For the third consecutive year, the best drivers in the world head to the Windy City to tackle the streets of Chicago. First up: the NASCAR Xfinity Series. For this year’s race, we got beautiful weather. But it was a hot one out in Chicago, with the temperature pushing 90 degrees. The Xfinity Series always puts on a thrilling show in Chicago and today’s race was no different.
So, without further ado, here’s everything that went down in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Chicago Street Course!
As we got inside 15 laps to go, Connor Zilisch finally took the lead. Slowly, SVG started to work his way back up through the field. With 8 laps to go, SVG was able to slip into 2nd with his eyes dead set on Zilisch. Meanwhile, Zilisch was told that he needed to save fuel. With 6 to go, the worst for Zilisch happened. Andre Castro plowed into the tire barrier, triggering a late-race caution. This stacked the field back up, putting Zilisch and SVG on equal footing.
During the caution, points leader Justin Allgaier came down pit road. Prior to the caution, he reported brake issues. On pit road, the team went to address the issue so that he could nurse the car home to the finish. The damage to the tire barrier ended up being significant. The caution was a lengthy one, and the laps wound down. This put us over the line into NASCAR overtime.
The race restarted with SVG beside Zilisch. Going into turn 1, SVG crowded the 88 into the wall and was through to the lead. The 9 car started to gap the rest of the field but it wasn’t over yet. Zilisch powered back from 2nd. Another mistake, though, and SVG was off and away to victory. Shane van Gisbergen successfully defended his win from the year before.
The first stage went off as expected. From the pole, Shane van Gisbergen led the entirety of the opening stage. The stage ended prematurely when Brad Perez, in the number 45 Chevrolet, got into the tire barrier. SVG went on to win the stage, though he was ineligible to receive any points. One driver to note was Connor Zilisch, who had to start at the rear of the field after making unapproved adjustments on his number 88 Redbull car. He was able to work his way up to the 8th position, collecting 3 points.
SVG continued to lead to start the second stage with a brief challenge from Jeb Burton who didn’t pit during the stage break. However, he radioed into his crew a few laps later, reporting engine issues. This cycled Sheldon Creed to the lead as the 9 car came down pit road. Of everyone in the race, Creed seemed to be the only driver to have anything for SVG as he was able to stay with him in the first stage. The 9 car pitted for adjustments, and the team was able to resolve the issue. Sheldon Creed led the remainder of the stage, collecting the stage win as well as 1 Playoff point.
Late in the running of this race, while chasing down JRM teammate Connor Zilisch, Shane van Gisbergen clocked the Xfinity Fastest Lap of the race at 90.95 seconds. However, since SVG is ineligible to collect points in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, no Xfinity Fastest Lap point was awarded.
Below is the unofficial finishing order for today’s Xfinity Series race at the Chicago Street Course. We will update this list once the results become official.
UPDATE: There were no issues in post-race inspection. The results were final as they ran.
Only four drivers led any laps in today’s race. They were as follows:
The following are the points standings/playoff grid following the Chicago Street Course and heading into Sonoma next week.
That does it for the Xfinity street race in the Windy City. What did you think of the race? Were you surprised that SVG was able to come back and win? Let us know your thoughts on this! Join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates.
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