lexington, N.C. (July 1, 2025) – Big Sipz, a wine-based ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail at 16% alcohol-by-volume, will join Kaulig Racing and be featured on the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by road-racing ace AJ Allmendinger during the July 13 NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway.

Big Sipz, one of the fastest growing RTD brands in the country, offers a variety of bold flavors, including margaritas, fruit punch and ‘Merica flavored wine-based cocktails, and is available in many retail and convenient store locations across the country.

California native, Allmendinger, will feature a bright neon green scheme that highlights Big Sipz’ new 1-liter Jugz, while he chases a 15th-career NASCAR national series road-course victory. During the weekend, Kaulig Racing will be hosting Big Sipz and Patco Brands executives from their nearby Sausalito, CA, headquarters as well as Big Sipz brand ambassador, globally recognized hip hop artist and influencer, Waka Flocka.

“Big Sipz is one of the fastest growing brands in the country and they are very bold marketers, which aligns perfectly with where we are taking Kaulig Racing,” said Ty Norris, Kaulig Racing Chief Business Officer. “Introducing NASCAR to new brands, which introduces us to a new audience, is important for the growth of the sport and of Kaulig Racing. It will be fun to measure the reach and impact of this event.”

“Anyone who knows me knows I love to have fun, and Big Sipz is a fun brand,” said Allmendinger. “Since nothing is more fun than a victory lane celebration, that is the goal in Sonoma. I’m excited to show the Big Sipz people what NASCAR and Kaulig Racing is all about. Being a road course in my home state, Sonoma is very special to me. I have friends and family who come every year, and it will be great to have Big Sipz as part of the weekend with us. We are ready to go big.”

To catch the No. 16 Big Sipz Chevy on track at Sonoma Raceway tune in to TNT Sports on Sunday, July 13, at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Big Sipz can be found at various convenience stores, grocery stores and liquor stores. To find a store near you, visit https://www.bigsipz.com/store-locator.
 
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 earned 27 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

Big Sipz

At Big Sipz, we believe Biggerz Better. Created for people who want to go BIG, Big Sipz are as bold as the people we make them for. Big Sipz is currently available at retail stores across 46 states including Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas with future market expansion slated throughout 2025. To learn more, please visit www.bigsipz.com.

Chicago Street Event Info:
Date: Sunday, July 6
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Format: 75 Laps, 165 Miles, Stages: 20-45-75
TV: TNT
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 10:30 a.m. ET, Xfinity Practice (CW App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 11:30 a.m. ET, Xfinity Qualifying (CW App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 1 p.m. ET, Cup Practice (TruTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 2 p.m. ET, Cup Qualifying (TruTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 2:30 p.m. ET, Xfinity Race (CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 2 p.m. ET, Cup Race (TNT Sports, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Pace Laps:

• The streets of Chicago hosts the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend for the third Chicago Street Race. The 12-turn course spans 2.2 miles and is settled along some of the city’s top tourist attractions.
• According to NASCAR Insights, Sheldon Creed’s pole at Atlanta was the first on a drafting track for Ford in the Xfinity Series since Dakoda Armstong at Daytona in July 2014.

Cole Custer Team Info:
Crew Chief: Aaron Kramer
Partner: Haas / Andys

Sheldon Creed Team Info:
Crew Chief: Jonathan Toney
Partner: Road Ranger

Sam Mayer Team Info:
Crew Chief: Jason Trinchere
Partner: Audibel

Custer on Road Courses (Cup)
Starts: 18
Wins: —
Top-10s: 3
Poles: —

• Custer makes his 19th NCS road course start this weekend, where he has a best finish of 8th in Mexico City earlier this season.
• He has two career NXS road course wins, coming at Portland (2023) and the Chicago Street Race (2023).

Creed on Road Courses (Xfinity)
Starts: 22
Wins: —
Top-10s: 9
Poles: —

• Creed is set to make his 23rd career road course start in the Xfinity Series this Saturday at the Chicago Street Course, where he has nine career top-10 finishes.
• He finished 11th in the NXS debut race in Chicago two years ago after starting on the front row.

Mayer on Road Courses (Xfinity)
Starts: 24
Wins: 4
Top-10s: 16
Poles: —

• Mayer is in line for his 25th career road course start in the Xfinity Series this weekend, where he has 16 top-10 finishes, including nine in the top five.
• He has NXS victories at the Charlotte Road Course (2023 & 2024), Watkins Glen (2023), and Elkhart Lake (2023).

Where They Stand
Cup Points Standings (41: 34th): Custer is 34th in the Cup Series points standings through 18 races this season with 237 points.

Xfinity Points Standings (41: 8th, 00: 12th): Mayer sits seventh in the Xfinity points standings with 561 total points on the season, behind the seven winners, while Creed is in 10th place with 425 points heading into Chicago this Saturday.

Chicago Street Event Info:
Date: Sunday, July 6
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Format: 75 Laps, 165 Miles, Stages: 20-45-75
TV: TNT Sports
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 1 p.m. ET, Cup Practice (TruTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 2 p.m. ET, Cup Qualifying (TruTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 2 p.m. ET, Cup Race (TNT Sports, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Pace Laps:

• The streets of Chicago hosts the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend for the third Chicago Street Race. The 12-turn course spans 2.2 miles and is settled along some of the city’s top tourist attractions.
• Ryan Preece is the only driver in the NASCAR Cup Series to win a stage in both road-course races this season (Circuit of the Americas & Mexico City).
• Chris Buescher leads the Cup Series this season with an average starting position of 10.4, anchored by nine starts inside the top 10.
• He has four straight top-10 finishes dating back to Michigan, and over the last five races he leads the NASCAR Cup Series with 183 points earned.
• All four of Brad Keselowski’s top-10 finishes this season have come in the previous six weeks, including a runner-up result in Atlanta last weekend.

The NASCAR In-Season Tournament continues this weekend at Chicago, with all three RFK Fords advancing into the “Sweet 16”. The second-round matchups are as follows:
No. 3 Chris Buescher vs. No. 14 Zane Smith
No. 15 Ryan Preece vs. No. 31 Noah Gragson
No. 17 Brad Keselowski vs. No. 32 Ty Dillon

6 Team Info:
Driver: Brad Keselowski
Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins
Partner: Kroger / Blue Buffalo

17 Team Info:
Driver: Chris Buescher
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fastenal

60 Team Info:
Driver: Ryan Preece
Crew Chief: Derrick Finley
Partner: BuildSubmarines.com

Keselowski on Road Courses
Starts: 48
Wins: —
Top-10s: 11
Poles: 1

• Keselowski is set to make his third start at the Chicago Street Course, where he finished 24th in the debut race and 18th a year ago.
• In 48 starts otherwise on road courses in his Cup career, Keselowski has a 17.2 average finish with 11 top-10s.
• Thus far in 2025, Keselowski has finishes of 15th (COTA) and 25th (Mexico City) on road courses.

Buescher on Road Courses
Starts: 37
Wins: 1 (Watkins Glen, 2024)
Top-10s: 16
Poles: —

• Buescher has been one of the most consistent drivers on road courses over the past three seasons, registering 15 top-10 finishes in the last 18 events.
• In two road course events thus far in 2025, Buescher has two top-10s with a P7 result in COTA, and a 10th-place finish in Mexico City just a few weeks ago.
• In 37 races on road courses, Buescher has a 12.8 average finish and 16 top-10s, including his first win on a road course at Watkins Glen last season.

Preece on Road Courses
Starts: 23
Wins: —
Top-10s: 2
Poles: —

• Preece makes his third start at the Chicago Street Course where he finished 34th last season, and has a career-best finish of 15th in 2023.
• Across 23 career races on road courses, Preece has two top-10s and a 22.5 average finish.

RFK Historically on Road Courses
Cup Wins: 6 (Mark Martin, 1993-94-95, Watkins Glen; Mark Martin, 1997, Sonoma; Carl Edwards, 2014, Sonoma, Chris Buescher, 2024, Watkins Glen)

RFK on the Road: As an organization, RFK has made 263 starts on road courses in the Cup Series with five wins, 92 top-10s and 43 finishes inside the top five with a 17.4 average finish.
Martin Goes Three-Straight in N.Y.: NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin is responsible for four of Jack Roush’s road course wins all-time, including three-straight at Watkins Glen from 1993-95. Martin dominated the three years, leading a combined 183 laps, and won all three from the pole. He also won once in Sonoma, in 1997, after also starting from the point to lead 69 of the 74 laps.
Edwards Victorious Four Times, at Four Different Road Courses: Carl Edwards also visited victory lane for Jack Roush at Sonoma, driving to the win in 2014 after starting fourth. In Xfinity action, Edwards was victorious at WGI in 2012, Road America in 2010, and Montreal in 2009. In the 2012 event in New York, current crew chief Scott Graves was atop the box for one of his two Xfinity wins all-time on road courses.
Buescher, Graves Former Road Course Winners: In Buescher’s first full-time Xfinity season in 2014, he and Graves found victory lane at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, after leading 25 laps that day in the No. 60 entry for Roush. Last season, Buescher led 19 laps and fought off Shane van Gisbergen at Watkins Glen to secure the sixth victory under the RFK banner (since 2022) and 143rd overall for Jack Roush in NASCAR Cup Series action.

Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Atlanta: Keselowski 2nd; Buescher 9th; Preece 15th.

Points Standings (17: 14th, 60: 17th, 6: 28th): Buescher sits 52 points above the cutline while Preece remains 23 points behind Bubba Wallace for the final playoff spot. Keselowski gained three spots last weekend after earning a season-high points total at Atlanta.

Cloud-First Technology Solutions Company Partners with RCR to Provide Real-Time, Responsive Results as IT Managed Services Provider

WELCOME, NC (July 7, 2025) – Fans of Richard Childress Racing may have noticed a new logo on the A Post of the race team’s iconic No. 3 Chevrolet this season. Technology solutions provider R3 made its on track debut this year as part of a newly announced partnership with the legendary NASCAR organization.

R3 collaborates with RCR to provide solutions in managed IT, cybersecurity, strategy and consulting, and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) services. More than a traditional managed services provider, R3 acts as a true managed solutions partner — integrating innovative, mission-aligned technology strategies that drive successful business outcomes and operational resilience.

“We’re proud to partner with Richard Childress Racing and help unlock the full potential of their cloud-based technology operations,” said Robert McGowan, chief executive officer for R3. “We are looking forward to providing solutions in managed IT while working in tandem to build a comprehensive marketing plan.”

The partnership underscores RCR’s ongoing commitment to embracing forward-thinking technology and fostering innovation at every level of the race team. In addition to associate placement on the No. 3 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series, RCR and R3 will work together to build real-world solutions to the race team’s IT managed services.

“RCR continues explore ways to utilize technology to enhance operations and become more secure, more agile and more intelligent,” said Mike Verlander, president of RCR. “Our partnership with R3 helps to elevate our IT strategy and operational resilience. We welcome R3 to RCR and look forward to building successful business outcomes together.”

For more information, please visit rcrracing.com and r3-it.com.

Richard Childress Racing is a renowned, performance-driven racing, marketing and manufacturing organization. Incorporated in 1969, RCR has celebrated over 50 years of racing and earned more than 200 victories and 16 championships, including six in the NASCAR Cup Series with the legendary Dale Earnhardt. RCR was the first organization to win championships in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Truck Series and is a three-time winner of the Daytona 500 (1998, 2007, 2018). Its 2025 NASCAR Cup Series lineup includes two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch (No. 8 Chevrolet) and 2017 Coca-Cola 600 winner and 2018 Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon (No. 3 Chevrolet). RCR fields a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series program with Jesse Love (No. 2 Chevrolet) and Austin Hill (No. 21 Chevrolet).

R3: Founded in 2007 in the Washington, DC Metro region, R3 is a cloud-first technology solutions company specializing in managed IT, cybersecurity, strategy and consulting, and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) services. More than a traditional managed services provider, R3 acts as a true managed solutions partner — integrating innovative, mission-aligned technology strategies that drive successful business outcomes and operational resilience.

As a multi-time Inc. Regional Company, Inc. Fastest-Growing Company, and Washington Business Journal Best Places to Work honoree, R3 is recognized for both its industry leadership and its workplace culture. We hold multiple Microsoft partner designations and are a preferred Microsoft solutions partner, delivering secure, scalable, and future-ready cloud services.

At R3, we believe technology isn’t just a support function — it’s embedded in the very fabric of how and why our clients operate. We are the single, comprehensive partner for organizations seeking to modernize, secure, and optimize their technology environments. We are R3 — welcome to the R3VOLUTION. Learn more about R3 at www.R3-IT.com.