NASCAR pleased with "positive" first street race - Kennedy

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | July 3, 2023 9:35 AM ET

Ben Kennedy felt the inaugural Chicago street course event was a “remarkable” and “historic” weekend for NASCAR.

Sunday’s race around the 12 turn, 2.2-mile course saw the best in NASCAR’s top series battling wet conditions and a new environment, with Shane van Gisbergen capping off the event by claiming the win in his first NASCAR start.

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“I would say, first of all, a huge thank you to the city of Chicago,” said Kennedy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing development and racing strategy. “The city showed up so well today from the backdrop on NBC to the energy among the fans in the city and the crowds. It was certainly remarkable to see. (We) really appreciate the collaboration with the city, the various departments, obviously Choose Chicago, the sports commission, everyone involved.“A lot of credit to Julie Giese and the entire team here in Chicago that have been working on this every single day since we announced on July 19 of last year getting this event ready for this weekend and Four Leaf Production, as well. Certainly, a neat event. Good to see a first-time winner in Shane and as a fan, it was a lot of fun to watch.”

The weekend went off seemingly without significant issues. And from when cars were first on track Saturday for practice and qualifying, interest around the course was evident as fans who didn’t have a ticket tried to get a look any way they could.

On Sunday, heavy rain delayed the start of the race. However, those in attendance still seemed to be enjoying the event. Fans flocked to the areas around the course as well as pit road and the garage afterward.

“A lot of people seemed like they were having a really good time,” Kennedy said. “Obviously, we’re going to have a very deep dive post-mortem after this event. A lot of surveys will go out collecting a lot of feedback. Of course, there were a lot of things that went according to plan; there were some things that didn’t go according to plan, obviously with the weather.

“We’re going to have a lot of takeaways from this weekend, which I think will be really good, but from what I’ve seen so far, certainly from the fans and from a lot of folks in the industry has been positive.”

Newly elected Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson was in attendance Sunday and spent a lot of time with NASCAR executives and industry members throughout the week. Kennedy said Johnson welcomed NASCAR to the city with open arms.

“He came to the race today,” Kennedy said. “Had the chance to speak at the drivers’ meeting, as well. The relationship with the Johnson administration has certainly been strong, as well as his staff, and then I’d say to add on to that, the relationship with Choose Chicago and the sports commission, Kara Bachman and everyone on that team.

“If you go back two or three years of us trying to put this event together and the planning process, a lot of folks were here today that were with us from the very start in some of those early conversations.

“It was neat to see them. Some of them were actually down in victory lane kind of taking in the moment and soaking it all in, because I know NASCAR and the industry put a lot of effort in, but the city certainly put a lot of effort into this event and it showed.”

 

Van Gisbergen tears through Cup field to win first time out on streets of Chicago

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emailBy Mark Glendenning | July 2, 2023 10:15 PM ET

Sunday morning, you had to look back 60 years to Johnny Rutherford at Daytona in 1963 to find the most recent driver to win on their NASCAR debut. You had to go back 50 years, to Mark Donohue’s 1973 Riverside win, for the last victory by a NASCAR ringer. And on the day when NASCAR’s Cup Series raced on a street course for the first time, both of those clocks were reset after three-time Australian Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen claimed the win on the streets of Chicago.

In a race that started late due to historic levels of rainfall flooding the track, was cut short by 25 laps due to fading light, and then forced into overtime by a late caution, the New Zealander nailed the final restart and kept the pursuing Justin Haley at bay to seal the win.

“You always dream about it,” he said after he climbed from Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 Chevrolet. “What an experience. This was so cool. This is what you dream of. Hopefully I can come to do more. The racing was really good, everyone was respectful. It was tough, but really fun.”

Van Gisbergen had been among the lead pack for most of the first part of the race, but the big turning point came during a caution on lap 42 when a large group of cars that were running toward the back decided to gamble on the race ending early and made their stops.

They didn’t have to wait long for that gamble to pay off: on the very next caution a few laps later the series announced that the race would be cut 25 laps short, and all of the leaders found themselves buried in the pack after they made their own stops.

That strategy call vaulted Haley – who’d started last after a crash in practice sidelined him from qualifying – into first place with Chase Elliott leading the pursuit.

Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, was stuck in 17th, but he made good progress through the traffic and with 10 laps to go he was running fifth – and 0.5s per lap quicker than the cars ahead. On lap 67 he got around Elliott for third, but his pursuit of Haley was stunted by the eighth of the race’s nine cautions, triggered in this case by Martin Truex Jr finding the tires.

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NASCAR mandated single-file restarts through the entire race due to the slippery conditions which meant the Kiwi couldn’t attack Haley immediately at the restart… so he waited until Turn 2 instead. He got the spot, and then had to defend an immediate counterattack from Haley before using the crossover to put the No. 31 Kaulig car into his mirrors at Turn 4. From there it was just a matter of not making any mistakes. That bastard called me a KIWI fruit so I'm calling him a c**k****er!

 

In losing, Haley still beats the odds in Chicago

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | July 3, 2023 8:22 AM ET

Justin Haley battled a repaired race car, mental demons and a three-time Supercars champion on the way to an impressive and improbable runner-up effort in Chicago.

Haley put his Kaulig Racing team behind Saturday when he hit the wall in practice for the Chicago street course race. It was the unfortunate result of the No. 31 team choosing the wrong shock package and struggling in braking zones.

The damage kept Haley from qualifying, and he started in the rear of the field. It also led to plenty of repair work for the team, which included Haley, who wrapped half of his Chevrolet himself.

“I thought that was pretty cool,” Haley said.

Once Sunday’s race started, Haley felt he had a good pace. Haley averaged a 17th-place running position and largely stayed out of trouble.

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Haley’s race changed when the decision was made to shorten the race distance. NASCAR officials made the call at the end of the second stage, and Haley, who had previously made a pit stop, stayed out and inherited the race lead.

Multiple cautions in the final stage allowed Haley to make it on fuel. but having the fuel and track position weren’t going to be enough to send Haley to victory lane.

“Shane [van Gisbergen] was just better,” Haley said. “He had 16 or something laps better tires. Just a world-class racer. He was very precise and very smooth. He wasn’t overdriving it. He was very calculated. For someone to come in and race like that was just incredible. Very clean, as well.

“Our race for the lead was clean and he gave a lot of room and very respectful. Great day for our finish, Chevrolet, and everyone at Kaulig Racing, the 31 team. I felt like where we’re at right now as an organization, we’re just trying to get better.

“This is my and the team’s second full-time season and unfortunately, I haven’t been in a position like that legitimately to try to hold off championship-caliber drivers. I’ve just never found myself in that position early in my career. I was definitely battling some demons in my head there, just trying to stay focused and trying to get to the finish. But I felt like my lack of experience and his better tires were just how he won today.


“I don’t feel like it was a complete loss. We still finished second. Definitely wish I would have been better but that just comes down to being in that position more often.”

If the tough weekend wasn’t bad enough, Haley didn’t have the best prep coming into it. Not that it was by choice.

Kaulig Racing, according to Haley, is not a manufacturer-supported team “to an extent.” Haley only got 20 minutes of time on the simulator ahead of his first street race, which was Thursday night at 9pm.

“That’s all I had,” he said. “Just what we’ve built at Kaulig Racing, Matt Kaulig, Chris Rice, everyone has just done an amazing job, and it shows that this car has leveled the playing field. I can’t imagine how much sim time Shane had, but I had 20 minutes. I don’t know if it would have helped or not.

“When you sit back at the end of the night and think about what we don’t have compared to the other teams and that we’re just starting to blossom as a race team, it’s just incredible. I feel like we’re realistic of where we need to be. AJ [Allmendinger] has put together some great runs. But it’s a fight.

“This is a tough race series and every week it’s tough. Definitely enjoy it when we do run up front. That doesn’t mean that we can take tomorrow off, though.”

 

Kyle Busch proud to bounce back after early shunt in Chicago

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | July 3, 2023 10:02 AM ET

Kyle Busch’s fifth-place finish in Chicago seemed unlikely when he was windshield-deep in the Turn 6 tire barrier on the second lap of the race, but fortune turned his way.

“It’s just unfortunate getting caught up in the barriers and going back that far, but we all dug in and gave it everything we had to rebound and come back,” Busch said. “I wish it was done more in the way Shane [van Gisbergen] was able to do it where I was passing guys and coming up from the back, back to the front, but I definitely lost confidence after putting it in the tire barrier in my braking zones for the rest of the day, and I had a lot of lockup issues today, too.

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“I don’t know what was going on with my brakes. (It was) different from (Saturday). I just could find not find the right rhythm with it until late. Probably the last 10, 15 laps I really felt like I was clicking some better times off and rolling forward.”Turn 6 is a left-hander at the end of a high-speed straightaway, and Busch was along for the ride when he went for a long side into the tire barrier on a wet surface as his rear tires locked up on lap 2.

Despite the optics of the hit, Busch’s car suffered minimal damage. Busch didn’t even pit after being pulled out from the tire barriers and only came down pit road when the race restarted because his Richard Childress Racing team needed to replace some hood pins.

“I was just hopeful that the radiator wasn’t busted,” Busch said. “I guess this is an instance where I’m thankful these cars are built so tough because if it was the old car, I would not have made it. Well, maybe. I don’t know.

“It looked a lot similar to (Chase Elliott) and what he did at the Roval on one of those laps where he got in the tire barriers in Turn 1. It wasn’t too terrible of a hit. I knew I was going in – I was trying everything to get it crooked so I could hit it flat side, with my side, but I could not get it to rotate. Just augered it right on in there like a lawn dart.”

The incident dropped Busch to last place and he spent much of the afternoon without track position and buried deep in the field. When NASCAR officials made the decision after the second stage to shorten the distance of the race because of darkness, the outlook changed for Busch and his team.

Busch had already made a pit stop since the No. 8 team had a feeling darkness was going to come into play, so the decision by NASCAR played into him being able to stay on track when the majority of the field pitted to finally gain track position and attempt to make the finish. A rash of cautions in the final stage helped aided Busch’s cause.

“We had a hand dealt to us there late in the going where we thought about the race getting shortened and pitting and getting ahead of some of those guys,” Busch said. “So we did that and was able to flip the field and get ourselves back up front.

“(It was a) real good effort for us and our No.8 3CHI Chevy. Proud to come out of here with a top 5 and continue our top 5 strings on these road courses.”

 

Chicago 'light years better than I expected' - Hamlin

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | July 3, 2023 8:26 AM ET

An up-and-down day in Chicago could have left Denny Hamlin lamenting an 11th-place finish, but the Joe Gibbs Racing driver found plenty to be pleased about.

Hamlin started from pole position in the inaugural street course race for the Cup series. But on lap 3, things when sideways when Hamlin slid sideways through Turn 2 and bounced off the tire barrier. The incident dropped Hamlin to 12th and set him behind for the rest of the afternoon and he didn’t lead a lap or earn stage points.

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Honestly, I was terrified of running in the wet, to begin with,” Hamlin said. “I didn’t know what I was doing and just drove in there and went too far and slid right in there. Luckily, it didn’t really cause any damage it just coughed up my track position … and that was a killer because our car was an absolute rocket.”

Hamlin bounced off the tire barrier with the driver’s side of his No. 11 Toyota. So minor was the contact and damage, it didn’t faze Hamlin.

“I thought I hit at like 5 miles an hour, I didn’t think it was very much at all,” he said. “There was a bunch of guys who piled in head-on into the barriers that kept on racing, so these cars are pretty tough.”

It was a fairly uneventful rest of the afternoon for Hamlin and his team, although he did run into Alex Bowman in Turn 11 on lap 41. Hamlin said that was more to do with treacherous track conditions in that corner.

Overall, he appeared content with how the day unfolded. There is no telling how it would have played out if the race could have finished the full distance or if NASCAR officials had called the shortened distance at a different time.

“(The day) wasn’t so bad until everyone got flipped,” Hamlin said. “Everyone that didn’t even know the end of the race was coming ended up going to the front. So basically, all the slow cars in the back pitted, and then it worked out because of the change in the end of the race.”

Was Chicago a missed opportunity? A day of what could have been? Not so much for Hamlin.

“This is light years better than I expected,” Hamlin said. “The team’s performing, the car has speed. My speed. I hate that we finished 11th, but it’s like, (expletive), this is the best we’ve freakin’ run on a road course ever in my career. So, there’s a lot of positive.

“We still got to execute. We were really fast at Sonoma too, but nothing like we were today. But man, I’m looking forward to the Indy road course. Crazy enough to say.”

 

‘Wish we could have run all the laps,’ Chicago Xfinity winner Custer says

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emailBy Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service | July 2, 2023 3:22 PM ET

Drenching rain and standing water on the Chicago street course forced NASCAR to declare Cole Custer the winner of The Loop 121 NASCAR Xfinity Series race three laps short of halfway and five laps short of the completion of Stage 2.

Custer had led all 25 laps of NASCAR’s first-ever street course race before lightning strikes in the area on Saturday caused NASCAR to red flag the race and then to postpone completion until Sunday morning. But the rain persisted, forcing NASCAR’s hand.

“It’s been an awesome weekend overall,” said Custer, who drives the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. “The whole event, the whole thing that NASCAR’s put on here — the whole city — it’s been pretty unreal… The course is such a blast to drive.

“Today, we definitely wish we could have run all the laps. We don’t want to win it this way, but at the end of the day, we had a really fast car. I think everybody knew that.”

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This marks the first time NASCAR has declared a winner short of the halfway point or the end of the second stage, the two benchmarks for an official event (with the second criterion in effect starting in 2020 after the advent of stage racing, which was introduced in 2017).NASCAR issued a statement explaining the decision to curtail the race:

“With standing water and flooding a significant issue at the racetrack and throughout the city, there was no option to return to racing prior to shifting to NASCAR Cup Series race operations. Throughout the entire planning process for the Chicago Street Race, our relationship with the City of Chicago has been strong and among the most valuable assets in reaching this historic weekend.

“In the spirit of that partnership, returning on Monday for the completion of a NASCAR Xfinity Series event two laps short of halfway was an option we chose not to employ. Based on several unprecedented circumstances, NASCAR has made the decision to declare Cole Custer the winner of the race.”

The victory was Custer’s second of the season, the 12th of his career and his 10th straight top-10 finish this season.
John Hunter Nemechek now leads the Xfinity points after his second-place finish. Rusty Jarrett/Motorsport Images

John Hunter Nemechek finished second and leads the series standings by 16 points over Austin Hill, who was credited with a fifth-place result. Nemechek clearly was impressed with the spectacle of NASCAR’s first street race.

“Racing downtown on the streets of Chicago was pretty amazing,” he said. “The whole experience, the atmosphere and how many fans were here — I give a lot of props to everyone at NASCAR. Everyone involved with the Chicago street course did an amazing job. Riding around under caution yesterday, being able to see all of the fans lined up three or four rows deep along the fence with no open spots was incredible. Probably one of the best attendances we’ve had so far this year in the Xfinity Series.

“The race went OK for us. I ran P2 from the drop of the green flag until lap 25 when they called it (Saturday). We needed a good stop to be able to make an adjustment and have a shot to contend with Cole for the win and just never had that opportunity. We’ll take that second place, and we’ll move on from it.”

Justin Allgaier finished third and Brett Moffitt fourth. Sammy Smith, Daniel Hemric, Chandler Smith, Parker Kligerman and Kaz Grala earned positions six through 10, respectively.

 

NASCAR Race Highlights: Chicago Street Course

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In their 75th anniversary season, NASCAR takes to the streets of Chicago for the first street course race in the sports history where ultimately history would be made with a shocking first time winner. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17 minute version

 

The entire race....

Grant Park 220 | NASCAR Cup Series Full Race Replay

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Relive the Grant Park 220 from Chicago Street Course in this week's NASCAR Cup Series Full Race Replay.

 

The Loop 121 | NASCAR Xfinity Series Full Race Replay

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Relive the NASCAR Xfinity Series The Loop 121 from Chicago Street Course in this week's NASCAR Xfinity Series Full Race Replay.

 

Kenny Wallace has a breakdown

My Complete Breakdown of NASCAR's Chicago Street Race!

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Kenny Wallace gives his full opinion on NASCAR's Chicago street race won by Shane van Gisbergen.