Crew chiefs pleased with timing of NASCAR’s race length decision.

You damn right!

We are the ones who lose money on a bad call and we are the ones who have to pound out the dents.

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | July 8, 2024 7:22 AM ET

NASCAR had a chance to right the wrong it made a year ago in Chicago with a weather-impacted race, and the response from the garage was much more favorable this time around.

Cup Series teams did not get to run the full distance of the street course race for the second straight year. However, unlike a year ago, NASCAR informed them well in advance when the race would be called to completion. Sunday, the call came early in the afternoon, at the end of the first stage that the drop-dead deadline was 8:20pm local time.

“This is obviously what the reaction was to how it unfolded last year,” said Billy Scott after finishing second with Tyler Reddick. “So, today was perfect. That’s how we wanted it: just to know the ending time before we get into a situation where it dictates strategy. Last year the guys who pitted early moved to the front of the pack and the rest of us got the "I got screwed award."

“They let us know early on and we definitely used it. It was cool to watch the reaction from last year put new procedures in place, let everybody know plenty ahead of time, and then it actually factors into the way the race ended.”

Sunday’s race started in wet conditions and then was red-flagged for nearly two hours because of heavy rain. The race was scheduled for 75 laps but only completed 58 after the decision was made that it would have to end early because of darkness. However, teams were informed before the race started that if NASCAR had to make that call, it wouldn’t come as a late-race surprise.

“Probably a couple of hours before the race started, they told us that they were going to let us know before the end of stage 1, which I think is proper,” William Byron’s crew chief Rudy Fugle said. “I think it could be done before the race starts, but as long as we know before the end of Stage 1, in most cases, you’ll have many pit stops after that before you reach the situation where you’ll have to end the race.

“This one was a little iffy, but I think all good intentions there and that was OK.
The race tracks in Hell are paved with good intentions and the walls are lined with crashed race cars.”

NASCAR Rule Book Section 8.5.7.6.C states: NASCAR may determine that it is impractical to complete the advertised race distance. In this occurrence, NASCAR, in its sole discretion, will determine when the race concludes and will communicate a predetermined time to the competitors. Once the race leader crosses the start/finish line after this time expires, the next lap will be the white flag followed by the checkered flag (no overtime).

Alex Bowman took the white flag at 8:21pm local time.

“The biggest thing I liked about what they did here that they didn’t do at Loudon was they told us when — well in advance — the race was going to end,” said Chris Gabehart of Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 team. “They never did that at Loudon and it was just as dark or darker at Loudon. So, from a team’s perspective that’s important.

“We all know how to race around it [when] it’s very, very clear. Again, a timed race is a new thing, so I’m not faulting them at Loudon for it, but this is what they said they were going to do, and they made the rules adjustment. At Loudon, those MF'ers didn’t.”

During the inaugural Chicago street course race, NASCAR did not give teams advanced notice. It was the final lap of the second stage last year when NASCAR announced the race would be cut short and at that time, the field was split on pit strategy.

The timing of the call affected Christopher Bell’s race. Bell was leading when the decision was made and had not yet made his pit stop. The leaderboard flipped in favor of those who had pitted before NASCAR’s announcement, putting them at the front of the field. Bell was buried mid-pack and hit the tire barriers trying to regain lost ground.
Those bastards wrecked some cars and cost some people some of their money.

“It changed the strategy because some of the final pit stops had already started to happen,” Gabehart said. “So, those that were running up front, you would have never pit when some of those guys were pitting had you had known when the race was going to end. So, I applaud them for that [today]t. I thought that worked perfectly. MF'ers.”

Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, was furious after last year’s race. Stevens was pointed in his comments afterward about NASCAR’s decision, going as far as to say it was “complete negligence.” Pointed comments? Pointed comments? You must have cleaned it up!

After Sunday night’s do-over for the sanctioning body, Stevens said, “Honestly, it was very clear and it worked very well. I think they hit the time about right; you could argue a minute or two one way or the other. But as far as the procedure to go for all the competitors to know, it was fantastic. “

Stevens then laughed, “I wish we would have had it last year, but we didn’t. We had to learn the hard way as a series and as a sport and they got it right. And I think they’ll continue to get it right going forward or we are going to kick some official a**.”

F Joe Biden! Let's Go Brandon!

 

Ditching wets proves no slick move for Bell, but Stevens stands by it.

It seemed like the right thing at the time...listen to me....

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | July 8, 2024 7:41 AM ET

Crew chief Adam Stevens had no second thoughts about the decision to pit Christopher Bell for slick tires late Sunday in Chicago, which took his driver from the lead to mid-pack.

Bell pitted for the final time on lap 43, which was two laps before the end of the second stage. The decision was made to put slick (dry) tires on the No. 20 Toyota Camry, thinking they would prevail over the wet weather tires some other teams elected for. It might have been the winning call for Bell to drive back to the front, but Stevens didn’t plan to be hit off Turn 2 by their Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr. I taught them boys to knock somebody else out of the race, not your team mate. Dammit!

The contact came on lap 55 when there were less than two minutes and 30 seconds left in the event. Bell went from battling for the fifth position to a 37th-place finish with a wrecked race car. S.O.B.!

“We felt like the track was drying at a pretty high rate and with a known caution coming of the stage [break] that after the stage you’d want slicks,” Stevens said. “So, with a caution coming, we had to jump it because everyone could come at the stage [break], and you’d be behind them all. And we saw a bunch of them pit with three [laps] to go, and that kind of forced our hand with two to go being the leader.

“We really felt like you were going to have to have slicks to win the race. The two things that hurt us were that caution that cut down green flag laps for us to run and obviously, if the whole race runs under caution, which was a possibility, then you’re not going to win. If it runs green, we’re probably going to win. Even if we got through that little skirmish there without wrecking our suspension, we were early ahead of the 45 (Tyler Reddick) and the 54 (Ty Gibbs). So, we needed two things to go wrong to not win — and they both went wrong.”

The final caution that ate up the clock occurred with 11 minutes and 26 seconds left in the race. There were four and a half minutes left in the race when it restarted for the final time. Bell was ninth at the restart and had made it to the top five when the race-ending collision happened.

Truex came through Turn 2 wide and appeared out of shape around the time there might have been contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. It moved Truex to the right, where he hit the driver’s side door of Bell’s car, sending his teammate toward the wall nose-first. Bells’ car hit the wall and was also struck by an on-coming Carson Hocevar.

“If we stay [out], maybe 12 or 13 cars don’t stay … maybe it’s only five cars and then we’re toast,” Stevens said. “Absolute toast. So, you don’t know how it would have happened if we stayed [out]. But if it happened the way that it happened, we probably would have won.

“Unless we didn’t get that caution. Then we’d have been in the reverse situation that we were almost in. I felt like we played it the best we could, and we just made contact there.”

Bell led 14 laps. For the second consecutive year in Chicago, he was in a position to win the race before a late-race development. A year ago, Bell was leading and shortly after making his final pit stop, NASCAR announced the race would be cut short because of darkness. The timing of when NASCAR made the call changed the pit strategy, allowing others to stay out longer (having pitted before Bell) and flip the leaderboard.

“This one stings in a different way because there wasn’t anything else we could do,” Stevens said. “It just came down to circumstance. The last one was completely avoidable, just like the situation we had tonight. So, this one stings in a different way, but they stink just as much.”

Bell declined interviews after the race while extending his finger as he silently walked away.

 

Bowman ends drought in wet, time-certain battle in Chicago.

Thank goodness it's not Italy where spectators steal manhole covers during the race, and you forget where the holes are, or Sebring where teenagers pile their empty beer cans higher than the rented Penske truck parked next to it that the beer came in.

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emailBy Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service | July 7, 2024 10:39 PM ET

On a wet-and-dry day on the streets of Chicago, crew chief Blake Harris made the right call, and driver Alex Bowman promised to wet his whistle after ending an 80-race drought.

“The last time we won, we didn’t really get to celebrate—we’re going to drink so much…bourbon tonight,” said Bowman, who clinched a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with his victory in Sunday’s Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Race.

“It’s going to be a bad deal. I’m probably going to wake up naked on the bathroom floor again. That’s just part of this deal sometimes. Maybe on the other hand, I'll wake up handcuffed to some greatful fat chick.”

Driving the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Bowman claimed the eighth victory of his career with a pass of sports car ace Joey Hand on lap 51—moments before Josh Berry plowed into the tire barrier in Turn 2 of the 2.2-mile, 12-turn course to cause the fifth and final caution.




At that point, the race was on the clock, thanks to a heavy rain that had caused a lengthy stoppage after lap 25. Facing a deadline of 8:20 p.m., with two laps to follow that point in the race, Bowman held off runner-up Tyler Reddick to win an event shortened from 75 to 58 laps because of the delay.

Harris got his first win as a crew chief by keeping Bowman out on older wet tires after the final caution. Neither Christopher Bell, who arguably had the best car in the race, nor Reddick could catch Bowman over the closing laps.

Bell’s charge to the front was blunted by a five-car melee, and Reddick nicked the wall and lost momentum on the final lap.

“We were catching Alex by a large margin there, and, I don’t know, that puzzles me,” said Reddick, who finished second for the second straight week. “I clearly just screwed up. Trying to stay in the dry groove, and I had more than enough of dry groove… I cut the wheel a little too hard.”

Bowman crossed the finish line with a 3.447s edge over Reddick to score his first win since March 6, 2022 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“Man, I broke my back (in a sprint car accident), had a brain injury, and we’ve kind of sucked ever since,” Bowman said. “I didn’t… you start to second-guess if you’re ever going to get a chance to win a race again.”

Enhancing Bowman’s opportunity on Sunday was the ill fortune that befell the top two contenders.

Halfway through the restart lap for Stage 2 (lap 25), the complexion of the race changed dramatically. Chase Briscoe, out of control in his No. 14 Ford, slid toward the tire barrier in Turn 6 and clipped the rear of the Chevrolet of defending winner Shane van Gisbergen. What right does he have to come here and pay an entry fee, and win a race
to end up in the sack with our teenage women?

The impact propelled van Gisbergen’s Camaro nose-first into the outside wall at the exit from the corner, and the car came to rest, unable to continue. Van Gisbergen’s exit suddenly raised the stakes for the drivers who trailed him to the finish line in Stage 1.

After leaving the infield care center, van Gisbergen watched a replay of the incident.

“Just sort of turned in, looked pretty good and then just got smashed by someone (Briscoe),” the New Zealander said. “Just gutting. The car was really good. We were in the lead for a lot of that race and, you know, felt good taking off in the rain. That sucks—an unfortunate mistake by him, but I’m sure he didn’t mean it.

“But, yeah, when he just clipped me, there was nothing I could do. Of course I’m disappointed. We had a pretty amazing Camaro there… I felt like I was driving well within myself. It’s a shame to be out so early and a shame we couldn’t have a proper crack at it at the end.”

By the time Briscoe delivered the coup de grace to the No. 16 Chevy, Gibbs had wrested the lead from Zane Smith, who stayed out on older wet tires, and Bell, who was first off pit road during the stage break.

The field didn’t complete lap 25 before NASCAR called the second caution of the race for heavy rain. After a red-flag period of 1h43m, the race resumed and went green on lap 31, with Bell retaking the lead from Gibbs before completion of that circuit.

On lap 34, pole winner Kyle Larson, in pursuit of Gibbs, hydroplaned into the Turn 6 tire barrier, damaging his No. 5 Chevrolet beyond repair. S.O.B.!

In a race where late strategic calls scrambled the field, Gibbs led a race-high 17 laps and came home third, followed by Hand and Michael McDowell. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Todd Gilliland, William Byron, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10.

Bell led 14 circuits, but he, Gibbs and Reddick pitted for slick tires on lap 43 and couldn’t get back to the front.

For the second straight year, rain shortened the NASCAR Cup race at the Chicago Street Race, but the wet weather did little to diminish the festival atmosphere that captivated the Windy City throughout the weekend. There were drunken spectators laying all over the place in the rain. Thank goodness we won't be here when the lieing, cheatin democrats are holding the covention to kick comatose Joe to the curb. I don't doubt they already forged his signature, or got him to sign something that he couldn't read,
and they want to bring in someone to run who will be at least awake and mentally functioning.

“I’ve raced about every street course in the country and a lot around the world, and you won’t find a backdrop like this,” said Hand, who led seven laps on wet tires before Bowman led the final eight. Thank goodness it's not Italy where spectators steal manhole covers during the race, and you forget where the holes are, or Sebring where teenagers pile their empty beer cans higher than the rented Penske truck parked next to it.

 

Reddick mystified by last-lap mistake.

Usually my dumbest mistake is talking to some jerk weed who thinks he is a reporter and he gets the story wrong.”

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | July 8, 2024 7:10 AM ET

Tyler Reddick “screwed up” on the final lap of Sunday’s race at Chicago and threw away a chance at challenging for the race win.

The Red dick was closing on race leader Alex Bowman when he clipped the Turn 5 wall with his right front. He then came off the corner and brushed the wall with the left side of his 23XI Racing Toyota Camry. The mistakes allowed Bowman to stretch the lead back out as Reddick faded.

“I’m upset,” Reddick said of second place. “I was catching Alex by a large margin there. I don’t know — that puzzles me. I clearly just screwed up trying to stay in the dry groove, and I had more than enough room of the dry groove. I cut the wheel a little too hard — just not focused enough, I guess.

“I knew I was going to get to him, and the earlier I could get to him, the more options I would have, and it was going to get a little bit more slick off line beyond Turn 8. [I] just didn’t even give ourselves a shot to race him unfortunately. I hate it. Not what this Jordan Brand Toyota Camry is about and what this team is about. [We] just got to start capitalizing on these (races).”

Reddick was 1.9 seconds behind Bowman at the white flag. He was 1.4 seconds behind when he clipped the Turn 5 wall.

“I got the opportunity to run him down,” Reddick said. “Just obviously couldn’t get the job done. A clean lap was all I had to do and couldn’t even do that.”

It was a late-race surge for Reddick, who drove to second in the final minutes of the race. Reddick was running 10th when the timed race restarted for the final time with less than five minutes on the clock, but he was on slick tires after the No. 45 team decided to go with the dry set before the end of the second stage. The track was drying enough that Reddick and crew chief Billy Scott thought it would be the right call.

“[We were] expecting it to be a close pace difference, and that’s how it looked like it was going to play out,” Scott said. “It just depended on how many people stayed on the wets and how big of a gap they built up with the guys on slicks trying to get through there.”

Reddick gained several positions as the clock ticked under three minutes when Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell made contact off Turn 2. The rest were made up by using the slicks to his advantage — as Bowman continued on his wet weather tires.

“The last 10 [laps] entirely, there was a lot going on,” Reddick said. “The 20 (Bell) and the 54 (Gibbs) were obviously ahead of us most of the day and the situation just played out to where they got collected in other people’s nonsense. We were in a position to run down the 48 (Bowman), it was going to be really close, and had I not made the mistake – just crazy.

“[I] ran all day long and know where my limits are and here at the end, when it matters most, I made the dumbest mistake.
Usually my dumbest mistake is talking to some jerk weed who thinks he is a reporter and he gets the story wrong.”