What’s Happening?

The Chicago Street Race is the only NASCAR race held on city streets. As a result, it attracts some intriguing road course aces. These are the “Road Course Ringers” who will take on the streets of Chicago.

• For this list, a “Ringer” is any driver with an extensive road course background who does not compete full-time in any NASCAR series. This means full-time drivers who race well on road courses, like Shane Van Gisbergen or A.J. Allmendinger, will not be included.
• “Ringers” were commonplace in NASCAR’s early days. With road courses scarce on the schedule, many teams hired road course aces to compete in these races. As time passed and road course racing became more prominent, “Ringers” were usually used for smaller teams or special “Open” entrants from big teams.
• Fans are excited to see these “Ringers” return to NASCAR. It’s always a fun storyline to see how these drivers do.

Cup Series: RFK Racing Stage 60 – Joey Hand

Joey Hand is set to race at Chicago via RFK Racing’s Stage 60. This will be Hand’s eighth career NASCAR Cup Series start, with each of his first seven coming with fellow Ford team, Rick Ware Racing. His best finish was 20th at Sonoma in 2022, and he also qualified ninth at Road America that same year.

Stage 60 is Ford’s version of Trackhouse’s Project 91. The entry has made two appearances this season, with David Ragan finishing 20th in the Daytona 500 and Cam Waters finishing 35th at Sonoma.

Xfinity Series: Jordan Anderson Racing No. 32 – Austin Green

Austin Green comes from a family with deep racing roots. His father, David, and his uncle, Jeff, are both former NASCAR Xfinity Series Champions, but Austin went a different route with his racing career. He cut his teeth in Trans-Am, which has paid off in droves.

In three starts this season for Jordan Anderson Racing, he has two top-10s, including a fourth-place effort at Sonoma. He is a definite dark horse pick for the Chicago Street Race, as NASCAR.com indicated after Sonoma that he would run the race.

Xfinity Series: Alpha Prime Racing No. 45 – Alon Day

Born in Israel, Alon Day is a four-time NASCAR Euro Series Champion, and he’s set to come back stateside at Chicago with Alpha Prime. He has six career NASCAR National Touring Series stars under his belt, two in each series. His most recent came in 2018 at Richmond with Front Row Motorsports.

As far as his Xfinity Series career, Day hasn’t made a start since 2016. He recorded a top-15 at Mid-Ohio with MBM Motorsports, finishing 13th before finishing 30th at Road America later that season.

This article will be updated as more drivers are announced.