While Shane van Gisbergen was once again the driver to beat on Sunday, his closest competition never got a fair shot in the end due to some mechanical gremlins.

Michael McDowell started from the outside of the front row at the Chicago Street Course and took the lead from SVG on the opening lap. He went on to win Stage 1 and appeared to be a real threat for the win. The Spire Motorsports driver was also facing a two-year winless streak and hoped to put that behind him on Sunday.

Unfortunately, after leading the most laps (31), a stuck throttle forced him to give up the lead and head to the garage for repairs. He returned to the race over 20 laps down, finishing a disappointing 32nd. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen captured the checkered flag. 

Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

“The throttle cable just broke,” said McDowell. “I don’t know what caused it or how it got to that spot, but that’s what happened. I feel like we had control of the race. I think it would have been a battle, no doubt. I felt like any time I could open a gap on SVG, I could.

“We were just working on our strategy. We knew we were going to one-stop it, so I was taking care of the tires and doing all the things I could. I was behind the pace car and the throttle stuck wide-open. Luckily, I got to the switches fast enough before I ran into something, and then a cable broke after that. It’s just a shame. We had a great No. 71 DePaul Chevrolet. We’ve got some good momentum heading into Sonoma next weekend.”

The good news for McDowell is that NASCAR heads to another road course next weekend with Sonoma, where he finished second just one year ago. 

When Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen won at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez a few weeks ago, it was said that he had “clinched” a spot in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, but that could not have been further from the truth.

While the playoff format is widely considered a “win and in” format, the Cup Series entered this past weekend’s Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course with 12 winners in 18 races, leaving eight remaining races on the regular season schedule in which more new winners could emerge.

Regardless of how many winners there are, the playoffs are capped at 16 drivers. Though it hasn’t happened since the introduction of the modern format in 2014, there can absolutely be more than 16 different winners, in which case a winner (or multiple winners) would not actually qualify for the playoffs.

The regular season champion is locked in, as are all drivers who win more than once (since there can be no more than 13 of them in 26 races). The tiebreaker, if applicable, to see which single-race winners get in and which don’t becomes points.

Likewise, if there aren’t enough winners to fill the postseason field, points determine which non-winners get in and which don’t. This is what it usually comes down to, but again, it’s not guaranteed that there won’t end up being more winners than playoff spots.

Van Gisbergen was in a bad spot on points.

While the other 11 winners were inside the top 20 in the standings, he found himself down in 31st place. He was all but a lock to finish the regular season as the lowest winner in the point standings, meaning that had the regular season produced (and it still might) 17 or 18 winners, he’d be in a precarious situation.

Not anymore.

By winning twice, van Gisbergen is locked into the playoffs. He could finish last in the point standings and still qualify, even if the regular season ends with seven more new winners to give it 19 in total.

Some might argue that it’s one of the flaws of the modern format, while some might use it to reinforce the idea that it’s not really a “win and in” format like we’re supposed to believe. While winning once may not seal the deal, winning twice certainly does, regardless of points.

Now van Gisbergen doesn’t have to worry about losing his playoff spot.

CHICAGO – NASCAR’s first in-season tournament hasn’t made much of an impression on its drivers so far. Ty Gibbs said Sunday he didn’t know who his second-round opponent was until after the Cup Series race.

That might be about to change.

Gibbs is one of eight drivers still in the mix for the $1 million prize that goes to the winner of the five-race, bracket-style competition. While Shane van Gisbergen was closing out his Cup victory in Chicago this weekend, some of the most compelling action on the downtown street course was at least connected to the inaugural In-Season Challenge.

Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace raced each other hard in the final laps after they tangled in Chicago last year. Bowman got the better of the head-to-head matchup, finishing eighth and eliminating Wallace from the tournament.

John Hunter Nemechek was 15th, one spot better than his opponent, Chase Elliott. Gibbs had a strong day and finished second, good enough to beat AJ Allmendinger in sixth. Ty Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece, Zane Smith and Erik Jones also moved on.

The 14th-seeded Smith upset No. 3 seed Chris Buescher by finishing 14th. He is matched up with Gibbs for Sunday’s road race at Sonoma.

“I hate we had to knock another Ford out, but it’s super cool to advance,” Smith said.

With the in-season tournament — part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT — NASCAR is following in the footsteps of the NBA and soccer leagues around the world. After Sonoma this weekend, it concludes with races at Dover and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Bowman said the tournament wasn’t on his mind as he battled with Wallace at the end in Chicago. Whatever the reason for the contact, their head-to-head matchup certainly added a bit of intrigue to the racing behind van Gisbergen’s victory.

With the money involved and the field trimmed to eight drivers, there could be more moments like the duel between Bowman and Wallace in the final weeks of the challenge.

“I wasn’t expecting that to happen or to get raced like that, but we did,” Bowman said. “We just have to move on from it and keep digging.”

It sure sounds as if Dillon is enjoying the competition. Dillon, the No. 32 seed, eliminated Brad Keselowski on Sunday after he upset top-seeded Denny Hamlin at Atlanta on June 28.

There was absolutely no drama in Dillon’s win after Keselowski was collected in an early crash that began with Carson Hocevar hitting the wall and spinning out between Turns 10 and 11. Hocevar was eliminated by Reddick.

“I’m just so proud of Kaulig Racing and our No. 10 team,” Dillon said. “I knew in a basketball city, going up against Brad in a game of knockout, I was going to have a good chance.”

Dillon takes on Bowman and Preece faces Reddick in the next round. But the most interesting contest just might be Nemechek versus Jones in a matchup of Legacy Motor Club teammates.

“I felt like if we could have gotten through the first round, these next two rounds are really good for us,” Preece said. “Our road course program is pretty strong, and we keep making it better. So going into Sonoma, I think we’re up against Tyler Reddick, so he’s really good at road courses as well, but I like being the underdog.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

A look at the winners and losers from Sunday’s Cup race at Chicago.

WINNERS

Shane van Gisbergen — He’s scored back-to-back wins on road courses with his wins in Mexico and Chicago.

Ty Gibbs — He tied his career-best finish by placing second in Chicago.

Tyler Reddick — His third-place result gives him back-to-back top-five finishes.

Ryan Preece — He finished seventh for his best result on a road course. While he remains below the playoff cutline, he moved from 23 points back to two points from it.

Austin Hill — His ninth-place finish was his best Cup result in 12 series starts.

Ty Dillon — While he finished 20th, it was enough to advance in the In-Season Challenge. He is the 32nd seed and now is among the final eight drivers going for $1 million.

LOSERS

William Byron — He finished last in the 40-car lead and his points lead dwindled. Four drivers are within 50 points of Byron with seven races left in the regular season.

Bubba Wallace — He was racing Alex Bowman for a top-10 spot in the final laps when contact turned him and he finished 28th. Wallace continues to hold the final playoff spot but saw his advantage on Ryan Preece go from 23 points to two points with seven races left in the regular season.

Will Brown — The reigning Supercars champion completed only two laps, eliminated when Carson Hocevar crashed, creating a chain-reaction crash that collected Brown.

Michael McDowell — Won the opening stage and was on a one-stop strategy only to see his chance to win ruined by a throttle cable issue. McDowell, needing a win to make the playoffs, finished 32nd.

After the only race held this season in the Maritime provinces — on the oval at Riverside International Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, on June 28 — three-time NASCAR Canada champion Louis-Philippe Dumoulin and the other drivers in the series are now set for two rounds on two different tracks over the next ten days. It’s the traditional Western Canada swing, with races at Edmonton Raceway this Saturday, July 12, and four days later (Wednesday, July 16) at Sutherland Automotive Speedway in Saskatoon.

For the driver of the #47 WeatherTech Canada | Groupe Bellemare | Omnifab car, these two ovals come at the right time in the season, following a turbulent event in Nova Scotia: “Considering it was our very first race with our new oval car, I’m satisfied. My seating position wasn’t quite ideal, but those are just minor adjustments, and overall, we had good performance in Antigonish. We simply got caught out by the pit stop rule, like several other teams,” said Louis-Philippe Dumoulin. He added: “There was a lot of confusion around the pit stops and the running order once the cars rejoined the track after the mandatory break, and it cost us a lap. It’s not my place to judge the officials’ responsibility in all that — I have a lot of respect for their work — but the fact is, it affected our result.” Dumoulin ended the race in eighth place. “Without those issues, we could have fought for a Top 5. Now the whole #47 WeatherTech Canada | Groupe Bellemare | Omnifab team is focused on the two upcoming races out West.”

At Edmonton Raceway, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin has an impressive record, with eight Top 5 finishes in nine starts. He also won the race in 2018: “I like the layout at Edmonton. The organizers do a really good job, and the fans are always excited to see the NASCAR Canada drivers in action. The stats are on my side, but I want to stay focused on this Saturday’s race. It also seems that in recent years, the driver who starts from pole at Edmonton has found that extra something to stay out front and win. I’m excited to be back at that track and fight at the front.” Dumoulin currently sits fourth in the driver standings, just 10 points off the lead.

After Edmonton, the drivers will head to Saskatoon for the second race of the NASCAR Canada mini tour through Western Canada. “That’s another track I really enjoy — it’s well maintained, has a great layout, and Saskatoon is a really nice city. It’s also where I got my first oval track win, in 2019,” concluded the driver of the #47 WeatherTech Canada | Groupe Bellemare | Omnifab car.

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