CHICAGO – Shane van Gisbergen entered the master class Saturday afternoon, winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Race.
The New Zealander led early and, again, led late to claim his third consecutive road series win and second race win on the 2.2-mile downtown Chicago road.
Fans who endured monsoon-like rain on last year’s inaugural NASCAR visit to the Windy City couldn’t have asked for a better summer afternoon on Saturday. People in the packed grandstands — nearly half took out the first-ever NASCAR event according to Chicago Street Race President Julie Guise — enjoyed the blue skies, comfortable winds and temperatures in the mid-70s.
And they enjoy a very competitive race, with van Gisbergen and Californian Kyle Larson dicing up, door-to-door, front-fender to rear bumper from the drop of the green flag and then van Gisbergen power through the field to claim the lead again in the last lap.
In the end, the 35-year-old van Gisbergen got the No. 1 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. Larson.
“It was amazing, it was a great race,” a grinning van Gisbergen said after kicking the rugby ball into the crowd that cheered like a NASCAR victory celebration.
“It was pretty wild at the end, but I can’t thank Kaulig Racing people enough. It was a great race to start with Kyle (Larson). He was really good at the restart and we made our car better with the second tire, but whooo, that’s fun behind everyone having a good race with everyone.
Van Gisbergen, who also claimed road wins in Portland and Sonoma, California, led 14 laps, as did Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love – most of the afternoon. Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman finished fourth – his best result of the season – and Love was fifth.
The two championship drivers – Larson and van Gisbergen – immediately set the tone, exchanging the lead sometimes three and four times in one lap from the green flag. Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, led the first six laps and van Gisbergen, the three-time Australian Supercars Series champion who won last year’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Chicago, led the next nine laps to claim the Stage 1 victory in the process.
“It’s cool we were waving at each other, thumbs up,” Van Gisbergen said of Larson’s early racing. “It’s respect but his moves are great. He’s amazing on the brakes and in the bumps. It’s really cool. I learned a lot and he probably learned a lot from me. I hope we can race again to win tomorrow.”
Larson, who will start from the pole in Sunday’s Grant Park 165 NASCAR Cup Series race, has been looking forward to the opportunity to race up front with van Gisbergen.
“I had a blast,” Larson said. “Obviously I want to win today, but I want to learn more than anything. I want to fight with him because he is very good at creating shapes and angles and passes. This is my goal and the first opportunity I get. I want to race because I don’t know if I have another chance to race with him.
“My car looked better than his for a lap or two which helped me get close to him and be able to protect him and stuff, but he was better than me.”
Various pit stop strategies set the middle ground for the race. Many — such as Love — pitted during the first stage break on Lap 15. Van Gisbergen, Gibbs and Larson pitted during the caution period later on lap 24. That shuffled the field putting the three early frontrunners playing catch-up in the closing. revolution.
With six laps to go and van Gisbergen leading, his Chevy was hit from behind by Sam Mayer’s Chevy in the corner of Turn 12, forcing van Gisbergen’s Chevrolet to scrape the wall. He fell on the bumpers of the race leaders, Gibbs and Love but remained in third place.
He went around two with three laps to go. And Gibbs said looking back, he probably should have raced van Gisbergen a little more aggressively in the final lap.
“We had a bad pit stop and I think I used my stuff to get back through the field,” said Gibbs, whose team had trouble changing tires. “I would say the end is near.”
Connor Mosack, Austin Hill, NASCAR Cup Series regular Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier and Austin Green rounded out the top 10. It’s Logano’s first Xfinity Series start since 2019. It’s his third top 10 in four career series starts for 23. -Green’s senior year – all coming on the course.
Last year’s Chicago race winner, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, finished 18th despite facing a variety of problems throughout the evening – including a pit stop penalty. He currently has a 38-point lead over JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier in the standings. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith fell to third in the championship after finishing last – 38th – with engine trouble just five laps into the race.
Van Gisbergen’s effort now gives him a series best 17 Playoff points and three wins in the series this year.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series travels back east to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway for next Saturday’s Explore Pocono Mountains 225 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hill is the defending race champion.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Loop 110
Chicago Street Race
Chicago, Illinois
Saturday, July 6, 2024
1. (1) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 50.
2. (4) Ty Gibbs(i), Toyota, 50.
3. (2) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 50.
4. (7) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 50.
5. (8) Jesse Love #, Chevrolet, 50.
6. (3) Connor Mosack(i), Chevrolet, 50.
7. (13) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 50.
8. (15) Joey Logano(i), Ford, 50.
9. (36) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 50.
10. (19) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 50.
11. (11) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 50.
12. (30) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 50.
13. (14) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 50.
14. (28) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 50.
15. (23) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 50.
16. (22) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 50.
17. (32) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 50.
18. (10) Cole Custer, Ford, 50.
19. (5) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 50.
20. (25) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 50.
21. (27) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 50.
22. (35) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 50.
23. (26) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 50.
24. (29) Blaine Perkins, Ford, 50.
25. (6) John Hunter Nemechek(i), Toyota, 50.
26. (37) Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 50.
27. (31) Daniel Suarez(i), Chevrolet, 50.
28. (20) Riley Herbst, Ford, Overheating, 47.
29. (16) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 45.
30. (18) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 45.
31. (21) Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, Accident, 44.
32. (17) Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, Electric, 38.
33. (38) Sage Karam, Toyota, Accident, 37.
34. (12) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Accident, 36.
35. (33) Andre Castro, Chevrolet, Accident, 34.
36. (24) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, Accident, 34.
37. (34) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 15.
38. (9) Chandler Smith, Toyota, Engine, 5.
Average Race Winner Speed: 56.531 mph.
Race Time: 1 Hour, 56 Minutes, 45 Seconds. Margin of Victory: 1.287 Seconds.
Caution Flag: 7 to 16 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leader: S. Van Gisbergen # 1-2;K. Larson(i) 3-5;S. Van Gisbergen # 6-10; K. Larson(i) 11-14;S. Van Gisbergen # 15-18; K. Larson(i) 19-23;S. Smith 24-25; A. Bukit 26-33; J. Love # 34-47;S. Van Gisbergen #48-50.
Summary Leaders (Drivers, Times Lead, Laps Led): Jesse Love #1 time for 14 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen # 4 times for 14 laps; Kyle Larson(i) 3 times for 12 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 8 laps; Sammy Smith 1 time for 2 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 97,17,19,88,00,16,2,21,1,48
Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,8,2,7,18,19,48,1,20,97
–By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Specially for Field Level Media.