NASCAR SERIES

welcome race fans to krazyaboutracing.com

we are now in our 23RD year of having the most complete motorsports coverage on the world wide web

(HOME) (LOCAL RACING) (DRIVER BIO PAGE) (TRACK BIO PAGE) (PREVIOUS NEWS) (PREVIOUS RACING) (SITE NEWS) (MEET THE STAFF) (HALL OF FAME) (MONTHLY NEWSLETTER) (THE OLD'N DAYS) (SPECIAL EVENTS) (MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS) (ANNUAL AWARDS) (CONTACT US) (DRIVER & TEAM RELEASES) (LOCAL TRACK NEWS) (MULTIMEDIA)

for more coverage on the series click on the series lOgo

nascar cup series

NASCAR cup series

www.nascar.com

NASCARCelebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2023, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

Shane van Gisbergen completes rare weekend sweep in Chicago

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

CHICAGO—Once again, Shane van Gisbergen asserted his superiority on the streets of Chicago, and in doing so, he matched a major NASCAR milestone.

In winning the Grant Park 165 on the Chicago Street Course, the New Zealander completed a weekend sweep of the NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Cup races, both from the pole position.

Taking the checkered flag under caution, after Cody Ware plowed into the Turn 6 tire barrier as van Gisbergen charged through Turn 12 on the next-to-last lap, SVG matched Kyle Busch’s sweep of both races from the pole at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July of 2016. No other driver has won races in NASCAR's top two divisions from the pole on the same weekend.

The three-time Australian Supercars champion said he was panicked at the possibility of a caution and potential overtime after Ware’s wreck, but he reached the start/finish to start the final lap before NASCAR called the caution.

“What an amazing weekend for me,” said Van Gisbergen, who drove the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to his second Cup victory on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn circuit, his second win this season and the third of his career.

“Lucky guy to drive some great cars. I thank Trackhouse, WeatherTech Chevy and all these guys and girls here—what an amazing weekend. Thanks everyone for coming out, and hope we put on a good show.”

Ty Gibbs ran second, equaling his career-best finish at Darlington last year. Tyler Reddick restarted 15th on fresh tires with nine laps left and climbed to third before he ran out of time.

Van Gisbergen took the lead for the final time on Lap 60, moving to the inside of front-running Chase Briscoe in Turn 2, racing side-by-side with the recent Pocono winner through Turn 3 and out-braking him into Turn 4 to gain the top spot.

From that point, SVG had to survive two cautions and restarts, the first to get an ambulance across the track for a spectator medical emergency and the second for Austin Cindric’s stalled car.

After that sixth yellow, Gibbs, running second, didn’t get a strong launch on the final restart and fell a car-length behind before reaching Turn 1. SVG pulled away from the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from that point on.

“Well, it really depends on the restart zone, because it's right in that last corner, and the dude on the outside gets shafted every single time,” said Gibbs, who restarted on the outside approaching Turn 12.

“If you watch every one of them, the inside guy wins almost every time. He just got a good enough gap, had a good restart. I had a little bit of rear tire degradation that didn't really help me on my launch off the corner. (He) just got a good gap and got away from me.”

For Reddick, the race was a case of déjà vu. Last year he chased race winner Alex Bowman with a faster car over the closing laps and finished second.

“We kind of ended up in a tough spot there on the penultimate restart, I guess,” Reddick said. “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. I got behind those cars that we were on the same tire strategy as, 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.”

For the first time in the three years of the Chicago Street Race, weather in the form of rain didn’t play a role—but anticipation of possible thunderstorms did.

As the race neared conclusion, fog and storm clouds began to roll in from the north, but rain didn’t reach the track until after the checkered flag.

“The strategy was a bit all over the place, as we knew it would be today, racing the weather, racing cars and different (pit) stops,” Van Gisbergen said. “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 (sponsor) WeatherTech in Victory Lane for their home race.”

Michael McDowell got past SVG at the start of the race and led the first 31 laps, but he had to take his car to the DVP (damaged vehicle policy) area to repair a stuck throttle and lost 22 laps in the garage.

A massive eight-car crash on Lap 3 blocked the track between Turns 10 and 11 and forced a stoppage of 14 minutes, 42 seconds. Carson Hocevar started the melee when he clipped the inside wall in Turn 10 and crashed into the opposite wall with enough force to move the Jersey barrier.

Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet turned sideways, and the cars of Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suarez, Todd Gilliland, Will Brown and Riley Herbst piled into the wreck. Only Herbst and Suarez were able to continue.

“I didn’t see it until the last second,” Keselowski said. “I slowed down, and I actually felt I was going to 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.”

Keselowski’s early exit made a winner of 32nd seed Ty Dillon in the In-Season Challenge. Dillon will face Bowman in next Sunday third-round event at Sonoma Raceway, after Bowman traded shot after shot with his Chicago opponent, Bubba Wallace, until Wallace spun in the closing laps to lose the head-to-head battle.

John Hunter Nemechek finished 15th, one spot ahead of Chase Elliott, to eliminate the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet from the In-Season Challenge. Nemechek will face Erik Jones, who advanced when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. retired after colliding with a tire barrier.

Ryan Preece ran seventh and eliminated 30th-place finisher Noah Gragson. He’ll face Reddick, who ousted Hocevar. Gibbs prevailed over sixth-place finisher AJ Allmendinger and will race against Zane Smith at Sonoma.

Smith came home 14th and knocked out 18th-place Chris Buescher, who ran most of the race with an engine down on power.

Series leader William Byron was out of the race with a broken clutch after one lap and finished 40th. His lead in the standings over second-place Elliott shrank to 13 points.

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Grant Park 165

Chicago Street Race

Chicago, Illinois

Sunday, July 6, 2025

1. (1) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 75.

2. (9) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 75.

3. (4) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 75.

4. (40) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 75.

5. (6) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 75.

6. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 75.

7. (7) Ryan Preece, Ford, 75.

8. (11) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 75.

9. (30) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 75.

10. (22) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 75.

11. (12) Joey Logano, Ford, 75.

12. (17) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 75.

13. (14) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 75.

14. (26) Zane Smith, Ford, 75.

15. (25) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 75.

16. (39) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 75.

17. (21) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 75.

18. (8) Chris Buescher, Ford, 75.

19. (33) Katherine Legge, Chevrolet, 75.

20. (36) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 75.

21. (31) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, 75.

22. (28) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 75.

23. (5) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 75.

24. (13) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 74.

25. (34) Erik Jones, Toyota, 74.

26. (35) Cody Ware, Ford, Accident, 73.

27. (27) Austin Cindric, Ford, 72.

28. (37) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 70.

29. (18) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 69.

30. (24) Noah Gragson, Ford, 68.

31. (32) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 62.

32. (2) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 53.

33. (23) Cole Custer, Ford, Accident, 29.

34. (29) Josh Berry, Ford, Accident, 28.

35. (3) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, Accident, 2.

36. (10) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 2.

37. (15) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 2.

38. (20) Todd Gilliland, Ford, Accident, 2.

39. (19) Will Brown, Chevrolet, Accident, 2.

40. (38) William Byron, Chevrolet, Clutch, 1.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 66.764 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 28 Mins, 17 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 15 laps.

Lead Changes: 6 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: M. McDowell 1-31;S. Van Gisbergen # 32-41;A. Allmendinger 42-43;R. Blaney 44-46;C. Briscoe 47-59;S. Van Gisbergen # 60-75.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Michael McDowell 1 time for 31 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen # 2 times for 26 laps; Chase Briscoe 1 time for 13 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 3 laps; AJ Allmendinger 1 time for 2 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 71,8,45,19,60,1,42,38,33,4

Stage #2 Top Ten: 12,19,45,48,23,11,9,42,43,20

Shane van Gisbergen completes sweep of Chicago streets with NASCAR Cup pole

Logan Riely/Getty Images

July 5, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

CHICAGO—Road course superstar Shane van Gisbergen pulled of the second qualifying double of his fledgling NASCAR career during Saturday’s time trials on the Chicago Street Course.

After securing the pole position for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race, Van Gisbergen blitzed the rest of the field on his final run for the top starting position in Sunday’s Grant Park 165 on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn street circuit (2 p.m. ET on TNT, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Van Gisbergen posted a respectable lap on his second run, only to see it surpassed by recent Pocono winner Chase Briscoe. But Van Gisbergen responded with a lap at 88.338 mph (89.656 seconds) to beat eventual second-place qualifier Michael McDowell (87.879 mph) by 0.468 seconds, a huge margin in the competitive Gen-7 environment.

The Busch Light Pole Award was Van Gisbergen’s first on the Chicago Street Course, his second this season and the third of his career. Last fall, he swept the Cup and Xfinity poles at the Charlotte Roval.

“I’m a lucky boy—I got some great cars today,” said the three-time Australian Supercars champion. “Xfinity pole, Cup pole—pretty special. Hopeful for the race tomorrow.

“Practice wasn’t that great, and I went out in qualifying, and the car felt really good ... I learned a lot in the Xfinity car this morning, and that just gives you a great leg up for the Cup car.”

Carson Hocevar, McDowell’s Spire Motorsports teammate, will start third after a lap at 87.824 mph. Tyler Reddick claimed the fourth spot on the grid, followed by Briscoe, who was second fastest behind Van Gisbergen in the first of two qualifying groups.

Hocevar and Reddick are head-to-head opponents in the In-Season Challenge, with the second round to be contested in Sunday’s race.

Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs and Austin Dillon claimed the sixth through 10th starting positions respectively. Defending race winner Alex Bowman will start 11th.

There will be plenty of speed at both ends of the field. Denny Hamlin blew the engine in his No. 11 Toyota on his first practice lap and did not make a qualifying run. Neither did William Byron, who slammed the outside wall with less than a minute left in practice—after setting the fastest time in the session.

Chase Elliott also sustained damage to his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and did not qualify. Byron, Elliott and Hamlin will start 38th, 39th and 40th respectively on Sunday.

Bubba Wallace, facing an In-Season Challenge matchup against Bowman, spun twice and backed into a Turn 2 tire barrier during time trials and will start 37th.

Katherine Legge will be the first female driver to compete in the Chicago Street Race after knocking the unchartered car of Corey Heim out of the field late in the Group B session. Legge earned the 33rd spot on the grid with a lap at 85.744 mph.

Chase Elliott breaks drought with electrifying victory at EchoPark Speedway

Krista Jasso/Getty Images

June 29, 2025

By Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. – Timing his pass on the last lap to perfection, Georgia native Chase Elliott charged past Brad Keselowski and held off the driver of the No. 6 Ford to win Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Echo Park Speedway.

The popular victory in the first event of the NASCAR Cup Series’ In-Season Challenge broke a 44-race drought for Elliott dating to last year’s win at Texas Motor Speedway. The win was the second at EchoPark for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and the 20th of his career.

Elliott crossed the finish line 0.168 seconds ahead of Keselowski and 0.170 seconds in front of teammate and third-place finisher Alex Bowman.

The 29-year-old from Dawsonville, Ga., advanced to the second round of the five-race in-season tournament, eliminating first-round opponent Austin Dillon, who finished 20th.

In a race that featured 46 lead changes among 13 drivers, Elliott got a welcome push from Bowman on the final two laps, stranding Keselowski with no help for a final charge.

"Unbelievable... unbelievable. How about that? Are you kidding me?” Elliott said with an uncharacteristic display of emotion. “I've never in my life... This is unbelievable. Thank you guys so much.

“What a special car, and just a huge thanks to [sponsor] NAPA Auto Parts and everything they do for me and to benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. [Cancer patient] Rhealynn Mills designed the fast NAPA Chevrolet tonight, so this was a lot of fun. This right here is something I'll never forget."

In the closing laps, Elliott was quick to seize the opportunity that came his way.

“Well, I just think that, honestly, all the cards fell on the right places there those last couple laps,” he acknowledged. “What a crazy race, man. I don't know if y'all had fun, but it was wild from my seat. I'm so glad we got to run that thing out there to the end.”

Keselowski led 46 laps, including circuits 255-259 of 260, and advanced past 21st-place finisher Kyle Busch in the In-Season Challenge, but he had no defense for Elliott’s final push.

“The 9 [Elliott] just had the 48 [Bowman] behind him giving him a huge push, and there was nothing I could do to cover that,” Keselowski said. “When we had our cars linked up at RFK [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing], we could do the same thing, but we lost that, and it was just kind of a two-on-one, and I fought as hard as I could.”

Tyler Reddick came home fourth, followed by Erik Jones. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Zane Smith, Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10.

The 18th event of the Cup Series regular season got off to a slow start that belied the intense action that would come later in the proceedings. A delay for a light rain stopped the race for 14minutes, 34 seconds after 36 laps, with Joey Logano out front for the entire stint after starting from the pole.

After the resumption to green-flag racing on Lap 49, the first of two major wrecks was just eight circuits away. On Lap 57, Christopher Bell turned sideways near the apex of Turns 3 and 4, igniting a seven-car wreck that sent the cars of Bell and Ryan Blaney to the garage for attempted repairs.

“I saw a couple guys spinning and slowing,” Blaney said. “I got to the apron and there was really nowhere else for me to go but the apron. I tried to get there and get clear of it, but they kind of came down and got me in the right-rear and I ended up in the fence.

“There was no missing that one.”

That was just the appetizer. One the backstretch after a restart on Lap 69, Buescher lifted to avoid running into then-leader Chase Elliott and the field accordioned behind him, sending cars spinning out of control and into each other.

In a wreck that inflicted varying degrees of damage on 22 of the 40 cars, the vehicles of Ross Chastain, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry and Corey LaJoie all found their way to the garage—several on wrecker—a result of the 16-car pileup.

Byron exited in 36th place.

“There wasn’t really a whole lot I could see,” said the two-time Daytona 500 winner. “I was kind of catching the No. 22 [Logano] with a little bit of a run. All the guys at the front had pitted during the stage break and cycled to the mid-20s.

“We were just running a great race in the top five. They all stacked up and at that point, I went right a little bit; the wreck was already happening, and I just kind of got shoved into it.”

Needless to say, the two major incidents had enormous implications for the In-Season Challenge. Hamlin, the top seed, fell victim to 32nd seed Ty Dillon in the biggest upset of the opening round.

“For all you Denny fans out there, I just beat your favorite driver,” Dillon quipped afterwards, borrowing from one of Hamin’s signature phrases.

Second-seeded Briscoe was ousted by close friend Noah Gragson, who survived the major incidents and finished 25th. Byron bowed out to Ryan Preece, who finished 15th.

Joining Elliott, Keselowski, Ty Dillon, Preece and Gragson in advancing to the second round of the Challenge were Bowman, Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek, Jones, Hocevar, Reddick (eliminating Kyle Larson), AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs and Smith.

The race featured 10 cautions for 68 laps. Logano led twice for a race-high 51 laps before exiting after the Lap 69 crash. Austin Cindric won the first stage. Reddick edged Elliott for the Stage 2 win by 0.001 seconds.

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Hampton, Georgia

Monday, June 30, 2025

1. (15) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 260.

2. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 260.

3. (9) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 260.

4. (23) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 260.

5. (26) Erik Jones, Toyota, 260.

6. (37) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 260.

7. (8) Zane Smith, Ford, 260.

8. (14) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 260.

9. (13) Chris Buescher, Ford, 260.

10. (30) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 260.

11. (36) Connor Zilisch(i), Chevrolet, 260.

12. (21) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 260.

13. (39) Cody Ware, Ford, 260.

14. (16) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 260.

15. (5) Ryan Preece, Ford, 260.

16. (38) BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 260.

17. (11) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 260.

18. (32) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 260.

19. (7) Cole Custer, Ford, 260.

20. (12) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 260.

21. (29) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 260.

22. (24) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 258.

23. (22) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 257.

24. (35) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 257.

25. (27) Noah Gragson, Ford, 252.

26. (19) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 241.

27. (17) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 237.

28. (20) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 223.

29. (40) David Starr(i), Ford, Accident, 184.

30. (28) Christopher Bell, Toyota, Steering, 114.

31. (33) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 72.

32. (2) Josh Berry, Ford, Accident, 70.

33. (34) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 69.

34. (31) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 69.

35. (10) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, Accident, 69.

36. (1) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 69.

37. (18) William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 69.

38. (4) Austin Cindric, Ford, Accident, 68.

39. (25) Corey LaJoie(i), Ford, Accident, 68.

40. (3) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 56.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 111.792 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 34 Mins, 54 Secs. Margin of Victory: .168 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 10 for 68 laps.

Lead Changes: 46 among 13 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J. Logano 1-48;A. Cindric 49-51;J. Logano 52-54;A. Cindric 55-63;C. Elliott 64-73;C. Buescher 74-76;T. Gibbs 77-85;R. Herbst # 86;T. Reddick 87-88;C. Buescher 89-91;T. Gibbs 92-113;T. Reddick 114-119;A. Bowman 120-122;C. Buescher 123;A. Bowman 124-130;C. Buescher 131-134;A. Bowman 135-136;C. Buescher 137-140;A. Bowman 141-146;C. Elliott 147-149;T. Reddick 150-152;C. Elliott 153-157;T. Reddick 158-164;C. Elliott 165-171;A. Bowman 172;C. Elliott 173;A. Bowman 174-183;B. Keselowski 184-187;J. Haley 188-190;T. Gibbs 191;R. Preece 192-194;C. Elliott 195-201;B. Keselowski 202;C. Elliott 203-208;B. Keselowski 209-224;C. Elliott 225;B. Keselowski 226-237;Z. Smith 238;B. Keselowski 239-243;A. Bowman 244;B. Keselowski 245-247;Z. Smith 248-250;A. Bowman 251-252;Z. Smith 253;R. Stenhouse Jr. 254;B. Keselowski 255-259;C. Elliott 260.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Joey Logano 2 times for 51 laps; Brad Keselowski 7 times for 46 laps; Chase Elliott 9 times for 41 laps; Alex Bowman 8 times for 32 laps; Ty Gibbs 3 times for 32 laps; Tyler Reddick 4 times for 18 laps; Chris Buescher 5 times for 15 laps; Austin Cindric 2 times for 12 laps; Zane Smith 3 times for 5 laps; Ryan Preece 1 time for 3 laps; Justin Haley 1 time for 3 laps; Riley Herbst # 1 time for 1 lap; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 2,6,22,24,77,47,21,88,9,23

Stage #2 Top Ten: 45,9,17,48,43,10,88,38,42,6

Joey Logano wins NASCAR Cup Series pole at EchoPark Speedway on tiebreaker

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

HAMPTON, Ga. – Joey Logano led an armada of Fords into the top eight starting spot for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Logano clocked in at 30.979 seconds (178.960 mph) in Friday’s qualifying session to secure his first Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his third at EchoPark and the 32nd of his career.

Logano matched the time posted earlier by Josh Berry of Wood Brothers Racing, but the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford got the nod for the pole on an owner points tiebreaker.

Ryan Blaney posted the third fastest lap at 178.937 mph, followed by Austin Cindric at 178.626 mph, as Team Penske drivers and the Penske affiliate Wood Brothers locked out the first two rows for Sunday’s race, the opening round of the 32-driver In-Season Challenge.

Logano faces ninth-place qualifier Alex Bowman in the first round.

“Being up front and controlling this race is the name of the game,” said Logano, who won last year’s second Atlanta race, which was held in September. “If you can get up there and solidify the top position, I feel like you can stay there. The thing is, there are a lot of ‘What ifs?’ that play out in this race, a lot of cautions that may be timed in a different way, where it can jumble up the field.

“It’s hard to say you’re going to be leading every lap… The good thing is that we controlled what we could today. I’m super proud of Team Penske, Roush Yates (Engines), Ford, obviously to keep our Mustangs up there. It really shows the ability to repeat from car to car, which is really hard to do.

“We tied with the 21 (Berry) and the other cars were within a couple hundredths of a second.”

Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, Cole Custer and Zane Smith completed the Ford sweep of the top eight starting spots.

Bowman drove the fastest Chevrolet to ninth on the grid, and Pocono Raceway winner Chase Briscoe was 10th in the quickest Toyota.

Denny Hamlin, top seed in the In-Season Challenge, qualified 33rd but expects his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to fare better in race trim. Nevertheless, Hamlin starts 19 spots behind Ty Dillon, the driver he has to beat to advance to the second round of the tournament.

Briscoe, the second seed, starts 17 positions ahead of close friend Noah Gragson, his first-round opponent.

Qualifying was interrupted by a 30-minute lightning hold, but no rain hit the track despite storms in the area.

Shane van Gisbergen has raised the bar in NASCAR road racing

July 7, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

CHICAGO — There’s a line about the pinball wizard in the Who’s rock opera “Tommy” that goes “What makes him so good?”

After Sunday’s Grant Park 165 on the Chicago Street Course, race fans, pundits and competitors alike were asking the same thing about Shane van Gisbergen.

The statistics speak for themselves. On road courses in the NASCAR Cup Series, Van Gisbergen has posted a win, two top fives and five top 10s. Most recently, he won the Mexico City race by an amazing 16.567 seconds over runner-up Christopher Bell.

On the Chicago Street Course (not included in road course stats), he has two victories in three attempts.

His numbers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series are even more daunting. In five road course starts, he boasts two victories and four top fives.

SVG has won the two Xfinity races he has run on the Chicago Street Course, both from the pole. On Sunday, he completed a weekend sweep of the Xfinity and Cup races, having won the pole for each event.

Kyle Busch, who finished fifth in Chicago, is the only other driver to have swept an Xfinity/Cup weekend after winning the pole for both races, a feat he accomplished at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July 2016.

Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks, who fielded the No. 88 Chevrolet Van Gisbergen drove to victory on Sunday, had his own ideas about the New Zealander’s superiority.

“For me, in my experience driving race cars for 20 years, it's his racing IQ,” said Marks, an accomplished road racer himself. “It's how strategic he can think while he's on the limit of the race car.

“A lot of drivers, it takes all of your mental bandwidth to drive the car fast, and Shane is one of these guys that can drive the car at the limit but be thinking bigger picture stuff. He knows where he is in the race, and he knows how to… he's great at managing his tires, his equipment, all that kind of stuff.”

Clearly, SVG’s talents are ideally suited to the streets of Chicago.

“I think for his talent profile specifically, street races are just… they come very, very naturally to him,” Marks said.

“He's got a lot of experience doing it in the V8 Supercars series, but I think in races like this, where everybody is working so hard just to get the apexes and get out of the corner in the right way and all of that, he does that just naturally while he's thinking about bigger picture stuff, so he can really put the whole race together in a super impressive way.”

Stephen Doran is the crew chief who sets up the Cup cars to Van Gisbergen’s liking.

“You watch him, and he's like a machine out there,” Doran said. “He makes no mistakes, and he just waits until somebody misses an apex in front of him and he pounces on them.

“He just drives through the field. You saw it (Saturday) and (Sunday). His laps are so consistent, and that's part of why he saves his tires so well.”

There’s more to it than that. SVG is a three-time champion in Australian Supercars, a gritty series where no quarter is given. That same series also honed the skills of Marcos Ambrose, who enjoyed significant success on road courses after coming to NASCAR racing in 2006.

Fellow competitors saw how Van Gisbergen was willing to run JR Motorsports teammate Connor Zilisch wide in Turn 1 after the decisive restart in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.

Cup driver Tyler Reddick took note.

“Obviously, I saw what Shane was willing to do to win the race on Saturday, and for us needing a win to lock ourselves into the Playoffs, I would have raced really hard, because I think he would have done the same,” said Reddick, who finished third after chasing Van Gisbergen and runner-up Ty Gibbs over the closing laps on Sunday.

“But it didn't happen, but we can all dream and speculate what it could have been.”

Remarkably, SVG has adapted almost instantly to the road course versions of both the Gen 7 Cup car and the Xfinity car—two vastly different platforms.

To rise to Van Gisbergen’s level of excellence on road and street courses, competitors in both series not only have to sharpen their road racing skills but also must adopt a take-no-prisoners mentality to match his level of determination.

Otherwise, “What makes him so good?” will continue to be an often-asked question.

Chicago Street Race is a high-stress affair for NASCAR Cup drivers

CHICAGO—The Chicago Street Course isn’t a typical road course.

In fact, it isn’t even a typical street course, given the level of treachery in several of the high-speed corners—notably Turns 1, 5 and 6.

There is no margin for error in those corners. Miss the apex by a small margin, and you’ll head straight into tire barriers, with little hope of continuing without assistance.

“Yeah, it's different in its own way,” said Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen, who won the inaugural Chicago Street Race in his 2023 NASCAR debut. “The hardest part here is the no runoff ... like Turn 1 and Turn 5. Going straight into a wall at the biggest braking zones is pretty daunting.

“So, yeah, normally you have runoff in the tricky corners, so that's probably the hardest part about this place.”

Defending NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano, who finished eighth in the inaugural Chicago Street Race and 23rd last year, acknowledged the risk inherent in turning high-speed laps on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn circuit.

“When you look at Turns 1 and 6, you have no runoff, so there aren’t many street courses that I know of at least, where you have long straightaways with literally no runoff, so the risk is huge here,” Logano said. “When you go to push it, you send it in there a little bit too far, and we’ve seen that’s where a car goes straight right into the tire barrier.

“You don’t have the ability to make mistakes and just turn around and get back going again. It’s a little different than other road courses, where a lot of times you’ll maybe overdrive the car to find the limits in practice and stuff like that. You can’t afford to do that here.”

Road course ace Michael McDowell agreed that the layout of the circuit puts extraordinary stress on the NASCAR Cup Series drivers, who will compete in the Grant Park 165 on Sunday (2 p.m. ET on TNT, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“There’s just a very condensed schedule,” McDowell said. “So I feel like you’re at that 80-85 percent in practice, and you’re getting your rhythm, and you are hitting your marks, then you’re pushing yourself a little bit more and a little bit more.

“Then you go qualify, and you throw all that out the window and just put it on the edge. You have to do that for a few laps here, I feel like. So it’s an adrenaline rush, but it is stressful though.

“You never feel like you put your guard down, you stay very tense, you stay very locked in that high level of concentration, because it’s an inch left or right and you miss it. But it’s fun when you get it right.”

Future of Chicago Street Race is still up in the air

The current contract between NASCAR and the City of Chicago ends with this year’s Grant Park 165 Chicago Street Race (2 p.m. ET Sunday on TNT, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

There’s a two year mutual option that could extend the event, if both NASCAR and the city deem it worthwhile to do so.

As of yet, nothing has been decided.

“We have those two option years, and we’ve had great conversations with the city,” said Chicago Street Race president Julie Giese. “Our focus is on July 5 and 6 (this year).

“We have some time after the race to have those conversations, so we’re just going to focus on having the best street race we possibly can.”

Denny Hamlin, pole winner for the inaugural race, advocated for the return of the event next year.

“I personally would like to see them do everything they can to keep it here,” Hamlin said. “I'd like to see the city rally behind this race. I could just tell you that non-racing fans at the hotel I'm staying at are talking about the race. I think that it's certainly got some sort of economic impact to the city itself.

“We're certainly exposing some new fans to this. I think it's very important. I think you try everything you can to get this thing back here in Chicago, because I believe it is an important place for us. I still would like to see Chicagoland (Speedway), not as a substitute for this race. I'd like to see us run both.”

Chicagoland, a 1.5-mile intermediate speedway in Joliet, Ill., last hosted a NASCAR Cup Series race in 2019.

Ty Dillon likes his chances in second round of In-Season Challenge

After upsetting top seeded Denny Hamlin in the first round of the In-Season Challenge last Sunday at EchoPark Speedway, Ty Dillon fired the parting shot heard ‘round the NASCAR world.

“For all you Denny fans out there, I just knocked your favorite driver out,” Dillon said, borrowing a turn of phrase Hamlin himself made famous.

Dillon, the 32nd seed, acknowledged Saturday that he had planned the trash talk after Hamlin crashed out of the Atlanta race on Lap 69.

“It was planned when I knew he was eliminated,” Dillon said. “When I knew we had him, I told (pit reporter) Mamba (Smith) for the interview, I said, ‘Hey, give me a second after this interview, I got something to say.’

“So, somewhat spontaneous, I guess you could call it that, but it was there. It was always there, and I just wanted to lean into it a little bit.”

Dillon will face 17th seed Brad Keselowski in the second round on the Chicago Street Course, and he likes his chances against the 2012 series champion.

“Honestly, I feel good,” he said. “We're going to do our best starting today and all through the race tomorrow to put pressure on him. This is a place that, if you feel like you can pressure people, they can make mistakes.

“Obviously, you're seeing in practice in Xfinity cars, a little bit more (aggression) can get you in a lot of trouble. And I enjoy road course racing. We ran really good in Mexico City, another one of the races that we ran up front. A lot of people credit it to being good in the rain, but we also ran really well when it turned dry, too.”

It’s Alex Bowman vs. Bubba Wallace in Chicago—in more ways than one

When NASCAR Cup drivers take to the streets of Chicago for the third race in the Windy City, one of the focal points will be the battle between Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace.

Bowman is the defending winner of Sunday’s Grant Park 165 (2 p.m. ET on TNT, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is matched against Wallace in the second round of the In-Season Challenge.

Coincidentally, Bowman and Wallace are the two drivers directly above the current elimination line for the Cup Playoffs. Bowman is 39 points to the good. Wallace is 23 points above the cutoff.

Bowman advanced to the second round of the Challenge on the strength of a third-place finish last Saturday at EchoPark Speedway outside of Atlanta. The truth is that Bowman had little to worry about after his first-round opponent, Joey Logano, was eliminated in a 22-car pileup on Lap 69.

“I’ll take it for, for sure, and we’ll keep on digging at it,” Bowman said after the race.

Wallace, on the other hand, moved on simply by keeping his car on the track after his opponent, Daniel Suarez, was KO’d by the same wreck that ousted Logano. Wallace finished 22nd, but that was good enough to advance.

Though the In-Season Challenge will be the short-term focus for both Bowman and Wallace, the over-arching goal is to make the Playoffs. The grim reality is that both are on shaky ground in that regard.

There are eight races left in the regular season. As things stand now, two more unique winners currently below Bowman and Wallace in the standings could eliminate both drivers, should they fail to win a race.

For argument’s sake, let’s say AJ Allmendinger wins one of the three road course races left in the regular season—Chicago, Sonoma or Watkins Glen (where he claimed the first of his three Cup victories in 2014).

And let’s say Erik Jones triumphs in the final regular-season event at Daytona, where he has won before. Those circumstances, clearly hypothetical, would put the Playoff chances of the bubble drivers in dire peril.

A victory in any of the next eight races, however, solves the problem, and Bowman is eager to defend his win from last year.

“Going back to Chicago is pretty special,” Bowman said. “That win last year was huge for me and this 48 team. It was one of those races where everything came together at the right time.

“The street course is such a unique challenge, and the atmosphere is unlike anything else we see all year. I’m excited to get back there, defend that win, and hopefully keep building momentum for the Playoff push.”

Between Bowman and Victory Lane is the formidable presence of Shane van Gisbergen, who won the inaugural Grant Park 165 in his NASCAR debut in 2023. SVG, who won last year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Chicago, crashed out of the 2024 Cup event in last place, but he expects to be a contender on Sunday.

"We should be very strong this weekend,” Van Gisbergen said. “I know everyone is going to be better. Last year was a big step up on competition, and I know this year will be, too.

“We just have to continue to focus on us. We've prepped very hard, spent last week's simulator time on Chicago, so hopefully we get there this weekend and are solid.”

Note: Ty Gibbs, Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch are the only three drivers to have finished in the top 10 in both Chicago Street Races. Rain tires were used in each of the first two events.

Shane van Gisbergen goes for second straight NASCAR Xfinity win in Chicago

Given the level of competition, it’s premature to concede Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race to Shane van Gisbergen, but the New Zealander nevertheless brings plenty of swagger to The Loop 110 on the Chicago Street Course (4:30 p.m. ET on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

"It's just like the tracks I've grown up racing on,” Van Gisbergen said of the 2.2-mile, 12-turn circuit. “In Supercars there are a lot of street circuits on the schedule, so I'm comfortable with the walls.

“It's similar to a few tracks that I raced in Australia, whereas most of these guys aren't used to street circuits. Just something I'm comfortable with and have spent many years racing.”

Complicating SVG’s push for a second straight NASCAR Xfinity Series win, however, is the presence of Connor Zilisch, who will turn 19 on July 22. A road course phenom in his own right, Zilisch won his first career Xfinity Series race last year at Watkins Glen.

In three road course starts in the series, the driver of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet has three poles and two victories, the second one coming in March at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Zilisch is looking forward to pitting his skills against those of the three-time Australian Supercars champion.

“SVG and I are good buddies,” Zilisch said. “I’ve never really had the opportunity to race head-to-head with him. We’re going to be in the same cars, so it’s going to be up to the driver.

“It’s a track that Shane has a little more experience on, but I love street courses. I’ve won races on street courses (in Mazda MX-5 Cup), so hopefully I can pick up Chicago quickly and have a shot at it.”

Upsets at EchoPark dominate first round of In-Season Challenge

June 30, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

It didn’t take long to bust every bracket in NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Challenge.

The first two stages of Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway took care of that. A seven-car wreck on Lap 57 and a colossal 22-car incident 12 laps later wiped out most of the top choices to win the $1-million top prize in the five-race tournament.

The No. 11 Toyota of top seed Denny Hamlin sustained severe damage in the massive Lap 69 wreck, paving the way for 32nd seed Ty Dillon to advance to the second round at the Chicago Street Course.

Clearly, Dillon enjoyed prevailing in the matchup almost no one thought he would win.

“I’m pretty pumped about our day, and, oh, one more thing: all you Denny fans out there, I just knocked your favorite driver out,” Dillon crowed with a broad smile on his face, turning one of Hamlin’s pet phrases back on the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

In fact, Dillon didn’t back into his head-to-head victory over the pre-tournament favorite. The driver of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet took the checkered flag in eighth place.

According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Dillon also was eighth-best in average running position at 12.55.

“I have to thank (team owner) Matt Kaulig and (team president) Chris Rice for giving me an opportunity of a lifetime,” said Dillon, who will face Brad Keselowski in the second round. “These are the best cars I've ever driven, and we're building confidence and momentum week in and week out.

“We've had a lot of speed this year and just haven't gotten the results, and it's nice to get the result on a day like today. We're building confidence and this is a great start to continue our climb.”

Hamlin was one of three Gibbs drivers to bow out in the first round. Christopher Bell turned sideways in Turn 4 to ignite the seven-car accident on Lap 57, sustained serious damage and eventually retired from the race in 33rd place, losing his matchup to Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Second-seeded Chase Briscoe was gobbled up in the 22-car melee and lost his matchup to close friend Noah Gragson, the 31st seed.

That leaves Ty Gibbs carrying the banner for JGR. With a 14th-place run, Gibbs eliminated Justin Haley and will face AJ Allmendinger in an intriguing battle of proficient road course racers at Chicago.

Chase Elliott’s wildly popular victory and Alex Bowman’s third-place finish kept two Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the running, but other organizations fared better.

Led by Keselowski, the race runner-up, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing advanced all three of its drivers to the next round. Ryan Preece eliminated William Byron, another victim of the Lap 69 wreck.

“It was a fun thing while it lasted,” Byron said after a trip to the infield care center. “Now I’m out of it, so whatever. I’ll just go and try to win Chicago.”

RFK’s Chris Buescher, the highest remaining seed at No. 3, moved past wreck victim Todd Gilliland and will face off against fellow Ford driver Zane Smith in the Chicago Street Race.

Smith advanced past Austin Cindric of Team Penske, easily the most star-crossed organization at EchoPark Speedway.

All three Penske drivers—Cindric, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano—as well as Josh Berry of Team Penske affiliate Wood Brothers Racing were eliminated in accidents.

Those four drivers had locked out the first two rows during qualifying, with Logano taking the pole position, and all four were gone early in the second stage.

Asked how many brackets he thought had been busted, Berry replied, “I’m sure a lot. I mean, coming here, you knew that was probably going to happen.

“Everybody thought they had it figured out, but they weren’t planning on that.”

Conventional wisdom says the Chicago Street Race should be more predictable than the wild, random action at Atlanta, as drivers steam toward the $1-million top prize in the In-Season Challenge.

Sadly, even if the Chicago race follows form, the corresponding $1-million prize for picking a perfect bracket already is off the table.

The chaos at EchoPark ended the quest for perfection quickly and decisively.

nascar reviews & NOTEBOOKS

www.nascar.com

Celebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2023, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

nascar cup series

2025 NASCAR CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

Date	Race / Track
Sunday, February 2	Clash (Bowman Gray)
Sunday, February 16	DAYTONA 500
Sunday, February 23	Atlanta
Sunday, March 2	COTA
Sunday, March 9	Phoenix
Sunday, March 16	Las Vegas
Sunday, March 23	Homestead-Miami
Sunday, March 30	Martinsville
Sunday, April 6	Darlington
Sunday, April 13	Bristol
Sunday, April 27	Talladega
Sunday, May 4	Texas
Sunday, May 11	Kansas
Sunday, May 18	North Wilkesboro (All-Star Race)
Sunday, May 25	Charlotte
Sunday, June 1	Nashville Superspeedway
Sunday, June 8	Michigan
Sunday, June 15	Mexico City
Sunday, June 22	Pocono
Saturday, June 28	Atlanta
Sunday, July 6	Chicago Street Race
Sunday, July 13	Sonoma
Sunday, July 20	Dover
Sunday, July 27	Indianapolis
Sunday, August 3	Iowa
Sunday, August 10	Watkins Glen
Saturday, August 16	Richmond
Saturday, August 23	Daytona
Sunday, August 31	Darlington
Sunday, September 7	World Wide Technology Raceway
Saturday, September 13	Bristol
Sunday, September 21	New Hampshire
Sunday, September 28	Kansas
Sunday, October 5	Charlotte Roval
Sunday, October 12	Las Vegas
Sunday, October 19	Talladega
Sunday, October 26	Martinsville
Sunday, November 2	Phoenix (Championship)

ALL LOGOS ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF THE RACING SERIES AND ARE USED FOR EDITORIAL PURPOSES ONLY

ALL PICTURES ARE PROPERTY OF THE RACING SERIES AND ARE USED FOR EDITORIAL PURPOSES ONLY

NO PART OF THE SITE CAN BE COPIED OR REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION OF MOTORSPORTSGARAGE PRODUCTIONS

This site is dedicated to my dad " Hoot" who introduced me to the great sport of auto racing............. rest in peace DAD

larry criss....................A true race fan LIKE AN UNCLE TO ME

gary lee.................auto racing broadcast legend and personnel friend

charlie patterson ............my old friend that supported me when mo one else did

Carroll Horton .......................................life long friend and indy car owner

Judy Morris.................... a true race fan

todd shafer..............."a rock n roller" with a love for racing!

FOLLOW US on