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Shane van Gisbergen sweeps Chicago with second Cup victory of 2025

By
Andrew Kim
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 06: Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, poses with the NASCAR Chicago Street Race trophy after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course on July 06, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images).

Rookie Shane van Gisbergen capped off a clean sweep in Windy City by scoring a NASCAR Cup Series victory in the third annual running of the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course on Sunday, July 6, from pole position.

The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, led twice for 26 of 75-scheduled laps in an event where he started on pole position, but quickly lost the lead to Michael McDowell through the first 31 laps. During a caution period just past the Lap 30 mark, van Gisbergen cycled into the lead after McDowell dropped out of contention due to a throttle issue. Van Gisbergen would then lead the next 10 laps before he strategically pitted with three laps remaining in the second stage period.

Despite getting shuffled to 12th place following the second stage’s conclusion, van Gisbergen commenced the third and final stage period in 10th place. From there, he methodically carved his way to the front and he returned atop the leaderboard with 16 laps remaining following a late overtake on Chase Briscoe.

After enduring a final restart period with nine laps remaining, van Gisbergen rocketed away from the field. From there, he never looked back as he kept both Ty Gibbs and a hard-charging Tyler Reddick behind in the rearview mirror for the remainder of the event. Once Cody Ware concluded the event by wrecking on the final lap, van Gisbergen cruised his entry under a cautious pace before he proceeded to notch both his second Cup Series victory of the 2025 season and second on the Chicago Street Course.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 5, rookie Shane van Gisbergen notched his third Cup Series career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 88.338 mph in 89.656 seconds. Joining van Gisbergen on the front row was Michael McDowell, the latter of whom posted his best qualifying lap at 87.879 mph in 90.124 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that include Noah Gragson, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ty Dillon, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman and Katherine Legge dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries. Denny Hamlin also dropped to the rear due to an engine change to his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter Shane van Gisbergen and Michael McDowell dueled for the lead through the front straightaway until McDowell gained the first advantage through the first left-hand turn. As a result, McDowell led through the first turn (E. Ballbo Dr.) and fended off van Gisbergen through the second turn to retain the lead. McDowell proceeded to lead from Turns 2 to 12 (which included stops at S. Lake Shore Dr., S. Columbus Dr. and S. Michigan Ave.) as the field behind fanned out and jostled for early spots. Amid the early battles, McDowell proceeded to lead the first lap.

Two laps later and as McDowell led by more than a second over van Gisbergen, the event’s first caution flew when Carson Hocevar, who was racing in the top 10, slammed into the wall in Turn 10. After smacking the wall on the driver’s left side, Hocevar’s wrecked No. 77 Zeigler Chevrolet entry then spun back in the middle of the track.

This ignited a multi-car stack-up in Turn 11. Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suarez, Todd Gilliland, Will Brown, rookie Riley Herbst and AJ Allmendinger were involved. Meanwhile, the rest of the competitors racing towards the mid-pack region slammed on the brakes to avoid the carnage. The carnage was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for 14 minutes and 42 seconds.

Prior to the carnage, William Byron, who started at the rear of the field and was dealing with early clutch issues at the event’s launch, had taken his No. 24 All-Pro Chevrolet entry to the garage. When the red flag lifted and the field led by McDowell proceeded under a cautious pace, Buescher, who was racing in the top five, pitted to have the motor in his No. 17 Body Guard Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry addressed, an issue that would take him out of contention for the victory.

The start of the next restart on the sixth lap featured McDowell fending off van Gisbergen for a second consecutive time through the front straightaway as the former led through the first two turns. As a series of on-track battles within the field for positions ensued, McDowell retained the top spot throughout the remaining 10 turns of the course before he returned to the front straightaway and led the next lap.

Through the first 10-scheduled laps, McDowell was leading by half a second over van Gisbergen while Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe followed suit in the top five. Behind, Ty Gibbs occupied sixth place over Ryan Preece, Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger and Joey Logano while Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, Zane Smith, Josh Berry and John Hunter Nemechek trailed in the top 15 ahead of Justin Haley, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric and Alex Bowman, respectively.

Four laps later, Alex Bowman, who was fiercely battling Austin Cindric for 19th place, got loose and spun his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet entry in front of Austin Hill in Turn 12. Despite dropping back to 26th place, Bowman continued without drawing a caution. Meanwhile, McDowell stabilized his lead to seven-tenths of a second over van Gisbergen while Kyle Busch, Reddick and Briscoe continued to trail in the top five, respectively.

With four laps remaining in the first stage period, select names that included Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Josh Berry strategically pitted their respective entries under green. Another lap later, more names that include Ty Gibbs, Allmendinger, Joey Logano, Wallace, Haley, Cindric, Stenhouse, Erik Jones, Ty Dillon, Bowman and Bell pitted, with Bell getting penalized for speeding on pit road not long after pitting. Then with nearly two laps remaining, van Gisbergen surrendered the runner-up spot to pit his No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet entry while the rest led by the leader McDowell remained on the track.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, McDowell notched his first Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Kyle Busch settled in second ahead of Reddick, Briscoe and Preece while Chastain, Nemechek, Zane Smith, Austin Hill and Noah Gragson were scored in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen had carved his way up to 11th place. Under the stage break, multiple competitors that include Zane Smith, Gragson and Bell pitted their respective entries while the rest led by McDowell remained on the track.

The second stage period started on Lap 24 as McDowell and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, McDowell fended off Busch through the front straightaway and entering the first turn to retain the lead. As McDowell led Busch and Reddick from Turns 2 to 6, Preece outdueled Briscoe for fourth place in front of Chastain, Austin Hill, Nemechek and Ty Gibbs while van Gisbergen was trying to carve his way back to the front from 10th place. Amid the battles and as Wallace spun in Turn 11 without drawing a caution, McDowell led the following lap.

At the Lap 30 mark, the caution flew due to Josh Berry wrecking in Turn 7 after he made contact with Erik Jones in Turn 7. By then, McDowell was leading by more than a second over van Gisbergen. In addition, select names that include initial runner-up competitor Reddick, Nemechek, Ty Dillon, Riley Herbst and Briscoe pitted their respective entries prior to the caution being displayed. During the caution period, McDowell surrendered the lead to pit and to have a throttle issue in his No. 71 DePaul Chevrolet entry addressed while most of the field led by the new leader van Gisbergen remained on the track.

At the start of the next restart on Lap 33, van Gisbergen muscled ahead of AJ Allmendinger to lead through the front straightaway before he proceeded to lead through the first two turns. As McDowell returned to pit road due to having more throttle issues, van Gisbergen led from Turns 3 to 6 while Ty Gibbs muscled his way up to fourth place behind Preece. Shortly after, trouble occurred for Kyle Busch as he spun his No. 8 Slurpee Chevrolet entry from sixth place in Turn 7. Despite Busch’s spin, he was dodged by the oncoming field and he continued without drawing a caution. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen led the following lap over Allmendinger, Preece, Gibbs and Chastain, respectively.

Just past the lap 35 mark, van Gisbergen was leading by more than half a second over Allmendinger while Preece, Gibbs and Chastain continued to trail in the top five over Blaney, Logano, Erik Jones, Larson and Bowman, respectively. During the halfway mark between Laps 37 and 38, Chastain pitted from the top-five mark under green while McDowell had his entry pushed behind the wall. As more names that include Preece and Hill pitted while Katherine Legge also hit the wall in Turn 1 without drawing a caution, van Gisbergen stretched his lead to two seconds over Allmendinger by Lap 40.

Then during the Lap 41 mark, Larson made a strategic pit stop from 16th place. The leader van Gisbergen along with more names that include Ty Gibbs, Logano, Cindric, Gragson and Haley would also pit their respective entries by Lap 42 before Allmendinger, who led during the following lap, pitted during the next lap and just as pit road closed to mark the closure of a stage. Meanwhile, Blaney, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 45, Blaney steered his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry to his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Briscoe followed suit in second ahead of Reddick, Bowman and Wallace while Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Nemechek, Erik Jones and Bell were scored in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen was scored in 12th place behind Buescher while Allmendinger, who endured a slow pit service, was mired back in 15th place behind Stenhouse and Gibbs. During the stage break, mixed pit strategies ensued as some led by Blaney and including Elliott pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Briscoe remained on the track.

With 27 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Briscoe and Reddick occupied the front row. At the start, Briscoe launched ahead through the front straightaway as he led through the first turn while 23XI Racing’s Reddick and Wallace followed suit. As Bowman and Hamlin battled for fourth place in front of van Gisbergen and a stacked field, Briscoe led from Turns 2 to 12 before he led the next lap. As Briscoe led by four-tenths of a second over Reddick with 25 laps remaining, Hamlin, van Gisbergen and Gibbs moved up into the top-five mark while Wallace was mired back in sixth place ahead of Nemechek.

Down to the final 20 laps, Briscoe stabilized his lead to six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Reddick while third-place van Gisbergen trailed by more than a second. With teammates Ty Gibbs and Hamlin occupying the remaining top-five spots, Allmendinger, Wallace, Nemechek, Chastain and Logano were scored in the top 10, respectively. Earlier, Ty Dillon and Blaney pitted separately due to both having flat right-front tire issues.

Then with 16 laps remaining, the caution flew due to a spectator medical emergency that involved an ambulance getting across the course. At the moment of caution, van Gisbergen, who had reeled in and was intimidating Briscoe for the lead over the previous two laps, assumed the lead from Briscoe in Turn 5 and was scored the leader while Reddick, Gibbs and Allmendinger were scored in the top five. During the caution period, some including Reddick, Gragson, Blaney, Nemechek, Busch, Justin Haley, Hill, Zane Smith, Katherine Legge, Suarez, Elliott and Josh Bilicki pitted their respective entries while the rest led by van Gisbergen and Briscoe remained on the track.

With the race restarting with 13 laps remaining, van Gisbergen rocketed ahead of Briscoe and Gibbs to lead from the front straightaway to the first turn. Through the first two turns, a series of on-track chaos ensued as Chastain hit the tire barriers and Cindric was knocked sideways while Stenhouse and Logano endured an incident in Turn 2, with Stenhouse facing the course backwards. Amid both incidents, the race remained under green flag conditions as van Gisbergen led the following lap. The caution, however, returned with 12 laps remaining due to Cindric stopping on the course with a broken toe link to his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry.

The next restart with nine laps remaining featured van Gisbergen rocketing away from Gibbs to lead through the front straightaway and through the first turn. As van Gisbergen led through the second turn, Gibbs fended off Allmendinger to retain the runner-up spot while Hamlin and Briscoe followed suit. With van Gisbergen leading the following lap, he proceeded to stretch his advantage to a second over Gibbs with seven laps remaining while Hamlin, Preece, Wallace, Larson, Bowman, Chastain and Briscoe all followed suit in the top 10, respectively. Shortly after, however, Briscoe fell off the pace after contact from Preece cut Briscoe’s right-front tire entering the front straightaway.

Then with six laps remaining, Wallace, who had made repeated on-track contact with Bowman while fighting for seventh place, starting from Turn 8 during the previous lap, got turned by Bowman as he wrecked through S. Lake Shore Dr. As Wallace plummeted below the leaderboard, Bowman fell back to ninth place in front of a stacked field and the race remained under green flag conditions. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen continued to lead by more than a second over Gibbs with five laps remaining.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained in the lead by more than two seconds over a battle for the runner-up spot that involved Gibbs and Reddick. Shortly after, the caution flew and the event was ruled official due to Cody Ware colliding and getting his No. 51 Arby’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry stuck beneath the tire barriers in Turn 6. As a result, van Gisbergen was able to cautiously coast his way around the Chicago Street Course for a final time before he returned to the front straightaway and claimed the checkered flag.

With the victory, van Gisbergen notched his third career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his first since he won the inaugural Cup event at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City in June and he became the fourth multi-race winner of the 2025 Cup season.

In addition, van Gisbergen, who became the first repeat winner at Chicago, became the first competitor to sweep both the poles and the race victories between the Xfinity and Cup Series divisions in Downtown Chicago. Van Gisbergen’s victory was also the eighth of the 2025 season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the third seven races for Trackhouse Racing.

“I love this place,” van Gisbergen said on the frontstretch on TNT. “What an amazing weekend for me. [I’m] A luck guy to drive some great cars. I have to thank Trackhouse [Racing], WeatherTech, Chevy. All these guys and girls here. Thanks for everyone for coming out. [I] Hope we put on a good show. I guess we made no mistakes [today]. There was some really fast cars. We just seem to get it right here. Make no mistakes, be smooth every lap and really cool.”

Ty Gibbs, who made his 106th career start, tied his career-best result by finishing in second place on the Chicago Street Course, which also marked his first runner-up result since Darlington Raceway in May 2024. Tyler Reddick charged his way to a third-place result for his fifth top-five result of the 2025 season while Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finished in fourth and fifth, respectively

AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Preece, Alex Bowman, Austin Hill and Ross Chastain completed the top 10 in the final running order.

Notably, Joey Logano, who exchanged harsh words with Chastain following the event and following a late run-in, ended up in 11th place ahead of teammate Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek and Chase Elliott, respectively. In addition, Chase Briscoe was the last competitor scored on the lead lap in 23rd place while Bubba Wallace, who lost five laps amid his late-race incident and run-in with Alex Bowman, fell back to 28th place.

*Following the second round of NASCAR’s In-Season Tournament that consisted of 16 competitors and eliminated another half of the field, the following competitors will contend in the second In-Season Tournament next weekend at Sonoma Raceway: Alex Bowman, Ty Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs and Zane Smith.

The Chicago Street Course event featured six lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 15 laps. In addition, 23 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 19th event of the 2025 Cup Series season, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by 13 points over teammate Chase Elliott, 19 over teammate Kyle Larson, 43 over Denny Hamlin and 48 over Tyler Reddick.

Results – Chicago Street Course:

1. Shane van Gisbergen, 26 laps led
2. Ty Gibbs
3. Tyler Reddick
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kyle Busch
6. AJ Allmendinger, two laps led
7. Ryan Preece
8. Alex Bowman
9. Austin Hill
10. Ross Chastain
11. Joey Logano
12. Ryan Blaney, three laps led, Stage 2 winner
13. Kyle Larson
14. Zane Smith
15. John Hunter Nemechek
16. Chase Elliott
17. Riley Herbst
18. Chris Buescher
19. Katherine Legge
20. Ty Dillon
21. Josh Bilicki
22. Justin Haley
23. Chase Briscoe, 13 laps led
24. Christopher Bell, one lap down
25. Erik Jones, one lap down
26. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident
27. Austin Cindric, three laps down
28. Bubba Wallace, five laps down
29. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident
30. Noah Gragson, seven laps down
31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident
32. Michael McDowell, 22 laps down, 31 laps led, Stage 1 winner
33. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident
34. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident
35. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident
36. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident
37. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident
38. Todd Gilliand – OUT, Accident
39. Will Brown – O UT, Accident
40. William Byron – OUT, Clutch

Next on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Toyota Save/Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, for the third In-Season Tournament event of the year. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 13, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on TNT.

Mistake costs Alex Palou victory at Mid-Ohio

By
Tucker White
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LEXINGTON, Ohio - JULY 6: A disappointed Alex Palou, driver of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, dons the Firestone podium cap after finishing second in the NTT IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 6, 2025, in Lexington, Ohio. Photo: Matt Fraver/Penske Entertainment

LEXINGTON, Ohio — The late Vin Scully once said that losing feels worse than winning feels good. Alex Palou agrees with that sentiment.

“I think when you lose — I think we lost today,” he said. “It’s not like we got beaten, but we lost it, myself. Yeah, that’s going to hurt a little bit.”

After winning the pole at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the driver of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda dominated the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Honda Indy 200. He led a race high 75 laps and cycled off pit road with 16 laps to go ahead of Scott Dixon, who was on a two-stop strategy.

He maintained a two-second lead of his teammate, who thought “it would’ve been tough” to run him down and pass him for the lead.

“He had better tires, more fuel,” Dixon said. “It was going to be a tough situation.”

Then Palou made a “big mistake.”

The three-time INDYCAR champion got loose in Turn 9 and ran through the grass on exit. Dixon overtook him with ease and drove on to his 59th career victory.

Palou tried to catch him in the last five laps, but he lost the good in his rear tires and dirty air made it hard to catch Dixon. He brought the car home to a runner-up finish.

“The car was on fire today. The team gave me, as well, the strategy, the pit stops we needed to win the race.

“But yeah, man, it’s not over until it’s over, until you see the checkered flag. I was just trying to push. I was trying to open the gap a little bit more with Scott. I felt confident with the car.

“Yeah, just lost it.”

If there’s a silver lining to losing out on his seventh victory of the 2025 season, Palou extended his championship lead over Kyle Kirkwood to 113 points.

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Chicago Street Race

By
Jeffrey Boswell
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NASCAR fans look on during the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course on July 06, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

Denny Hamlin continues to lead the Top-10 Power Rankings after his top-five finish in the Chicago Street Race.

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Denny Hamlin: 

Hamlin finished fourth in the Chicago street race after starting last.

“I blew an engine in practice,” Hamlin said, “so I had to start at the back. That’s right, I’m talking ’bout practice. We talking’ ’bout practice, man. Practice. Not a race. Not a race. Practice. I brought Michael Jordan to NASCAR. I just brought Allen Iverson as well.”

2. Shane van Gisbergen:

Van Gisbergen started on the pole and led 26 laps, handily winning the Grant Park 165.

“I also won the Xfinity Series race on Saturday,” van Gisbergen said. “So I swept the weekend by dusting the field and mopping up the competition in two races.”

3. Tyler Reddick: 

Reddick made a late charge up the standings and finished third in the Grant Park 165.

“My car sported the Jordan Brand paint scheme,” Reddick said. “Some say you should never bet against the Jordan Brand, in Chicago no less, unless you’re a degenerate gambler.”

4. Chase Elliott: 

Elliott finished 16th in the Grant Park 165.

“Shane van Gisbergen is just unbeatable in Chicago,” Elliott said. “Ask any NASCAR driver; they’ll tell you that trying to beat that Kiwi is fruitless.”

5. Chase Briscoe: 

Briscoe was running near the front late when a flat tire ruined his day. He finished 23rd.

“Once again,” Briscoe said, “I was trying to win another race by saving fuel. But alas, at some point, something runs out, and it’s usually your luck.”

6. Alex Bowman: 

Bowman finished eighth in Chicago, posting his 10th top 10 result of the season.

“Shane van Gisbergen is head and shoulders above everyone else on street courses,” Bowman said. “He picked off more drivers in one race than Carson Hocevar has all season.”

7. Ryan Blaney: 

Blaney won Stage 2 in the Chicago street race and finished 12th in Chicago.

“Did I see something called the ‘Hot Pickle Car’ in Chicago?” Blaney said. “If I did, I would appreciate no more information on the subject.”

8. William Byron: 

Byron finished last in a disappointing Grant Park 165.

“I started at the back along with my three Hendrick Motorsports teammates,” Byron said. “Then I had a clutch issue, so I was pretty much out of the running for the win early. I became merely a spectator, for which my association with Liberty University and Jerry Falwell, Jr. has prepared me well.”

9. Ross Chastain: 

Chastain finished 10th in the Grant Park 165.

“Daniel Suarez won’t be back with Trackhouse Racing next season,” Chastain said. “And Daniel seems to have a bad taste in his mouth. Of course, that could just be the Busch Light Apple I keep making him drink.”

10. Joey Logano: 

Logano finished 11th in the Grant Park 165.

“Cody Ware’s No. 51 car featured the Arby’s Angus Cheesesteak paint scheme,” Logano said. “If Cody Ware ‘has the meat,’ then Carson Hocevar should be sponsored by Wendy’s, because Carson knows ‘where the beef’ is. It’s with him and every other driver.”

RFK Racing – Chicago Recap

By
Official Release
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Preece Scores Top-10, Buescher Battles Back During Chicago Street Race
7th Place Finish Advances Preece to Third Round of In-Season Challenge

Chicago, IL (July 6, 2025) – Ryan Preece lead RFK Racing in Chicago Sunday, as he powered to a hard-fought seventh-place finish. Chris Buescher battled back from adversity to finsish18th in a chaotic race marked by shifting strategies and looming weather. While Brad Keselowski’s day ended early in a multi-car crash, the team’s performance reinforced Preece’s emergence as a road course contender and Buescher’s resilience in the face of adversity.

60 Ryan Preece

Ryan Preece continued to show his growth as a road course competitor with a determined drive through the streets of Chicago. Starting seventh in the BuildSubmarines.com Ford, Preece battled through early adversity as radio issues disrupted communication with his spotter, forcing him to rely on crew chief Derrick Finley to relay crucial information. A multi-car crash on lap three shuffled strategies across the field, and Preece took the opportunity to pit early on lap four. Despite the challenges, he maintained his composure and raced his way to a solid fifth-place finish in Stage One.

Stage Two saw Preece in prime position to contend, restarting fifth. Oce again though, Preece was forced to overcome and obstacle. After an early cautio he missed chance to pit when a slower car checked up ahead forcing him stay out longer than planned. Instead he pitted under green at lap 38, which cycled him back to 21st. Unfazed, Preece began carving his way through traffic and closed out Stage Two in 21st.

In the closing laps, Preece and Finley plotted their fuel strategy, staying out as many leaders were projected to be short on fuel if the race went caution free to the finish. The 60-car though could go to the end. By lap 52, Preece had climbed to 14th, and with 16 laps to go, he was running 12th. As weather threatened and the race intensified, Preece held his ground through another late caution and sprinted to a hard-fought seventh-place finish. In the process, he finished ahead of Noah Gragson and advanced to the third round of NASCAR’s in-Season Challenge.

“We had a really, really good car,” said Preece, “We took stage points there and it was really, really tough to pass, even tires held on really well. Ultimately, a really good car. I’m excited for Sonoma. I’m excited for road racing.”

17 Chris Buescher

Chris Buescher headed to the windy city with a gust of momentum, riding a streak of 4 straight top-10 finishes. The Kroger / Body Guard Ford rolled off from the eighth position and was surging toward the front when Buescher reported power issues on the long straights, hampering his ability to maintain pace with the leaders. Buescher and his team worked to diagnose the issue while staying in contention. He did fall a lap down, but a timely caution on lap 22 provided him the free pass, putting him back on the lead lap. He ended Stage One in 34th.

In Stage Two, Buescher fought back. By lap 44, he had climbed to 11th thanks to precision driving and sound strategy calls from crew chief Scott Graves. Following a Lap 47 pit stop Buescher was 25th, but worked his way through the field once again. Displaying his road course expertise he recovered to 11th place stage finish.

The final stage proved to be a battle. Opting to stay out under a caution at lap 59, the team gained valuable track position, restarting 16th as weather concerns loomed. Another caution on lap 63 led to a pit stop at lap 65, dropping Buescher back to 23rd for the final restart with nine laps remaining. He pushed hard in the closing circuits, navigating traffic and avoiding trouble to score and 18th place finish.

6 Brad Keselowski

Brad Keselowski entered the Chicago Street Course well prepared, focused and determined. The weekend began as he walked the 2.2 mile street course early Saturday morning, studying the asphalt’s characteristics. Plotting the way he would attack it. Saturday night followed with more preparation as he studied race tape in his hotel room to sharpen his approach.

Starting 15th, Keselowski was ready to put that preparation to the test. He quickly showed speed and precision in the opening laps advancing through the filed. Unfortunately, his day came to a heartbreaking end, just three laps into the race, when two cars collided ahead of him, leaving him with nowhere to go. The Kroger / Blue Buffalo Ford sustained heavy front-end damage in the multi-car pileup, forcing Keselowski to retire early and settle for a 37th-place finish despite the promise he and the team displayed throughout the weekend.

“I didn’t see it until the last second,” said Keselowski, describing the crash. “I slowed down and I actually felt I was gonna get stopped and then I just kind of got ran over from behind. It’s just a narrow street course and sometimes there’s nowhere to go.”

Up Next:

Sonoma Raceway (Sonoma, CA) Sunday July 13, 2025 on TNT @ 3:30pm ET

About RFK Racing
RFK Racing, in its 38th season in 2025, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion Brad Keselowski and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988, and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass 300 wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content, and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.

RCR NCS Race Recap: Chicago Street Course

By
Official Release
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First Lap Crash Takes Out Austin Dillon and the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevrolet at the Chicago Street Race

Finish: 36th
Start: 10th
Points: 26th

“Disappointing day in the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevrolet at the Chicago Street Race. Crew chief Richard Boswell and everyone on the RCR team brought a really fast Chevrolet to the streets of Chicago. We qualified 10th and thought we would be a contender today in the race. A car spun in front of us on the first lap and it ended our day before we could even get it started. It’s a shame and I’m just at a loss for words at this point. We’ll just keep bringing cars like this and hope our luck turns around for us at some point.” -Austin Dillon

Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Slurpee Chevrolet Team Capture Top-Five Finish at the Chicago Street Race

Finish: 5th
Start: 6th
Points: 16th

“Our day started out pretty good in the No. 8 Slurpee Chevrolet at the Chicago Street Race. We got a good jump on the initial start and I was able to roll forward and get to third. We tried to go long on that first set of tires, but with those couple of cautions, it didn’t fall into our favor. That put us on old tires and I spun out getting into turn seven. We just didn’t have any left-rear grip. That’s something we’ve struggled with on this car, and it just bit me there. The No. 8 team rallied and we were able to rebound. We pitted a couple of times at the end and had some fresh tires late in the race for some of the melee that was going on in front of us and made up some spots. Our Chevrolet was definitely a top-two or three car, but it’s good to come home with a top-five finish.” -Kyle Busch

Austin Hill and the No. 33 United Rentals Chevrolet Team Show Strength at the Chicago Street Race with Top-10 Showing

Finish: 9th
Start: 30th
Points: N/A

“Massive day for our United Rentals Chevrolet. The Cup Series isn’t easy. To only have five races with the No. 33 team and leave with a top-10 finish is huge for our group. We started 30th, drove up a little ways and played some strategy to gain even more ground. I feel like I won the race honestly. I was upset with finishing fourth yesterday in the Xfinity Series race, but to finish ninth in a Cup race feels like I won it. Hats off to RCR, ECR and everyone on this team. We put our heads together, called a great race, took tires when we needed to, and stayed out when we needed to. At the end, it was good enough to get up there and battle with the guys to finish inside the top-10.” -Austin Hill

Toyota GAZOO Racing NCS Post-Race Recap – Chicago – 07.06.25

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Official Release
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GIBBS, REDDICK AND HAMLIN EARN TOP-FIVES IN CHICAGO STREET RACE
Four Toyota Camrys advance to third round of In-Season Challenge

CHICAGO (July 6, 2025) – Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin earned the second, third and fourth-place finishing positions, respectively, in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the streets of Chicago. Gibbs and Reddick were towards the front of the field for most of the 75-lap race after both started from inside the top-10, claiming the final two spots on the podium by the checkered flag. Gibbs has now finished inside the top-10 in all three Chicago street races, with two straight top-three results.

Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing team showed tremendous perseverance today, after beginning the race from the last starting position. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE showed pace and utilized pit strategy in the back half of the race to get him towards the front of the field and claim the fourth position.

Today’s race also marked the second round of the Cup Series’ In-Season Challenge where Gibbs and Reddick, along with LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones, advanced to the third round of the tournament, which takes place next weekend at Sonoma Raceway.

Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Chicago Street Course
Race 19 of 36 – 165 miles, 75 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, Shane van Gisbergen*
2nd, TY GIBBS
3rd, TYLER REDDICK
4th, DENNY HAMLIN
5th, Kyle Busch*
15th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
17th, RILEY HERBST
23rd, CHASE BRISCOE
24th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
25th, ERIK JONES
28th, BUBBA WALLACE
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

What more did you need to compete for the win there?
“Yeah, feel like we had a fast Monster Energy Toyota Camry (today). Just need some more front turn. Feel like I wasn’t as – free enough to get my points and exits right, but there’s things I can work on as well to make it better. We had a good day overall and executed well. Just need to be a little bit faster and I think we could’ve got him (Shane van Gisbergen).”

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

Did you think you could’ve gotten around Ty Gibbs if the caution hadn’t come out?

“Shane (van Gisbergen) was just a little too far ahead. When we did pit and put those tires on the No. 8 (Kyle Busch) got spun and a couple cars got spun on the restart and we were just in the wrong lane and stacked up and a lot of the cars that run the same strategy as us we got behind. Lost time trying to pass them and then passing those cars on the older tires. Just part of it. Chaos on a street course at the end there, but I was really proud of our whole 23XI Racing team. This Jumpman Toyota Camry was really fast, it just – we needed that restart to go a little differently. I definitely think we had the pace to get to Shane. It was hard to say how much he was saving or not, but it felt good to have a shot of it.”

How does it feel to put together a good race today?

“We’re improving. We’ve always been able to come here and have a lot of pace certainly. It’s nice to be able to run that strong, but obviously we’re for sure chasing wins.”

Can you take us through the final laps of today’s race?

“We kind of ended up in a tough spot there on the penultimate restart, I guess. Some of the cars were spinning – I can’t name them all but unfortunately, we kind of just got stuck in the wrong lane where I had to check up. Those cars that we were on the same tire strategy as I got behind, so we just lost a bit of time there passing those cars back. It’s great to finish third, but it’s for sure a bummer when you look at how much ground you made up. It’s really cool to bring this Jordan Brand Toyota Camry to Chicago and have it run on the home streets again. It’s been fun over the years and unfortunately, we just haven’t gotten the job done but we’ve shown a lot of speed pretty much every time we’ve been here.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 4th

How were you able to make your way through the field to a fourth-place finish after starting last?

“Just a good job by the team. I had some pace and really the whole Progressive Toyota team did a great job. I’ve got to thank the whole team for working hard to kind of get us back to where we were running there. Truthfully, that’s where we were at on pace. It wasn’t a crazy strategy or anything like that. Just thought the car was really, really good. I would’ve loved to not have to save fuel with the No. 54 (Ty Gibbs) and the No. 88 (Shane van Gisbergen) there just to see how far off I am and how much I stack up. I’m really happy overall with the day.”

How were you able to run that long on the final run?

“I was really saving (fuel) the entire run and was running good lap times. Truthfully, I felt pretty good all day. We marched forward all day long. The car had pace in it and that’s the key to getting a good finish, but beyond that once I was able to get towards the front I could save and take it easy on my tires. I would’ve loved to have been on equal tires just to see how far off I am from the front two guys. It just didn’t seem like that much.”

Did you get a view of the chaos on the track today?

“No, for once it was behind me. I’ve got to give great credit to Chris Gayle (crew chief) and this whole Progressive Toyota team. Obviously, yesterday went really rough. Just not one of those days we needed and today we bounced back and executed good. One of the first green races where we didn’t have any issues on a road course. This is the kind of finish and kind of pace we need to have.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 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 nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s 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 31 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

CHEVROLET NCS: Van Gisbergen Keeps Chevrolet Undefeated in the Chicago Street Race

By
Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHICAGO STREET RACE
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
JULY 6, 2025

Van Gisbergen Keeps Chevrolet Undefeated in the Chicago Street Race

 Shane van Gisbergen capped off a dominating weekend in the “Windy City” by taking the checkered flag in the Grant Park 165 – keeping Chevrolet undefeated in NASCAR’s top division in the Chicago Street Race. The victory marks Van Gisbergen’s third victory in just 33 career starts in the division – two of which have come at the 2.2-mile Chicago street circuit.

The victory came after Van Gisbergen defended his race winning title in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the circuit – driving the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to the win in yesterday’s The Loop 110. The Chicago Street Course provided yet another milestone weekend for the 36-year-old Auckland, New Zealand, native with the Team Chevy driver becoming just the second driver in series’ history to sweep the pole and race wins in both of NASCAR’s top-two division on the same weekend.

It was a calamity-filled opening stage for the third annual Chicago Street Race. Taking the green flag in the “Windy City”, NASCAR’s top division made just four laps before a several car pileup at the front of the field ensued on the straight leading into Turn 10 – quickly putting the race under red flag conditions. Among those collected included a trio of Team Chevy drivers that posted strong qualifying efforts, including Carson Hocevar, Austin Dillon and Will Brown.

Michael McDowell turned a front-row qualifying effort into a dominating performance in Stage One. The 40-year-old Phoenix, Arizona, native took the lead from the polesitter and fellow Team Chevy driver, Shane van Gisbergen, on the opening lap and never looked back – taking the green-white checkered flag for his fourth career stage win. With fuel strategy at the forefront, crew chief Travis Peterson opted to keep the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet off pit road to take advantage of prime track position for the start of Stage Two. But a strong run quickly took a turn when an issue with the throttle forced the team back down pit road to diagnose the issue and ultimately behind the wall for repairs.

A restart near the halfway point of the race saw a pair of Team Chevy road course ringers, Shane van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger, lead the field back to the green flag. Taking control of the lead at the drop of the green flag, Van Gisbergen went on to pull away to over a three-second lead before crew chief Stephen Doran called the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet down pit road with three laps remaining in Stage Two for a schedule pit stop. With varying pit strategies throughout the field, Van Gisbergen went on to cycle back up to the 12th position at the conclusion of the stage.

Progressively inching his way back up through the field, Van Gisbergen found himself in the runner-up position when the race hit 16 laps to go. Making the pass on then race leader Chase Briscoe, the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet went on to hold the top position for the remainder of the race en route to the team’s second victory of the 2025 season.

For the 11th time this season, Chevrolet has owned at least half of the top-10 finishing positions with four different Chevrolet organizations driving the manufacturer to six top-10 results with Van Gisbergen leading Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch (fifth) and Austin Hill (ninth); Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger in sixth; Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman in eighth; and Van Gisbergen’s Trackhouse Racing teammate, Ross Chastain, in 10th.

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER

1st – Shane van Gisbergen
5th – Kyle Busch
6th – AJ Allmendinger
8th – Alex Bowman
9th – Austin Hill
10th – Ross Chastain

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 19 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:

Wins: 8
Poles: 9
Top-Fives: 37
Top 10s: 76
Stage Wins: 17

UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Sonoma Raceway with the Toyota / Save Mart 350 on Sunday, July 13, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Sidelined by damage sustained after being collected in an accident in the opening stage.

Finished: 36th

“Disappointing day in the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevrolet at the Chicago Street Race. Crew chief Richard Boswell and everyone on the RCR team brought a really fast Chevrolet to the streets of Chicago. We qualified 10th and thought we would be a contender today in the race. A car spun in front of us on the first lap and it ended our day before we could even get it started. It’s a shame and I’m just at a loss for words at this point. We’ll just keep bringing cars like this and hope our luck turns around for us at some point.”

Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 5th

“Our day started out pretty good. We got a good jump on the initial start there and was able to roll forward and get to third. We tried to go long on that first set of tires, and with those couple of cautions, it didn’t fall into our favor. That put us on old tires and I spun out getting into (turn) seven. We just didn’t have any left-rear grip. That’s something we’ve struggled with on this car, and it just bit me there. The No. 8 Slurpee Chevrolet team rallied and we were able to rebound. We pitted a couple of times there at the end and had some fresh tires late for some of the melee that was going on in front of us and made up some spots. Our Chevrolet was definitely a top-two or three car, but it’s good to come home with a top-five finish.”

Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 20th

“We survived and advanced! This No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team is just a tough team – we never quit. We don’t even know how to. I’m just so proud of Kaulig Racing and our No. 10 team. I knew in a basketball city, going up against Brad in a game of knock-out, I was going to have a good chance. This race was tough on us. I felt like halfway through the race, we were rolling pretty good and we could have had a chance at a top-15. I clipped the wall again and knocked the toe out and kind of bent the ball joint pretty bad. I was just kind of hanging on and hoping we could get everything we could there at the end. We’re just going to keep working hard; put pressure on who we’re facing next and see if we can keep it rolling.”

Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 9th

“Massive day for our United Rentals Chevrolet. The Cup Series isn’t easy. To only have five races with the No. 33 team and leave with a top-10 finish is huge for our group. We started 30th, drove up a little ways and played some strategy to gain even more ground. I feel like I won the race honestly. I was upset with finishing fourth yesterday in the Xfinity Series race, but to finish ninth in a Cup race feels like I won it. Hats off to RCR, ECR and everyone on this team. We put our heads together, called a great race, took tires when we needed to, and stayed out when we needed to. At the end, it was good enough to get up there and battle with the guys to finish inside the top-10.”

Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Finished: 8th

Bowman on the late-race contact with Bubba Wallace in the closing laps:

“I don’t know.. I passed him (Bubba Wallace) clean, or what I thought was clean. I just followed when the No. 45 passed him. Then he shipped us into (turn) 12; ran us into the fence in (turn) one and ran us into the fence off of (turn) two. And then we just sort of pin-balled off of each other and he ended up on the worse side of it, but we’re just trying to go straight off the corner. I don’t know why we did that… I wasn’t expecting that to happen or to get raced like that, but we did. We just have to move on from it and keep digging. I don’t really know what I could have done much different. I just got into the fence there and you’re kind of along for the ride. It’s just frustrating.”

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Finished: 32nd

“The throttle cable just broke. I don’t know what caused it or how it got to that spot, but that’s what happened. I feel like we had control of the race. I think it would have been a battle, no doubt. I felt like any time I could open a gap on SVG, I could. We were just working on our strategy. We knew we were going to one-stop it, so I was taking care of the tires and doing all the things I could. I was behind the pace car and the throttle stuck wide-open. Luckily I got to the switches fast enough before I ran into something, and then a cable broke after that. It’s just a shame. We had a great No. 71 DePaul Chevrolet. We’ve got some good momentum heading into Sonoma next weekend.”

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 1st

“It was a brilliant day for this No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet team. Our car was really, really nice – the best car I’ve had here, by far. The strategy was a bit all over the place, as we knew it would be today – racing the weather, racing cars and different stops. Stephen (Doran, crew chief) did a really good job on the box all day of just painting the picture in my head of who I was up against. We had two great pit stops. Just so stoked to get WeatherTech in victory lane for their home race.”

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

HFT Recap | Chicago

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Official Release
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Creed Earns Third-Place Finish at Chicago Street Course; Mayer 8th
Custer Involved in Early-Lap Incident on Sunday

Xfinity Series

Sheldon Creed turned in a strong performance at the Chicago Street Course on Saturday, earning his best road course finish of the season. He led nine laps, won a stage—his first road course stage win of the year—and ultimately brought home a third-place result, showing both speed and control on the challenging layout. His teammate, Sam Mayer, had a solid day as well, navigating through traffic and restarts to finish eighth at Chicago, his 11th top-10 result of the season.

“We had a solid day today and took home a third-place finish and got a stage win here at Chicago,” Creed said. “Overall, I’m just really excited to have a great day with our Road Ranger Ford Mustang and we’ll keep this momentum rolling into the summer.”

Creed got off to a strong start, quickly challenging Shane van Gisbergen for the lead after starting fourth. The two traded spots early, while Mayer ran inside the top five over the opening 15 laps. The stage ended under caution, with Creed taking second and earning nine stage points, while Mayer settled for fourth and seven points.

Despite restarting deep in traffic at the beginning of Stage Two, Creed quickly charged through the field, showcasing the speed of his No. 00 car. By lap 22, he had worked his way back into the top five, then climbed to third just before a caution on lap 25. The yellow set up a two-lap sprint to end the stage, and Creed seized the opportunity—making a decisive move in turn six to pass Jesse Love and take the stage win. Mayer, meanwhile, finished just outside the top ten in 11th.

The No. 00 car led the field to the green at the start of the final stage and quickly entered a fierce battle with Connor Zilisch. The two traded the lead multiple times before Zilisch pulled ahead for good with 13 laps to go. Meanwhile, Mayer started the stage in eighth and showed steady pace, holding his position through traffic and pressure from behind. A late caution with two laps remaining set up a dramatic sprint to the finish, but in the end, Creed claimed third while Mayer held on to finish eighth after a consistent run in the closing laps.

“A couple of missed opportunities today, but I think we made the best of it and got a top-10 finish,” Mayer said. “Really proud of our guys for battling today to make our Audibel Ford Mustang better, and we’ll look forward to another road course next week.”

Cup Series

Cole Custer and the No. 41 team spent the majority of the afternoon overcoming early adversity after the car sustained left-front damage in a multi-car incident that brought out a caution on lap three. Despite the setback, the HFT crew showed resilience and determination, working through significant repairs to secure a valuable point in the regular-season standings.

After starting 23rd, Custer was caught in the early incident and quickly reported a possible issue with the left-front suspension. He brought the car to pit road for four tires and fuel while the crew evaluated the damage, and was able to stay on the lead lap through the end of Stage One.

At the start of Stage Two, crew chief Aaron Kramer directed Custer to the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) work area, where the team spent 39 laps replacing the upper control arm on the No. 41 Haas/Andy’s Ford Mustang. Their persistence paid off as Custer returned to the track on lap 63 and completed enough laps to overtake Josh Berry, finishing 33rd and earning a key point in the standings.

“Overall, it was a really hard fought day, and our guys worked extremely hard to get us back out there,” Custer said. “We definitely got our car better throughout the weekend, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do at Sonoma.”

Up Next
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Sonoma Raceway next weekend. Race coverage for the Xfinity series is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on the CW, and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on TNT for the Cup Series.

About Haas Factory Team
The Haas Factory Team is a NASCAR Cup and Xfinity program owned by Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. Beginning in 2025, the team will feature Cole Custer driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the NASCAR Cup Series, while Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer take on the Xfinity Series in the No. 00 and No. 41 Ford Mustangs, respectively. Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the Haas Factory Team reflects a commitment to performance and engineering excellence, carrying forward Gene Haas’s commitment to motorsports.

Preece Posts Seventh Place Finish in Chicago and Advances to In-Season Challenge Quarterfinals

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Official Release
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Chicago Street Race
Sunday, July 6, 2025

Ford Unofficial Finishing Results:

7th – Ryan Preece
11th – Joey Logano
12th – Ryan Blaney
14th – Zane Smith
18th – Chris Buescher
21st – Josh Bilicki
26th – Cody Ware
27th – Austin Cindric
30th – Noah Gragson
33rd – Cole Custer
34th – Josh Berry
37th – Brad Keselowski
38th – Todd Gilliland

RYAN PREECE, No. 60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse –”We had a really, really good car. We took stage points there and it was really, really tough to pass, even tires held on really well. Ultimately, a really good car. I’m excited for Sonoma. I’m excited for road racing. If there wasn’t such a jumble up sometimes with how you have to play for points or stages, I feel like we had a really good car. I’m proud of Derrike. Thanks to BuildSubmarines.com, Kroger, Mohawk Northeast and all the partners that are involved with RFK. Like I say every week, I’m happy to be a part of it.” YOU ADVANCED IN THE IN-SEASON CHALLENGE AS WELL. HOW DOES THAT FEEL BEING CLOSER TO A MILLION DOLLARS? “I felt like if we could have gotten through the first round, these next two rounds are really good for us. Our road course program is pretty strong and we keep making it better, so going into Sonoma, I think we’re up against Tyler Reddick, so he’s really good at road courses as well, but I like being the underdog.” HOW DID YOU LIKE THESE THREE YEARS RACING IN CHICAGO? “I enjoy the street course. You’ve got to be super disciplined with no mistakes because if you make a mistake, you hit the wall. It’s great. I’m happy there was no weather to jumble it up there at the end and we’ll move on to Sonoma.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang Dark Horse – A GOOD REBOUND FROM THE FLAT TIRE AND A STAGE WIN AS WELL. HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE YOUR DAY? “I thought overall it was a pretty decent day. It was nice to win that stage. I knew we were gonna lose track position, but we were fine. We made up really good ground on the restart in the third stage and then I hit the inside wall in 11 and popped the right-front tire. We had to work our way back from there, but, overall, it was a decent recovery.”

ZANE SMITH, No. 38 Vermeer Midwest Ford Mustang Dark Horse – YOU ADVANCED IN THE IN-SEASON CHALLENGE, HOW DOES IT FEEL? “Yeah, I hate we had to knock another Ford out, but it’s super cool to advance. I know going up against Chris the odds were stacked against me with how good he is on road courses. I did everything I could to not advance today. We had a really good car to start and then I got blind behind the 12 and then nicked the wall and got a pretty good amount of damage that put me back there in the hornet’s nest. I just kept getting hit and it was chaos, but, fortunately, I was able to escape some of that chaos and get aggressive towards the end and get a top 15 and some stage points and advance in the bracket, so I’m very happy about this.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Kroger/Blue Buffalo Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I didn’t see it until the last second. I slowed down and I actually felt I was gonna get stopped and then I just kind of got ran over from behind. It’s just a narrow street course and sometimes there’s nowhere to go.”

JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Without seeing a replay, I feel like the 43 just kind of overcooked the corner and got us there. It’s just disappointing. We were having a really solid day and made our way forward. We were running well, so we’ll just keep on going trying to get better and go on to Sonoma.”

Chevrolet in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Mid-Ohio Race Report

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Official Release
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CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio
Race Report
July 6

Arrow McLaren Lundgaard and O’Ward lead Team Chevy at Mid-Ohio

  • A pair of Arrow McLaren drivers, Christian Lundgaard in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, who finished third, and Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, who finished fifth, were the best of the Chevrolet-powered runners in the 2025 edition of the Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio that saw a battle of strategies. Winner Scott Dixon, like O’Ward, used two stops to win for the 59th time in his career, while Álex Palou used the same three-stop strategy as Lundgaard to take the second spot on the podium.
  • Lundgaard drove flat out for the 90-lap race on the 2.258-Mile, 13 Turn Mid-Ohio road course, making three stops on the way to his fourth podium of the season.
  • The 23-year-old Dane is one of three drivers to complete all 1,135 laps contested this season and moved into the top five on the championship table.
  • O’Ward utilized the opposite strategy, saving fuel, pitting only twice to come home fifth, his fifth top 5 finish of the season.
  • The 26-year-old Mexican has also completed 100% of the laps this season and moved to within 12 points of second place on the championship table.
  • Up next for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the 14 Team Chevy teams and drivers is a trip to Newton, Iowa and a double header on the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway short oval. Both races will air on FOX, with Saturday’s Synk 275 Powered By Sukup at 5 pm (ET) and Sunday’s Farm To Finish 275 Powered By Sukup at 1 pm (ET).

NTT INDYCAR SERIES unofficial race results from the Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio:

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):

Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 3rd:

“Obviously, happy to be on the podium, but still a little disappointed. I think we had much more. We need to take the positives from this weekend. We didn’t get any points in Road America when we had a car to win the race. That was a pretty easy podium for us there, and we threw it away. So here, there’s a little bit of redemption, but I really wanted that win today. So, a little disappointed.

On the physicality of the race:

“A full push race around here is physically tough, mentally tough. Honestly, in the car, it isn’t really that big of a problem. It’s really more once you get out. I think once the adrenaline kind of falls off, it’s that’s when it hits you.”

How good does the water taste?

I don’t drive with a cool suit or a drinks bottle, so I need a lot before and after.

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 5th:

“Extremely close, we missed by just a little bit. We would like to have been fourth, but it was a crazy race for us today. The strategies flipped. Guys that weren’t planning on full pushing, ended up full pushing. And the guys that were going to full push, like myself, ended up on a fuel save. Made some great moves there fought our way forward. We were aggressive and calculated. Great job by the boys. I personally thought we were hosed there for a bit. I never really felt threatened in the way of having a bad yellow fall our way.”

“I was confident in the car. You really treasure these weekends where you can put the car where you need to and attack when you want to. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a road course where it feels that way. It’s just too bad we didn’t start further up front; we put ourselves on the back foot yesterday to fight at the front today. These are really, really fun. It was a good job today by Arrow McLaren and it’s good to see the No. 7 on the podium.”

Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 11th:

“It was a very disappointing day for us. I think we had a car that could have run in the top five, and fought for a podium. We ended up just losing pace through every sequence, and I’m not exactly sure where we lost it. We will look into it, and fix our issues for Iowa.”

Callum Ilott, No, 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet finished 13th:

“A really strong race. We had a bit of contact at the beginning and we were off track. I was just put in a bad position on the outside. We gambled and did an early stop onto the Reds and the first stint wasn’t anything special but once we came in and got going again on the next set of Reds it was it was super fast. The car was really strong. There’s nothing to complain about from there, so I just moved forwards; we overcut some people, undercut some others and unfortunately had to do another stop but I think for us it would have been tough to commit to the effective two-stop strategy. I think we did the best result possible, had some really good pitstops and we maximized everything from P24.”

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Sexton Properties/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet finished 16th:

“Long day honestly. Really proud of this Sexton Properties Chevrolet crew. Really great stops. Even with a fumble on pit lane, awesome recovery. Kind of kicking myself because I know we were top-10 capable, I just made a mistake in turn five getting into the No. 76. Totally my fault there which cost us on track, then reverting positions which was more time. So overall could have been a good day. Happy to salvage that. Come out of here 10th in points. Looking forward to the ovals.”

David Malukas, No. 4 Clarience Technologies/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet finished 17th:

“Finished up here in Ohio, and, we just can’t have luck this season. Things are just going up, down, up, down. We just can’t get consistency, which is just all I really want, and we’re just struggling to get it. We had a really bad strategy call from the start and kind of just had to put our heads down and deal with it throughout the rest of the race. Had a big fuel-save number. Things didn’t really go our way, unfortunately. Been saying that a lot this season. Hopefully, things can turn around.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet finished 23rd:

“It was a long, hot day inside the Odyssey Battery Chevy, for sure. Felt like we could have finished somewhere between eighth and 12th but had a tire de-laminate on the final run. I don’t know, this has obviously been a very tough year for everyone, but this team doesn’t quit. Team Penske doesn’t have these years often, but we will be stronger because of it, that’s for sure. We are going to Iowa with absolute confidence that we will win there.”

Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet finished 26th:

On what happened:

“An engine failure there. I got hit at the start as well, which should damage the floor, but I think it was going to be okay. It didn’t feel like it’s handling badly. Oh, man. Tough, tough year.

On resetting for the next race:

“Well, we’re doing that every weekend at the moment. Just every weekend at something, but people go through these ones. See it all the time. It’s just, one of those things.”

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet finished 27th:

What happened?

“I either had a massive rear lock up and spun, or I got touched. Initially, it felt like I just locked the rears all of a sudden out of nowhere unexpectedly — or, I got touched. If I didn’t get touched, just a weird freak massive rear lock, which is bizarre. Tough to not be out there. Hopefully, we can fix the car. I don’t think there is a lot of damage. I’d like to get back out there even though we’re out of this thing. It’s a shame having a fast PPG car and support from Team Chevy. I want to be in the mix.”

How do you recover after a string of bad luck?

“You just move onto the next one.”

Christian Lundgaard

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Joined by Alex Palou, who led 75 laps this afternoon, driver of the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, the second runner-up finish of 2025, eighth podium of the season, 39th career, and joined by Christian Lundgaard who started second, came home third, driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, fourth podium of the season and seventh of his career.

Q. Christian, another podium for you. Your thoughts on your day today?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, we saw Mr. Perfect here make a mistake. You don’t see that very often. I think the day was pretty good. Alex seemed to have a little bit more pace than we did.

This morning I woke up kind of thinking it was going to be a two-stop race. I think obviously Dixon kind of proved that.

This morning, I think we showed that we were able to get the number that we needed with the pace, but again, you need the rest of the race to fall your way for that to work out, and we were unsure what Alex was going to do, and we decided to kind of follow him, and I think if we would have stayed with our gut, we could have potentially come away with a better result, but at the end of the day, we’re on the podium.

I nearly went off the same lap, same corner as he did. I don’t know what I was looking at, trying to see the 10 car. But yeah, still on the podium, so that’s good.

Q. Christian, do you feel like things are really clicking now? We talked about yesterday halfway through your being able to show your potential, which I think we saw with the other team and maybe it was a little bit behind where you thought you should be. Do you feel like now we’re ready for the — Iowa coming up next week, somewhere you’ve been fast but the results haven’t been there?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I think you look at Indy Road Course, we were one of the fastest cars. We missed the pit out commit line, had a drive through, the results gone. Road America we were on the same strategy as Felix but ahead of him and he finished second.

So clearly I think the pace has been there and the results were going to be there. We’ve made some silly mistakes. So I think this weekend it’s just nice to have it on paper and stack up those points.

But I think going into Iowa next weekend, it’s going to be all about qualifying, and I think the two of us here can kind of agree on that, and I think both of us will agree on that. It’s about having a good qualifying car and just being fast enough in the race and obviously score as many points as possible during those two races in Iowa.

Q. Christian, because you’re on a different team and because that race has a different sponsor this is going to be your first trip to Iowa where you’ve got plenty of free time to do stuff instead of sponsor appearances —

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Let’s see. Let’s see.

Q. But that’s got to be a unique thing for you to not be the face of that race?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I made the mistake once of winning the race before that weekend. That didn’t help my freedom, I would say. But I would say going back, I think all of us at least used to like the racing. I don’t know about you, but at least before they repaved it, I thought the racing was quite awesome, and I think after the repave, I think it’s a lot more just single-file racing, and I think we would prefer some more double-lane racing in that sense.

ALEX PALOU: I hope so, yeah, but I think it’s going to be single file unless something changes.

Chevrolet at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Chevrolet wins at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 12

2024 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren
2022 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske
2021 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2020 Race #1 – Will Power – Team Penske
2017 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2016 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske
2014 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing
1993 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske
1992 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske
1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1990 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1988 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Patrick Racing

Chevrolet poles at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 13

2022 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren
2021 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2020 Race #1 – Will Power – Team Penske
2019 – Will Power – Team Penske
2017 – Will Power – Team Penske
2016 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske
2015 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing
2014 – Sebastien Bourdais – KV Racing Technology
2013 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Global
2012 – Will Power – Team Penske
1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1990 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske

Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 34

Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by driver: Will Power (7), Emerson Fittipaldi (4), Michael Andretti (3), Josef Newgarden (3), Al Unser Jr. (3), Mario Andretti (2), Scott McLaughlin (2), Simon Pagenaud (2), Sebastien Bourdais (1), Christian Lundgaard (1), Rick Mears (1), Pato O’Ward (1), Bob Rahal (1), Danny Sullivan (1) and Paul Tracy (1).

Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by team: Team Penske (19), Newman Haas Racing (6), Galles Racing (4), Arrow McLaren (2), Chip Ganassi Racing (1), KV Racing Technology (1) and Patrick Racing (1)

Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 1034

Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by driver: Will Power (178), Emerson Fittipaldi (168), Michael Andretti (152), Scott Dixon (67), Pato O’Ward (52), Scott McLaughlin (49), Mario Andretti (44), Sebastien Bourdais (38), Ryan Hunter-Reay (30), Juan Montoya (30), Simon Pagenaud (23), Paul Tracy (23), Al Unser Jr. (11), Helio Castroneves (6), James Hinchcliffe (2), and Danny Sullivan (2)

Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by team: Team Penske (573), Newman Haas Racing (196), Chip Ganassi Racing (67), Patrick Racing (63), Arrow McLaren (52), KV Racing Technology (38), Andretti Global (32), Galles Racing (11), and Ed Carpenter Racing (2)

INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturer Championships (since 1979)

Chevrolet-Powered Wins in the Twin-Turbo 2.2L V6 Era (2012-present)

Chevrolet-Powered Wins (All-time)

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

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