Van Gisbergen Dominates Chicago: Double Victory and NASCAR Domination

Shane van Gisbergen shined on the Chicago street circuit this Sunday, completing a perfect weekend by winning the NASCAR Cup Series race. This victory represents the second of the season and the third in his Cup Series career for van Gisbergen, a Trackhouse Racing driver. The driver had already triumphed in Chicago in 2023, marking a milestone by being the first racer to win in his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in the second qualifying race in Daytona in 1963. Ty Gibbs secured second place, followed by Tyler Reddick in third position. Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch completed the top five. The weekend was completely dominated by van Gisbergen, three-time champion in Australia’s Supercars category. The 36-year-old New Zealander also took the victory in the Xfinity Series race from pole on Saturday, in addition to being the top qualifier for the Cup race.

Michael McDowell, who shared the front row with van Gisbergen, took the lead at the start, leading for 31 laps and winning Stage 1, before being affected by a throttle cable issue. Van Gisbergen regained the lead by passing Chase Briscoe with 16 laps to go. With fog covering downtown Chicago and storms in the forecast, van Gisbergen controlled the race to the finish. AJ Allmendinger finished in sixth place, followed by Ryan Preece in seventh. Ryan Blaney, winner of the second stage, finished in 12th position. William Byron’s race was cut short by a clutch problem, even though the Hendrick Motorsports driver started the day leading the series standings. After McDowell took the lead at the start of the race, Carson Hocevar caused a multi-car crash by hitting the wall and spinning between turns 10 and 11. Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, and Will Brown were involved in the accident.

I didn’t see it until the last second. I braked, and I felt like I was going to stop, and then I got hit from behind. It’s a narrow street circuit and sometimes there’s nowhere to go.

Brad Keselowski

Ty Dillon and Reddick advanced to the third round of the NASCAR season opener, because Keselowski and Hocevar were unable to finish the race. Dillon, seeded number 32, eliminated Keselowski after beating favorite Denny Hamlin last week in Atlanta. Gibbs, Preece, Alex Bowman, John H. Nemechek, Zane Smith, and Erik Jones also advanced. The winner of the tournament, which is held in a five-race, single-elimination format, will take home a $1 million prize. Bowman, the 2024 champion on the street circuit, won his head-to-head against Bubba Wallace. Bowman and Wallace made contact while battling for position in the final stages of the race, after a similar incident in Chicago the previous year.