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The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts). 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 five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.

Chase Briscoe holds off Christopher Bell for Chicagoland triumph

jordan bachman/Getty Images
July 5, 2026
 
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service 
 
JOLIET, Ill. — It was astute strategy that gave Chase Briscoe the lead in the final stage of Sunday’s eero 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
It was sheer determination that kept him there in a triumphant return to the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway after a seven-year hiatus.
In the closing laps of the 19th NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, Briscoe stayed off the charge of his equally determined Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Christopher Bell, to win for the first time this season, the first time at Chicagoland and the sixth time in his career.
Bell’s pursuit of Briscoe fell short when his No. 20 Toyota tightened up in dirty air on the final lap, allowing Briscoe to power his No. 19 Toyota across the finish line 0.276 seconds ahead of his teammate.
With pole winner Denny Hamlin running third, Joe Gibbs Racing fashioned a 1-2-3 finish for the eighth time in organization history, most recently this season at Nashville Superspeedway. Seven Toyotas finished in the top 10—a high-water mark for the manufacturer in a Cup Series race.
“I feel so American winning in the Bass Pro Shop's Red, White, and Blue car, 4th of July weekend, 250 years,” an elated Briscoe said after climbing from his car. “Man, just what an unbelievable race car. (Crew chief) James (Small) did a great job. Team did a (great) job. Honestly did not see this coming.
“I kind of felt like I was struggling in practice, in qualifying, but James and the group did a great job. Man, just so cool to get this paint scheme back in Victory Lane.”
In the fight for the win, lapped traffic helped Briscoe maintain his edge over Bell.
“I kind of got lucky having lapped cars,” Briscoe said. “I was struggling pretty bad. Christopher was certainly coming. Out of all the people to race against, I knew Christopher was going to be clean with me.
“I thought that was about as good a race as you could get. The cat-and-mouse game, and we were slipping and sliding around. Hopefully, you could see it on TV. So excited to be back in Chicagoland. Hopefully we can be back.”
Bell has led 417 laps this season but has posted four runner-up finishes without a win.
“Yeah, it was a great day,” Bell said despite the obvious disappointment of finishing second. “First race with (sponsor) Saia on the Toyota. We almost went to Victory Lane. Yeah, Toyotas are fast. It seems like a monkey can drive them, so it's just disappointing when you get beat by another monkey…
“I'm just a second-place driver. That's what I am.”
Fourth-place finisher William Byron held the lead, with Briscoe running second, when Briscoe steered his car to pit road for his final stop on Lap 215 of 267. Byron followed suit a lap later, but the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet lost the lead in the exchange.
Briscoe held the top spot for the final 46 laps, as both Bell and Hamlin passed Byron for position in the closing laps.
“A win would have been awesome,” said Byron, who posted his fourth top five finish of the season. “We’ve been craving that for a long time and working really hard to get there. We could kind of taste it there with a couple runs to go.
“We got jumped by the No. 19 (Briscoe) there on that last green flag pit cycle, but I just didn’t quite have the pace that last run to keep up with him, and then those other guys had fresher tires at the end.”
The final stage ran caution-free from a restart on Lap 173—a far cry from the chaos of the first two stages.
The race was barely two corners old when a chain-reaction wreck sidelined star-crossed rookie Connor Zilisch. John Hunter Nemechek’s Toyota forced the Chevrolet of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. into the outside wall as the cars gained speed through Turn 2 after taking the initial green flag.
Collected were the Ford of Ryan Preece and the Chevrolet of Zilisch, which nosed hard into the inside wall, damaging the Camaro beyond repair. For the fourth time in the last seven races, Zilisch was eliminated from an event in last place, in this case 38th.
Preece lost four laps as his car was towed to the garage for new tires, but he returned to action and eventually to the lead lap under a succession of cautions. He finished 32nd.
Kyle Larson's fast car subsequently suffered its own version of rotten luck. Running third on Lap 93, Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet spun sideways in Turn 4 behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron. Larson’s car slid into the infield grass and required a tow truck with a tether to pull it back to the pavement.
Larson lost two laps in the process, dooming his chances to end a 42-race drought. The spin also made Larson, who finished 34th, the loser in his In-Season Challenge matchup against Byron, who led a race-high 94 laps before fading in the late going.
Tyler Reddick soon joined the parade of the unfortunate when an errant splitter stay from another car punched a hole in the radiator of the No. 45 Toyota, forcing a caution for fluid on the track on Lap 134. Reddick drove the car to the garage for a radiator change.
Having surrendered the series lead to 23XI Racing co-owner Hamlin last Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, Reddick lost 29 laps under repairs and fell 44 points behind Hamlin in the series standings.
Alex Bowman ran fifth, his first top five result since finishing third at Texas in May. Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Corey Heim and Riley Herbst completed the top 10.
Advancing to the quarterfinals of the In-Season Challenge were Briscoe over Gibbs, Byron over Larson, Bowman over Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott over Michael McDowell, Hamlin over Erik Jones, Bell over Chris Buescher, Todd Gilliland over Carson Hocevar and Blaney over Shane van Gisbergen.
The race featured 28 lead changes among 13 drivers, with Briscoe leading 51 laps, Wallace 35 and Hamlin 30. There were seven cautions for 43 laps.
The In-Season Challenge continues in next Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta (7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
 
NASCAR Cup Series Race - eero 400
Chicagoland Speedway
Joliet, Illinois
Sunday, July 5, 2026
 
          1. (7)  Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 267.
          2. (6)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 267.
          3. (1)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267.
          4. (10)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 267.
          5. (12)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 267.
          6. (8)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 267.
          7. (14)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 267.
          8. (5)  Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 267.
          9. (28)  Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 267.
          10. (18)  Riley Herbst, Toyota, 267.
          11. (9)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 267.
          12. (31)  Joey Logano, Ford, 267.
          13. (23)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 267.
          14. (26)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 267.
          15. (22)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 267.
          16. (29)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 267.
          17. (11)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 266.
          18. (19)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 266.
          19. (3)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 266.
          20. (27)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 266.
          21. (4)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 266.
          22. (15)  Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 266.
          23. (17)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 266.
          24. (25)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 266.
          25. (30)  Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 266.
          26. (24)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 266.
          27. (32)  Noah Gragson, Ford, 266.
          28. (16)  Zane Smith, Ford, 266.
          29. (38)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 266.
          30. (37)  Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 266.
          31. (33)  Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 266.
          32. (20)  Ryan Preece, Ford, 266.
          33. (34)  Josh Berry, Ford, 265.
          34. (2)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 265.
          35. (36)  JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 256.
          36. (13)  Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 237.
          37. (35)  Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 47.
          38. (21)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, Accident, 0.
 
Average Speed of Race Winner:  126.941 mph.
Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 9 Mins, 18 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .276 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  7 for 43 laps.
Lead Changes:  28 among 13 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   D. Hamlin 1-6;K. Larson 7-18;D. Hamlin 19-34;C. Custer 35;D. Hamlin 36-37;K. Larson 38-48;W. Byron 49;A. Cindric 50-53;J. Logano 54;A. Cindric 55-68;W. Byron 69-85;C. Custer 86;W. Byron 87-90;B. Wallace 91-124;C. Briscoe 125-128;D. Hamlin 129-132;R. Blaney 133-140;*. Yeley(i) 141;W. Byron 142;C. Briscoe 143;W. Byron 144-169;*. Yeley(i) 170;W. Byron 171-215;C. Bell 216;D. Hamlin 217-218;B. Wallace 219;*. Heim(i) 220;T. Gilliland 221;C. Briscoe 222-267.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  William Byron 6 times for 94 laps; Chase Briscoe 3 times for 51 laps; Bubba Wallace 2 times for 35 laps; Denny Hamlin 5 times for 30 laps; Kyle Larson 2 times for 23 laps; Austin Cindric 2 times for 18 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 8 laps; Cole Custer 2 times for 2 laps; * JJ Yeley(i) 2 times for 2 laps; * Corey Heim(i) 1 time for 1 lap; Todd Gilliland 1 time for 1 lap; Christopher Bell 1 time for 1 lap; Joey Logano 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 24,5,23,2,19,17,35,11,54,45
Stage #2 Top Ten: 24,19,11,54,12,20,9,48,2,42
 
Denny Hamlin wins pole position in return to Chicagoland

jordan bachman/Getty Images 

July 4, 2026
 
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service 
 
JOLIET, Ill. — When it comes to oval tracks, Denny Hamlin has established himself firmly on the throne as king of qualifying.
In Saturday’s time trials at Chicagoland Speedway, Hamlin edged Kyle Larson by 0.001 seconds to claim the pole position for Sunday’s eero 400 (6 p.m. ET on TNT, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Hamlin sped around the 1.5-mile intermediate track in 30.296 seconds (178.241 mph). Larson, who ran later in the qualifying order, fell just short at 178.235 mph.
The Busch Light Pole Award was Hamlin’s fourth of the season, his first at Chicagoland (which hasn’t hosted a NASCAR national series race since 2019) and the 52nd of his career, breaking a tie with Ryan Newman for ninth all-time.
Hamlin, the 2015 Chicagoland winner, won poles at the previous two oval tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, Michigan International Speedway and Pocono Raceway. He is the only driver to win poles at both Chicagoland Speedway and the Chicago Street Course (2023).
“I’m the Chicago master—what can I say?” Hamlin quipped.
In fact, Hamlin considered himself lucky to win his third straight oval-track pole, having gotten the benefit of favorable cloud conditions.
“I don’t want to continue to underplay it, but we got very fortunate,” said Hamlin, who leads the series standings by one point over Tyler Reddick. “The last 12 cars had full sun—100 percent sun. The last few had 90 percent, but I think that was the deciding factor.
“We saw that, right after I went, the track definitely got hotter, and it seemed like the corner speeds of those guys started to slow down. I think if there was one more car behind Ty Gibbs (the final qualifier), they definitely would have beaten us, because it went full shade.
“We got fortunate there, but they (Hamlin’s No. 11 team) did a a real good job overnight with my car (whose balance wasn’t ideal during Friday’s practice).”
Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford drivers Chris Buescher (178.153 mph) and Brad Keselowski (178.089 mph) qualified third and fourth, respectively. With two victories at Chicagoland, Keselowski is the only driver in the field for Sunday’s race with multiple wins at the track.
Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe claimed the respective fifth through seventh starting positions. Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott and William Byron completed the top 10, which consisted of four JGR Toyotas, three Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets, two RFK Fords and one 23XI Racing Toyota (Wallace).
The No. 2 and top remaining seed in the NASCAR Cup Series In-Season Challenge, Hamlin faces Erik Jones in Sunday’s second round. Jones qualified 22nd.
In battles between teammates, Larson faces Byron, and Gibbs takes on Briscoe.
Hamlin, however, will have his eye on Larson.
“In my personal opinion, Kyle Larson is the best driver at this race track, so he’s going to be someone I have to contend with, and I’m sure all the Hendrick cars are.”
Michael McDowell’s No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet failed inspection three times and must start from the rear of the field under penalty. McDowell will have to serve a pass-through on the opening lap.
--30--
 

After successful Chicagoland run, NASCAR faces scheduling decisions

 

July 6, 2026

 

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

JOLIET, Ill . —NASCAR, you have a problem—not that it’s a bad problem to have.

 

In the return to Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday and Sunday, the on-track racing product was everything competitors and fans could have hoped for.

 

Asphalt that had aged for seven years since NASCAR’s last race in Joliet provided multiple racing lanes, from the bottom of the track to the outside wall.

 

Tires mattered, especially toward the end of extended green-flag runs.

 

Both the NASCAR O’Reilly Series race on Saturday and the marquee NASCAR Cup Series event on Sunday offered suspense right up until the checkered flag. In Saturday’s Cuervo 300, Brandon Jones battled Chase Elliott to the finish, winning with an expertly crafted restart in overtime.

 

In Sunday’s eero 400, Chase Briscoe fended off the dogged pursuit of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell, winning the race by a fourth of a second.

 

“So excited to be back in Chicagoland,” Briscoe said soon after climbing from his car. “Hopefully, we can be back.”

 

True to form, NASCAR’s Gen 7 car excelled on the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway, and Briscoe, an Indiana native, claimed the first victory of his career on that sort of track.

 

“It's really cool to win at a mile-and-a-half in the Cup Series,” Briscoe elaborated in his post-race press conference. “I feel like that's the staple of what the Cup Series is. My teammates have obviously been unbelievable on the mile-and-a-half.

 

“To do it here at Chicagoland is really special. It is in the Midwest. It's close to home. Yeah, this has been a place that I've always loved coming to back when we used to. I missed it. It's always been one of my top five tracks.”

 

If drivers were polled, it’s a given that a strong majority would favor a return to Chicagoland next year, simply based on the nature of the racing.

 

But there’s the rub. Negotiations between NASCAR and the city of Chicago have advanced to the point where the return of the Chicago Street Race—on hold this season after a three-year run—is a real possibility.

 

Where Chicagoland Speedway is apt to draw traditional race fans, the Street Race already has a proven track record of exposing a new constituency to stock car racing.

 

NASCAR’s broadcast rights deal with streaming service Amazon Prime Video may necessitate the inclusion of a marquee event such as the Chicago Street Race—as was the case with the Mexico City race in 2025 and the Naval Base Coronado Street Race this year.

 

Where the advent of Kansas Speedway has revitalized Wyandotte County with a casino, a massive shopping center, hotels, restaurants and a soccer stadium, Chicagoland Speedway is surrounded by 600,000-square-foot warehouses. No doubt developers of those facilities look at the Joliet race track with covetous eyes.

 

Would NASCAR consider two races in the Chicago area? It’s an important market, to be sure, but that’s a question that will only be answered with the composition of the 2027 schedule.

 

One thing is certain. If the Chicago Street Race returns, it won’t be on July 4 weekend. Negotiations so far reportedly have pointed to an earlier date without the complications of a major holiday.

 

The July 4 weekend also has been mentioned as a possibility for a return to Naval Base Coronado. Given the success of this year’s inaugural event, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Ben Kennedy expressed the desire to return there, if the United States Navy remains receptive and supportive.

 

A July 4 date in San Diego would all but guarantee ideal weather for a race.

 

But would NASCAR consider including two street races in the same season? Is alternating between Chicagoland Speedway and the Chicago Street Race from year to year a possibility?

 

Those are all choices that will have to be made in the very near future.

 

Fortunately for the sport, there aren’t any bad choices in the mix.

 

nascar reviews & NOTEBOOKS

www.nascar.com

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts). 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 five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.

  

Saturday Chicagoland Notebook
 
Notebook Items:
  • Denny Hamlin: Experience has minimal value in return to Chicagoland
  • Battle of the “Christophers” adds intrigue to Sunday’s race
  • Carson Hocevar faces “mystery” In-Season Challenge opponent in 100th Cup start
 
July 4, 2026
 
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
 
Denny Hamlin: Experience has minimal value in return to Chicagoland
JOLIET, Ill. — Denny Hamlin is one of three drivers in the field for Sunday’s eero 400 who has won a NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
But Hamlin says his experience at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway won’t amount to a significant edge when drivers take the green flag for the 19th race of the season (6 p.m. ET on TNT, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
For one thing, the asphalt at Chicagoland has weathered for seven years, and the bump over the tunnel in Turns 3 and 4 is perhaps more pronounced.
And though 18 drivers on the entry list for the race have never driven Cup Series race cars at the Joliet track, it’s also true that no driver in the field has ever raced a Gen 7 Cup car at Chicagoland.
The Gen 7 car debuted in the series in 2022, three years after Alex Bowman outdueled Kyle Larson to win the most recent race at the speedway.
Even though Hamlin represented Toyota drivers in a Goodyear tire test at Chicagoland in April, he doesn’t think that experience or his history at the track will be a decisive factor on Sunday.
“I ran some laps here during the test but it’s still one line,” Hamlin said before Friday’s Cup practice. “I’ve been around long enough to know that a test race track and a race weekend track are two vastly different things. So, lots of unknowns, just what line are we going to run?
“What’s going to be the fastest? And as Kyle (Larson) mentioned, we didn’t really go up the race track at all during the test, so we don’t know whether the bump is more or less the higher you go. I have some old notes I had in the book that I looked at, but it’ll be something small, nothing big.”
 
Battle of the “Christophers” adds intrigue to Sunday’s race
Christopher Bell and Christopher Buescher share at least one thing beyond driving in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“Longest first name in the garage, right?” Buescher quipped after Friday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice.
Currently, however, the drivers have one other thing in common. After winning their opening-round In-Season Challenge matchups last Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, Buescher and Bell will face each other in Round 2, with the victor meeting the winner of Sunday’s Denny Hamlin vs. Erik Jones contest July 12 at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta.
“We’ve got a battle going,” Buescher said. “They (Bell’s team) have been really good on mile-and-a-halfs this year, as have we, but we’ve been somewhere about fifth to eighth—that’s kind of been our stuck point.
“I felt really good about practice today. It’s really a bit of a different animal, given that we’ve been gone from this place so long… But (the battle against Bell) is not something that you go in and use as a primary focus. It’s a secondary part of the race, and we’ll do everything we can to figure how to win.”
Buescher was 10th fastest in Friday’s practice, and Bell was 17th. Despite breaking his wrist in a devastating crash June 7 at Michigan, Bell fashioned an impressive fifth-place finish last Sunday at Sonoma, where Buescher ran ninth.
For the first time since the accident, Bell will race without a cast this weekend.
 
Carson Hocevar faces “mystery” In-Season Challenge opponent in 100th Cup start
To say Carson Hocevar hasn’t been focused on the In-Season Challenge is putting it mildly.
Last Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, the driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet finished 11th to Zane Smith’s 18th to eliminate Smith in the opening round of the tournament.
Asked after Friday’s practice about his second-round matchup, Hocevar responded, “Who is it?”
In fact, Hocevar will face Todd Gilliland, who eliminated Daniel Suarez in the first round at Sonoma.
“Oh, it’s Todd?” said Hocevar, who will make his 100th NASCAR Cup Series start on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. “I don’t know. Hopefully he’s slow.”
In Friday’s practice, Hocevar was ninth fastest to Gilliland’s 27th.
About his 100th start in NASCAR’s top division, Hocevar was equally nonchalant.
“Yeah, you just kind of blink and you’re at a hundred,” he said. “Blink twice, and you’re at 200. “I just try to enjoy as many as possible. I’m just glad I have a win in the win column before a hundred, right?”
Hocevar picked up his only career victory so far on April 26 at Talladega Superspeedway.
--30--
 

return to Chicagoland features unknowns for many NASCAR Cup drivers

 

 

 

july 2, 2026

 

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

Return to Chicagoland features unknowns for many NASCAR Cup drivers

 

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race is billed as a return to Chicagoland Speedway.

 

In reality, nearly half the field will be competing on the 1.5-mile intermediate for the first time in Cup Series cars when drivers take the green flag in the eero 400 (6 p.m. ET on TNT, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

 

The Cup Series last raced at Chicagoland in 2019, when Alex Bowman took the lead from Kyle Larson with six laps left and went on to win by 0.546 seconds. At that time, Larson was still driving for Chip Ganassi Racing.

 

In fact, the last time the Cup Series raced at the track in Joliet, Illinois, neither Larson nor Chase Elliott had won a championship in NASCAR’s top division.

 

Since 2019, 10 new race tracks have been introduced into the Cup Series schedule; 23XI Racing, Kaulig Racing and Trackhouse Racing have debuted as Cup teams; and seven former full-time drivers have retired from competition.

 

Accordingly, there are only three former Chicagoland winners in the field for Sunday’s race: Brad Keselowski with two victories and Denny Hamlin and Bowman with one each.

 

The field of 39 drivers features 21 who have driven Cup cars at the 1.5-mile track and 18 who have not. From the latter group, 13 have competed at Chicagoland either in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series or NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series or both.

 

Five drivers—Ty Gibbs, Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar, Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen—will be seeing the track for the first time.

 

However, it will be a different Chicagoland that greets all 39 drivers. The pavement is seven years older, and the bumps are more severe. The nature of the track surprised Larson when he participated in a Goodyear tires test at the track in late April

 

“It was really fast,” Larson said. “It had a lot more grip than I was expecting it to have and a little less (tire) fall-off than I was expecting it to have. But a challenging track, super-rough surface and, yeah, excited to get there.”

 

Though Larson’s winless streak reached 42 races last weekend at Sonoma, he has good reason to be enthused. The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has the best average finish all-time at Chicagoland—6.17 in six starts. He also enters Sunday’s race on a streak of four straight top-five finishes.

 

Hamlin, who represented Toyota in the tire test, said the introduction of the Next Gen race car in 2022 will lessen the value of notes from the previous generation.

 

“It’s been so long since I’ve raced there, and we hadn’t run there in the Next Gen car,” Hamlin said. “So, my thing was, I didn’t remember the track being that rough. But the last time we ran there, we had suspension on the car.

 

“Now, with the underbody being the main source of downforce, we have to run our cars so low, which makes the track feel bumpier than I remember.”

 

All things considered, Hamlin expects exciting racing from the return to Joliet.

 

“It should be good,” said Hamlin, who took over the series leader by one point over Tyler Reddick in last Sunday’s event at Sonoma Raceway. “It’s a mile-and-a-half. It’s a high-wear type of race track. So, we’re going to be running all over that race track, similar to how we finished when we were there (seven) years ago.”

 

In the Gen 6 car, Hamlin was no slouch at Chicagoland. He posted top-10 results in five of his last six races there. More relevant to the Next Gen era, he enters Sunday’s race with six consecutive top-five finishes on 1.5-mile tracks, including two wins.

 

Hamlin also has led laps in the last 10 races on 1.5-milers and has scored stage points in the last 18 stages on tracks of that length.

 

Between them, Hamlin and Reddick have won half the 18 races so far this season—Reddick with five victories and Hamlin with four.

 

Second-seeded Hamlin also was the highest-ranked driver to advance in the opening round of the In-Season Challenge at Sonoma. He will face Erik Jones in the second round at Chicagoland.

 

Top-seeded Reddick, however, suffered a power steering failure at Sonoma and was eliminated by Bowman, who faces Chase bubble driver Austin Cindric in Round 2. As noted earlier, Bowman is the last driver to win at Chicagoland.

 

Another intriguing In-Season Challenge matchup features Chase Briscoe against Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs, the defending tournament champion. Briscoe and Gibbs finished second and third, respectively, last Sunday in wine country.

 

Justin Allgaier seeks rebound in return to oval tracks

 

Typically, Justin Allgaier is a skilled road racer, but the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet doubtless would gladly forget the last two events on circuits that turn right as well as left.

 

On June 20, Allgaier fell out of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Naval Base Coronado in 32nd place because of an engine failure. Last Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, he finished 26th.

 

The good news is that, despite the disappointing results on the road and street circuits, Allgaier retained the lion’s share of his series lead. He holds a 207-point advantage over second-place and defending series champion Jesse Love entering Saturday’s Cuervo 300 at Chicagoland Speedway (5:30 p.m. ET on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

 

Allgaier also has an enviable edge entering the 10th race on the O’Reilly Series schedule. Not only did he represent Chevrolet in the Goodyear tire test at Chicagoland in April, but he also conducted the subsequent wheel-force test at the speedway, which will host its first O’Reilly Series race since 2019.

 

Allgaier has two victories at Chicagoland. The only other drivers in the field with wins at the track are Cup Series interlopers Chase Elliott and Cole Custer (one each). Custer won the last race held at Chicagoland seven years ago.

 

“I’m so happy to be going back to Chicagoland,” said Allgaier, a native of Riverton, Illinois. “This has always been one of my favorite tracks, and it’s great to see it back on the schedule. Hopefully our notes from the past can help us get a good baseline for this weekend, but I know that (crew chief) Andrew (Overstreet) and all the guys on this No. 7 group will be ready to go when we unload.

 

“It’s always great getting the chance to race back in the home state, not only for me but for everyone at (sponsor) BRANDT Professional Agriculture as well. We just need to go out and execute like we have throughout this season, and if we do, I think we can have an awesome homecoming on Saturday night and celebrate the 4th of July in style.”

 

There are currently five races left in the O’Reilly Series regular season, and the battle for 12 Chase spots is intensifying. Currently, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Taylor Gray and William Sawalich straddle the cut line, with 12th-place Gray holding a 20-point edge.

 

--30--

  

 

   nascar cup series

NASCAR Cup Series schedule 2026

(All times Eastern)

DateRaceTrackTime
Feb. 1Cook Out Clash at Bowman GrayBowman Gray Stadium8 p.m.
Feb. 12Duel 1 at DaytonaDaytona International Speedway7 p.m.
Feb. 12Duel 2 at DaytonaDaytona International Speedway8:45 p.m.
Feb. 15Daytona 500Daytona International Speedway2:30 p.m.
Feb. 22Autotrader 400EchoPark Speedway3 p.m.
March 1DuraMax Grand PrixCircuit of the Americas3:30 p.m.
March 8Straight Talk Wireless 500Phoenix Raceway3:30 p.m.
March 15Pennzoil 400Las Vegas Motor Speedway4 p.m.
March 22Goodyear 400Darlington Raceway3 p.m.
March 29Cook Out 400Martinsville Speedway3:30 p.m.
April 12Food City 500Bristol Motor Speedway3 p.m.
April 19AdventHealth 400Kansas Speedway2 p.m.
April 26Jack Link's 500Talladega Superspeedway3 p.m.
May 3Wurth 400Texas Motor Speedway3:30 p.m.
May 10Go Bowling at the GlenWatkins Glen International3 p.m.
May 17All-Star RaceDover Motor Speedway3 p.m.
May 24Coca-Cola 600Charlotte Motor Speedway6 p.m.
May 31Cracker Barrel 400Nashville Superspeedway 7 p.m.
June 7FireKeepers Casino 400Michigan International Speedway3 p.m.
June 14Cup Series race at PoconoPocono Raceway3 p.m.
June 21Anduril 250Naval Base Coronado4 p.m.
June 28Toyota/Save Mart 350Sonoma Raceway3:30 p.m.
July 5Cup Series race at ChicagolandChicagoland Speedway6 p.m.
July 12Quaker State 400EchoPark Speedway7 p.m.
July 19Window World 400North Wilkesboro Speedway7 p.m.
July 26Brickyard 400Indianapolis Motor Speedway2 p.m.
Aug. 9Iowa Corn 350Iowa Speedway3:30 p.m.
Aug. 15Cook Out 400Richmond Raceway7 p.m.
Aug. 23Cup Series race at New HampshireNew Hampshire Motor Speedway3 p.m.
Aug. 29Coke Zero Sugar 400Daytona International Speedway7:30 p.m.

NASCAR Cup Series playoff race schedule 2026

(All times Eastern)

DateRaceTrackTime
Sept. 6Southern 500Darlington Raceway5 p.m.
Sept. 13Enjoy Illinois 300World Wide Technology Raceway3 p.m.
Sept. 19Bass Pro Shops Night RaceBristol Motor Speedway7:30 p.m.
Sept. 27Hollywood Casino 400Kansas Speedway3 p.m.
Oct. 4South Point 400Las Vegas Motor Speedway5:30 p.m.
Oct. 11Bank of America ROVAL 400Charlotte Road Course3 p.m.
Oct. 18Freeway Insurance 500Phoenix Raceway3 p.m.
Oct. 25Yellawood 500Talladega Superspeedway2 p.m.
Nov. 1Xfinity 500Martinsville Speedway2 p.m.
Nov. 8Cup Series Championship RaceHomestead-Miami Speedway3 p.m.

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