Motorsports
DragChamp Jr. Racer Top 10 List – 6/4/25
Luke Tabor doubles up at the King of the Coast Event #3 to lead the DragChamp Jr. Racer Top 10 List presented by Laris Motorsports Insurance. 06/04/25 – Welcome to the DragChamp Jr. Racer Top 10 List presented by Laris Motorsports Insurance. Each week we rank the best Jr. racers across the country based on […]

Luke Tabor doubles up at the King of the Coast Event #3 to lead the DragChamp Jr. Racer Top 10 List presented by Laris Motorsports Insurance.
06/04/25 – Welcome to the DragChamp Jr. Racer Top 10 List presented by Laris Motorsports Insurance. Each week we rank the best Jr. racers across the country based on their weekly performances. Nominations are accepted every Monday evening on our Facebook page.

Racecar insurance is more affordable than you think! Laris Motorsports Insurance policies are handled in house so they can provide quotes within minutes and they offer the broadest coverage available. Call (985) 746-4663 today to learn how Laris Motorsports Insurance can protect your racing operation both on and off the track! If you’re a business owner, Laris also offers commercial insurance. Protect your business with a trusted name.
Click here to view previous Top 10 Lists.

DragChamp Jr. Racer Top 10 List
1 – Luke Tabor

Luke Tabor claims the #1 spot after winning on both Saturday and Sunday at King of the Coast Event #3. He has now made eight finals in eight races, totaling six wins. This includes four straight victories at Events #2 and #3 for the KOC series at Gulfport Dragway.
2 – Riley Sherbondy

Riley Sherbondy dominated the Junior Dragster class, winning both days at the US 60 Dragway Bluegrass Big Bucks event.
3 – Isabella Pires

Isabella Pires claims the #3 spot on this week’s Top 10 list after doubling up with wins in both the 15–17 Junior Dragster Age Group and Jr. Comp this weekend at the NHRA Pacific Division Jr. Divisional at Top Gun Dragstrip.

4 – Luke Hutchinson

Luke Hutchinson picked up two wins this past weekend at the NHRA Division 2 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series doubleheader at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
5 – Kendall Stephenson

Kendall Stephenson earns a spot on this week’s Top 10 list after winning both days in the 10–12 Age Group at King of the Coast Event #3.
6 – Ellie Lindberg

Ellie Lindberg returns to the Top 10 list after doubling up in her Junior Dragster, earning wins on both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend at Rock Falls Raceway.
7 – Emmalin Rogers

Emmalin Rogers had a strong showing at CP Racing Promotions’ Knoxville Bracket Nationals. She won the Saturday night Junior Dragster Shootout, reached the semifinals in Saturday’s main event, and finished as the runner-up on Sunday.
8 (Tie) – Parker Novak

Parker Novak secures the #8 spot after cashing in at Bunker Hill Dragstrip with a win and a runner-up finish this past weekend. The weekend prior, he also picked up a $1,000 win at Kil-Kare Raceway’s Memorial Day weekend event.
8 (Tie) – Brandon DuPont

Brandon DuPont claims the #8 spot after earning a runner-up finish on Saturday and a win on Sunday at
Summit Motorsports Park.
9 (Tie) – Claire Russell

Claire Russell ties for the #9 spot after reaching two final rounds and earning two runner-up finishes this past weekend at King of the Coast Event #3.
9 (Tie) – Grayson Herbert

Grayson Herbert picks up the #9 spot after claiming two runner-up finishes this past weekend at the King of the Coast Event #3.
10 – Everett Black

Everett Black earns a spot on this week’s Top 10 list after making two semifinal appearances and picking up a $1,050 win at the CP Racing Promotions Knoxville Bracket Nationals.


Let us what you think about the DragChamp Jr. Top 10 List. We want to hear from you. Check us out on Facebook and share it with your friends.
And remember, look for our DragChamp Jr. Top 10 List nominations Facebook post every Monday evening. You can nominate your favorites in the comments of the post for consideration on the list.
If you nominate a racer, please
include their name, their accomplishment, which track(s), and a winners circle
photo. Some racers have missed the list because we didn’t have enough
information and couldn’t find anything online.
DragChamp is your online source for sportsman drag race results, news, and updates.
Motorsports
What drivers said after Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR Cup win on streets of Chicago
Here is what drivers had to say after Sunday’s Cup race on the streets of Chicago. Shane van Gisbergen — Winner: “What an amazing weekend for me. Lucky guy to drive some great cars. I thank Trackhouse, WeatherTech Chevy and all these guys and girls here, what an amazing weekend. … There were some really […]

Here is what drivers had to say after Sunday’s Cup race on the streets of Chicago.
Shane van Gisbergen — Winner: “What an amazing weekend for me. Lucky guy to drive some great cars. I thank Trackhouse, WeatherTech Chevy and all these guys and girls here, what an amazing weekend. … There were some really fast cars, and we just seemed to get it right and make no mistakes, be smooth every lap. Really cool. … It was very hot this weekend. The track was very slick and the times were a lot slower and the margin for error was very tiny.”
Ty Gibbs — Finished 2nd: “My team called a great strategy and got me in position to get me up front to compete for the win. It worked out for us today, so I’m glad to have a good finish, but we wish we could have gone for the win.”
Tyler Reddick — Finished 3rd: “Each year we’ve been here, the situation has kind of been the same. We’ve had some sort of tire advantage all three years and just come up a little bit short. The first year obviously we came up big short because I just drove it in the tire barrier into 6. But this time around, the last five, six laps were really good. We just on that second to last restart, the 8 got — I think it was the 8. A couple cars got turned around and we were in the wrong lane and had to check up quite a bit. Cars that were on our similar strategy got ahead of us, so I had to — took me a few laps to get by those cars on equal tires before we could start chewing through those cars on older tires. Had to be aggressive. A lot of those cars on older tires weren’t wanting to give up the spot, but when you’re on those newer tires you’ve got to go because you’re hoping you’re able to run the leader down. It’s truly hard to say how much the 88 was coasting there, but we were catching him at a pretty good pace, and I think with two or three to go he picked it up a little bit, and we were still faster. But obviously he had a 3-second gap there with two to go, so comfortably in front. But it was nice to be able to restart 18th or so and even with the issues we had and the damage we got on the car, be able to drive back to third there. All in all, it was another really solid day for us here in Chicago.”
Denny Hamlin — Finished 4th: “Just a good job by the team. I had some pace and really the whole Progressive Toyota team did a great job. I’ve got to thank the whole team for working hard to kind of get us back to where we were running there. Truthfully, that’s where we were at on pace. It wasn’t a crazy strategy or anything like that. Just thought the car was really, really good. I would’ve loved to not have to save fuel with the No. 54 (Ty Gibbs) and the No. 88 (Shane van Gisbergen) there just to see how far off I am and how much I stack up. I’m really happy overall with the day. I was really saving (fuel) the entire run and was running good lap times. Truthfully, I felt pretty good all day. We marched forward all day long. The car had pace in it and that’s the key to getting a good finish, but beyond that once I was able to get towards the front I could save and take it easy on my tires. I would’ve loved to have been on equal tires just to see how far off I am from the front two guys. It just didn’t seem like that much.”
Kyle Busch — Finished 5th: “Our day started out pretty good. We got a good jump on the initial start there and was able to roll forward and get to third. We tried to go long on that first set of tires, and with those couple of cautions, it didn’t fall into our favor. That put us on old tires and I spun out getting into (turn) seven. We just didn’t have any left-rear grip. That’s something we’ve struggled with on this car, and it just bit me there. The No. 8 Slurpee Chevrolet team rallied and we were able to rebound. We pitted a couple of times there at the end and had some fresh tires late for some of the melee that was going on in front of us and made up some spots. Our Chevrolet was definitely a top-two or three car, but it’s good to come home with a top-five finish.”
Ryan Preece — Finished 7th: “We had a really, really good car. We took stage points there and it was really, really tough to pass, even tires held on really well. Ultimately, a really good car. I’m excited for Sonoma. I’m excited for road racing. If there wasn’t such a jumble up sometimes with how you have to play for points or stages, I feel like we had a really good car.”
Alex Bowman — Finished 8th: “I passed him (Bubba Wallace) clean, or what I thought was clean. I just followed when the No. 45 passed him. Then he shipped us into (Turn) 12; ran us into the fence in (Turn) 1 and ran us into the fence off of (Turn) 2. And then we just sort of pin-balled off of each other and he ended up on the worse side of it, but we’re just trying to go straight off the corner. I don’t know why we did that. … I wasn’t expecting that to happen or to get raced like that, but we did. We just have to move on from it and keep digging. I don’t really know what I could have done much different. I just got into the fence there and you’re kind of along for the ride. It’s just frustrating.”
Austin Hill — Finished 9th: “Massive day for our United Rentals Chevrolet. The Cup Series isn’t easy. To only have five races with the No. 33 team and leave with a top-10 finish is huge for our group. We started 30th, drove up a little ways and played some strategy to gain even more ground. I feel like I won the race honestly. I was upset with finishing fourth yesterday in the Xfinity Series race, but to finish ninth in a Cup race feels like I won it. Hats off to RCR, ECR and everyone on this team. We put our heads together, called a great race, took tires when we needed to, and stayed out when we needed to. At the end, it was good enough to get up there and battle with the guys to finish inside the top 10.”
Ryan Blaney — Finished 12th: “I thought overall it was a pretty decent day. It was nice to win that stage. I knew we were gonna lose track position, but we were fine. We made up really good ground on the restart in the third stage and then I hit the inside wall in 11 and popped the right-front tire. We had to work our way back from there, but, overall, it was a decent recovery.”
Zane Smith — Finished 14th: “I hate we had to knock another Ford out, but it’s super cool to advance (in the In-Season Challenge). I know going up against Chris (Buescher) the odds were stacked against me with how good he is on road courses. I did everything I could to not advance today. We had a really good car to start and then I got blind behind the 12 and then nicked the wall and got a pretty good amount of damage that put me back there in the hornet’s nest. I just kept getting hit and it was chaos, but, fortunately, I was able to escape some of that chaos and get aggressive towards the end and get a top 15 and some stage points and advance in the bracket, so I’m very happy about this.”
Ty Dillon — Finished 20th: “We survived and advanced! This No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team is just a tough team – we never quit. We don’t even know how to. I’m just so proud of Kaulig Racing and our No. 10 team. … This race was tough on us. I felt like halfway through the race, we were rolling pretty good and we could have had a chance at a top-15. I clipped the wall again and knocked the toe out and kind of bent the ball joint pretty bad. I was just kind of hanging on and hoping we could get everything we could there at the end. We’re just going to keep working hard; put pressure on who we’re facing next and see if we can keep it rolling.”
Cody Ware — Finished 26th: “We had a solid top-15 day going. Team did a really good job making adjustments. From start to finish, it was just a constant march forward. Unfortunately, during one of those restarts, the ‘7’ car got into our left front, picked up a vibration from there and it just progressively got worse and worse until finally, the rotor exploded. Just frustrating. We’ll focus forward at Sonoma and finish what we started here in Chicago.”
Michael McDowell — Finished 32nd: “The throttle cable just broke. 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.”
Cole Custer — Finished 33rd: “Overall, it was a really hard fought day, and our guys worked extremely hard to get us back out there,” Custer said. “We definitely got our car better throughout the weekend, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do at Sonoma.”
Josh Berry — Finished 34th: “Without seeing a replay, I feel like the 43 just kind of overcooked the corner and got us there. It’s just disappointing. We were having a really solid day and made our way forward. We were running well, so we’ll just keep on going and trying to get better and go on to Sonoma.”
Austin Dillon — Finished 36th: “Disappointing day in the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE Chevrolet at the Chicago Street Race. Crew chief Richard Boswell and everyone on the RCR team brought a really fast Chevrolet to the streets of Chicago. We qualified 10th and thought we would be a contender today in the race. A car spun in front of us on the first lap and it ended our day before we could even get it started. It’s a shame and I’m just at a loss for words at this point. We’ll just keep bringing cars like this and hope our luck turns around for us at some point.”
Brad Keselowski — Finished 37th: “I didn’t see it until the last second. I slowed down and I actually felt I was gonna get stopped and then I just kind of got ran over from behind. It’s just a narrow street course and sometimes there’s nowhere to go.”
Motorsports
Last NASCAR Chicago Street Race held in Grant Park
Last NASCAR Chicago Street Race held in Grant Park – CBS Chicago Watch CBS News Crowds in attendance on Sunday, most from the Chicago area, said this was their first-ever NASCAR event. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On Link 0

Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Motorsports
Chicago results: Shane van Gisbergen wins NASCAR Xfinity race
Shane van Gisbergen passed JR Motorsports teammate Connor Zilisch for the lead with two laps to go to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity street race in Chicago. It is the second year in a row that van Gisbergen has won this event. Advertisement He is the sixth different driver to win this season for JR Motorsports. […]

Shane van Gisbergen passed JR Motorsports teammate Connor Zilisch for the lead with two laps to go to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity street race in Chicago.
It is the second year in a row that van Gisbergen has won this event.
Advertisement
He is the sixth different driver to win this season for JR Motorsports. He won after starting on the pole and leading 27 of the 50 laps on the 12-turn, 2.2-mile street course.
In the five races (Cup and Xfinity) run on the streets of Chicago, van Gisbergen has won three times.
Zilisch finished second. He was followed by Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill and Nick Sanchez, giving him back-to-back top-five finishes for the first time in his career after his victory last weekend in Atlanta.
Stage 1 winner: Shane van Gisbergen
Stage 2 winner: Sheldon Creed
Next: The series races at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday July 12 at Sonoma Raceway.
Motorsports
Last NASCAR Chicago Street Race wraps up in Grant Park. Do Chicagoans want it to return?
Last NASCAR Chicago Street Race held in Grant Park Last NASCAR Chicago Street Race held in Grant Park 01:38 The checkered flag has been waved for potentially the last NASCAR Street Race weekend in Chicago. The final races wrapped up right as rain showers rolled into the area. For an event plagued by heavy rain the […]

The checkered flag has been waved for potentially the last NASCAR Street Race weekend in Chicago.
The final races wrapped up right as rain showers rolled into the area.
For an event plagued by heavy rain the past two runs, the weather held until after the checkered flag on Sunday. This left many racing fans with a very sunny review of the event’s success.
Crowds in attendance on Sunday, most from the Chicago area, said this was their first-ever NASCAR event.
When asked their thoughts on the event, they gave nothing but praise. It may be a hometown advantage thing, but each person also thought the event should continue in Chicago.
“I would love for it for to stay here. I’m really excited for Foret to be here. So I think this is something that would bring people back,” Tay’Hiana Welch said.
“They need to come back again. They really do. I think it’s a… It’s very entertaining. If you look, you got people who have never been to the races before,” Bruce Walker said.
“I cannot see it in any other city, honestly. Chicago is the best,” Aishah Hasan said.
The Chicago Sports Commission estimates that more than 53,000 people attended last year’s street race, about 6,000 more than the inaugural event.
Of the people who came last year, more than half were non-local who came to Chicago primarily for the event.
Motorsports
Connor Zilisch caught off guard by SVG’s aggression in battle for the win
Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch are teammates at Trackhouse and at Chicago, they were also teammates at JR Motorsports. They ran inverse paint schemes, both representing Red Bull and WeatherTech. And while Zilisch had to drive through the field after a practice wreck, SVG had to do something similar after some mid-race strategy went […]

Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch are teammates at Trackhouse and at Chicago, they were also teammates at JR Motorsports. They ran inverse paint schemes, both representing Red Bull and WeatherTech.
And while Zilisch had to drive through the field after a practice wreck, SVG had to do something similar after some mid-race strategy went awry. With some help from a late-race yellow, the race became a head-to-head battle between the teammates.
Zilisch had never raced SVG for the win before (although, they were co-drivers in the Rolex 24 at Daytona) and was caught off guard by the aggression he experienced as the hands of SVG as they raced down into Turn 1. Van Gisbergen threw it up the inside, using all the track to muscle his way into the race lead.
“I didn’t have a chance”

Connor Zilisch, JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Harrison Burton, AM Racing Ford
Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images
“I understand he’s racing for the win, but yeah, I didn’t even have a chance there,” Zilisch told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “He just stuffed me in the wall. Definitely frustrating, but still really cool to get Red Bull and WeatherTech a 1-2. My team worked so hard (after practice wreck). The entire JR Motorsports team came in to help, and yeah, we had a shot at it there and that’s all you can ask for. I’ll definitely remember the way he raced me. I didn’t expect him to do that. But I get it, we’re racing for the win.”
Learning from it
In the post-race press conference, Zilisch expanded on that, both disappointed in himself for not preparing for the move and surprised by how aggressive van Gisbergen was.
“It wasn’t dirty,” said Zilisch. “We’re racing for the win on the last restart. I just didn’t expect it — kind of just caught me by surprise. I wouldn’t consider it dirty at all. I could have just done a better job at keeping leverage but I let him get a nose ahead of me and at that point, it’s his corner and he can do what he wants to. I didn’t expect it, so I wish I could have it back.”
He later added: “By no means does he have to leave me room. I expected it, but I won’t expect it next time. I’m not mad about it, but like I said, I wish I had it back … I would have done it differently.”

Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet
Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images
What would Zilisch have done, exactly? He explained that he would have slammed the door on him in the brief moment where he got clear on the frontstretch, sweeping low and preventing a dive up the inside.
It also seems like Zilisch had some preconceived notions about the way SVG would race him, considering his background, but anyone who has watched Supercars knows better — just look at some of the tense battles between himself and his former Triple Eight teammate Jamie Whincup.
“I see Shane as a driver who came from New Zealand and over there, we were raised the same — when you hit someone, you get a penalty,” said Zilisch. “I expected that but by no means is that the rule here so I have nothing to complain about. I can’t be upset about it. It’s part of racing. Next time I’ll learn and will be more aggressive.”
And next time could be very soon as SVG will be back in the No. 9 JR Motorsports car for the NASCAR Xfinity race at Sonoma next weekend. It will be interesting to see how Zilisch adjusts his style should the two teammates face-off once again.
In this article
Nick DeGroot
NASCAR XFINITY
Shane van Gisbergen
Connor Zilisch
JR Motorsports
Trackhouse Racing Team
Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time news email updates on these topics
Motorsports
Shane van Gisbergen sweeps NASCAR weekend in Chicago with Cup victory
Shane van Gisbergen became only the second driver in NASCAR history to sweep the pole and race for both the Xfinity and Cup Series in the same weekend at the same track when he won Sunday’s race on the streets of Chicago. The only driver to have swept both the pole and race for both […]

Shane van Gisbergen became only the second driver in NASCAR history to sweep the pole and race for both the Xfinity and Cup Series in the same weekend at the same track when he won Sunday’s race on the streets of Chicago.
The only driver to have swept both the pole and race for both Xfinity and Cup in the same weekend at the same track was Kyle Busch at Indianapolis in 2016.
Shane van Gisbergen won his second race of the season when he won Sunday’s street race in Chicago after starting on the pole.
Of the six NASCAR races (three Xfinity and three Cup) run on the streets of Chicago since 2023, van Gisbergen has won four times after sweeping both races this weekend. He led 26 of the 75 laps Sunday.
Sunday marked van Gisbergen’s second victory of the season. He won at the road course in Mexico last month. He will go for back-to-back wins next weekend when the series races on the road course in Sonoma, California.
Ty Gibbs finished second, tying his career-best results. Tyler Reddick rallied to place third. Denny Hamlin was fourth after starting at the rear because of an engine change after an issue in Saturday’s practice. Busch, who had only one top-10 finish in the last 10 races, completed the top five.
Shane van Gisbergen has won back-to-back Cup road course events this season.
AJ Allmendinger was sixth and followed by Ryan Preece, Alex Bowman, Austin Hill and Ross Chastain. Hill’s ninth-place finish is his best Cup result in 12 series starts.
Preece’s seventh-place finish is his best road course result. He gained 20 points on Bubba Wallace and trails Wallace by two points for the final playoff spot with seven races left in the regular season. Wallace was in the top 10 with six laps left when he spun after contact with Alex Bowman. Wallace finished 28th.
Katherin Legge finished 19th for her best Cup result.
For the first time in the three Cup races at Chicago, the event was run without rain.
Eight drivers remain with the third round at Sonoma.
Stage 1 winner: Michael McDowell
Stage 2 winner: Ryan Blaney
Next: The series races at 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday, July 13 at Sonoma Raceway.
-
College Sports1 week ago
WAC to Rebrand to UAC, Add Five New Members in 2026
-
Technology3 weeks ago
Polar is teasing a Whoop alternative without subscription
-
Technology3 weeks ago
I loved the Whoop MG, but didn’t love the price: that’s why I’m excited about this mysterious new fitness band from a major Garmin rival
-
Motorsports6 days ago
Why Cosmetics are Making Up for Lost Time in Women’s Sports
-
College Sports3 weeks ago
Locked On Women's Basketball
-
Professional Sports2 weeks ago
Alex Pereira responds to rumors of UFC heavyweight title fight with threatening message
-
College Sports2 weeks ago
Women's Basketball Thanks Shannon LeBeauf for 14 Seasons
-
College Sports2 weeks ago
Alabama Basketball
-
Technology1 week ago
Pet fitness and wellness trends for a healthier and happier dog
-
Health3 weeks ago
Speakers continue to weigh in on transgender athlete debate at District 203 board meeting