There was no shortage of excitement, challenges and thrills as NASCAR’s first street race in downtown Chicago made history in more ways than one.
Lightning and heavy rain caused severe problems on the track and accidents were numerous, but that did not stop the drivers.
See what happened here:
Who won the NASCAR Chicago Street Race?
Shane van Gisbergen produced an incredible debut in Sunday’s highly anticipated race despite flurry weather conditions prompting several delays.
What did the winner get?
The 34-year-old, driving a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will take home the lion’s share of $7,565,807. Prize money A 37-driver field will be allocated across the board. He earned at least 40 points for the win as the playoff push continued for all drivers.
Who are the other top contenders?
After 47 laps, NASCAR announced to all teams that the race would be shortened from 100 laps to 75. At the time, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs were lurking in second and third, respectively.
But Bell, who won stages 1 and 2, eventually spun out of the lead, prompting Justin Haley to take over. Haley led for six laps until van Gisbergen made a special move to overtake Haley for the top spot, and the New Zealander closed it a few laps into overtime.
Haley finished second, while Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.
Bell dropped to 18th, while Reddick, who raced with Bell during a long stretch of the early stage, fell further to 28th after hitting a tire barrier and getting stuck.
How else did von Gisbergen make history?
Van Gisbergen, 34, from New Zealand, became the first driver since Johnny Rutherford to make his Cup Series debut in the second qualifying race at Daytona in 1963.
Joining Marcos Ambrose, Mario Andretti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Earl Ross and Daniel Suarez, he became the sixth driver born outside the United States to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.
As part of Triple Eight Race Engineering, an Australian motor racing team, van Gisbergen took up racing by winning three Supercars championships in 2016, 2021 and 2022. Trackhouse Racing is Van Gisbergen’s team for this Cup Series race.
The Auckland, New Zealand native has competed in 499 Supercars Championship races, recording 80 wins, 174 podiums and 46 pole positions, and most recently topped the 2022 campaign with 3,523 points.
What’s next for NASCAR?
Next up in the Cup Series is the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart on Sunday, July 9. The race will be held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Georgia.
Racing legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks about all the things that make the NASCAR Chicago Street Race unique.
