The three-time Supercars champion is now a three-time race winner in the NASCAR Cup Series. Shane van Gisbergen won from pole in the NASCAR Xfinity Series…and then proceeded to do it again in the Cup race on Sunday.

While chaos broke out behind the leaders, SVG remained firmly in control for the final run of the race, capturing the checkered flag.

“What an amazing weekend for me,” said van Gisbergen. “Lucky guy to drive some great cars. I thank Trackhouse, WeatherTech Chevy and all these guys and girls here, what an amazing weekend. Thanks everyone for coming out, and hope we put on a good show.”

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images

Ty Gibbs finished second, matching his career-best finish in the Cup Series. Tyler Reddick was charging fast on fresh tires, but he ran out of time, settling for third. Denny Hamlin came from last on the grid to finish fourth and Kyle Busch rebounded from a mid-race spin to finish fifth.

AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Preece, Alex Bowman, Austin Hill, and Ross Chastain filled out the remainder of the top ten.

As Van Gisbergen approached the white flag, Cody Ware crashed big, burying his No. 51 car in the tire barrier. Luckily for him, he took the white flag before the race-ending caution flew.

Stage 3

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

The final stage of the race got underway on Lap 49 of 75 with Briscoe and Reddick leading the way, trying to go longer than most on fuel.

SVG restarted back in eighth, but quickly made his way up to third. Reddick stayed close to Briscoe about three seconds clear of the three-time Supercars champ.

With 18 laps to go, he easily dispatched Reddick for the runner-up spot. Three laps later, he made the pass for the lead on Briscoe. Moments later, the caution flew for a medical emergency. NASCAR needed to get an ambulance across the track to help a spectator.  

Reddick took the opportunity to pit from third, giving up track position for fresh tires. A handful of cars pitted with him, but it still put him deep in the field.

The green flag flew with 13 laps to go and chaos broke out behind the leaders with multiple incidents. Chastain got put into the tires in Turn 1 and then sent Joey Logano spinning in the next corner, collecting Ricky Stenhouse Jr., but none of this actually caused a caution. Austin Cindric stopped on track with damage, and that ultimately triggered a full-course caution.

In a nine-lap dash, things got very heated between Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace as they battled not just for a spot on track, but for advancement in the $1 million in-season challenge. In the end, Wallace got turned off the nose of Bowman and spun out. 

There was a lot of contact throughout the pack in the closing laps, but things somehow remained green until the white flag incident. And while SVG celebrated the win, his teammate, Chastain, was confronted by Logano on pit road following their contact.

Stage 1

Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

Photo by: Logan Riely / Getty Images

At the start of the race, Michael McDowell managed to get around van Gisbergen and take the race lead. It was a clean start, but William Byron fell behind the pack and went to the garage with clutch issues.

Just three laps into the race, Carson Hocevar slammed the wall at the exit of Turn 10 and lost control while running the seventh. This ignited a multi-car pileup, collecting Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Will Brown, Todd Gilliland, Allmendinger, and Riley Herbst. Cole Custer also sustained damage was trying to slow down.

The rest of the stage was mostly clean except for a spin from Bowman. Most of the field chose to short-pit including van Gisbergen, who went from second to eleventh.

However, McDowell was among ten drivers that stayed out, winning the stage. He was followed by Busch, Reddick, Chase Briscoe, and Preece.

Christopher Bell was penalized for speeding during the first cycle of stops, putting him to the rear of the field.

Stage 2

SVG quickly made up ground with fresh tires, cutting through the top ten with relative ease. Meanwhile, Wallace went for a spin after contact with Kyle Larson.

Later on, Josh Berry spun and slammed the wall, destroying the nose of the car. Several drivers, including Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe, dove to pit road just before the caution came out.

Under caution, McDowell gave up the lead after telling the team that his throttle was sticking. He got fresh tires and a full load of fuel as the Spire team went under the hood to investigate. 

SVG was back in control, leading Allmendinger. Busch went spinning on the restart, costing him all of his track position. To make matters worse, he got a pass-through penalty after driving through too many pit stalls. Katherine Legge also lost control and slammed the tire barrier at Turn 1. She was able to continue.

Van Gisbergen gave up the stage win to pit early, as did Allmendinger. That allowed Ryan Blaney to take the stage win, ahead of Briscoe and Reddick. 

Photos from Chicago – Race

Shane van Gisbergen won his second race of the season when he won Sunday’s street race in Chicago after starting on the pole.

It comes a day after he won the Xfinity race from the pole on the same 12-turn, 2.2-mile street course.

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Meanwhile, the points race tightened.

Ty Gibbs matched his career-best Cup finish by placing second. Tyler Reddick placed third. Denny Hamlin finished fourth and Kyle Busch placed fifth.

Hamlin scored his top-five result after starting at the rear of the field due to an engine change when he had a failure on his first lap of practice Saturday.

AJ Allmendinger was sixth, Ryan Preece placed seventh, Alex Bowman was eighth, Austin Hill finished a career-best ninth in 12 Cup starts and Ross Chastain completed the top 10.

Points leader William Byron’s 40th-place finish tightened the points race.

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Four drivers are within 50 points of Byron for the points lead with seven races left in the regular season.

Byron leads Chase Elliott by 13 points, Kyle Larson by 19 points, Hamlin by 43 points and Reddick by 48 points.

Bubba Wallace holds the final playoff spot. Ryan Preece is two points behind him.

In the closing laps of the NASCAR Cup race at Chicago, a tense battle unfolded at the backend of the top ten. Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace were trading paint and slamming fenders in a dramatic battle for position.

However, it wasn’t just a top ten on the line in this situation. Bowman and Wallace were also matched up in Round 2 of NASCAR’s new in-season challenge, and the driver who finished higher would advance into the next round. The prize for winning this tournament is $1 million, equal to a victory in the All-Star Race.

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As the two drivers battled, there was a lot of contact that ended with Wallace spinning off the nose of Bowman. While the Hendrick Motorsports driver went on to finish eighth, Wallace ended the day in 28th as he was eliminated from the in-season challenge.

The two drivers shared a cordial conversation after the race as they talked through what happened on the track.

“I didn’t really expect it when I passed him [Wallace] and we got into (Turn) 12 and he just shipped me, and then he ran me into the fence in (Turn) 1, and ran us into the fence off of (Turn) 2,” said Bowman after the race.

“He’s just not clear. I don’t have anywhere to go. We’re going straight and we just got hooked together and he ends up crashing. I didn’t really feel like it was necessary.”

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The impact of the $1 million challenge

Bowman later added: “I guess the in-season tournament is more important than I expected.”

In the end, Bowman is now one of the final eight drivers in a tournament that began with 32, and the last representative for Hendrick Motorsports. Bowman noted that the challenge wasn’t even on his mind at the time, and wondered if that’s what caused Wallace to race him as hard as he did.

“I don’t know if that’s worth driving into the corner and clearing the guy out and then driving him into the fence and doing all the things that happened there,” concluded Bowman.

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Shane van Gisbergen sweeps Chicago weekend with chaotic NASCAR Cup race win

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By Noah Poser, Staff Writer

Coming into the weekend, Ty Gibbs was one of just three drivers to have finished inside the top 10 in both NASCAR Cup Series races at the Chicago Street Course.

After Sunday’s race concluded with Gibbs finishing runner-up to race winner Shane van Gisbergen, he remains just one of now two drivers (along with Kyle Busch) to have done so in each of the first three editions of the race.

The second-place finish matches his best finish at NASCAR’s highest level, a result he had previously achieved at Darlington last spring.

“My team called a great strategy and got me the track position we needed to get in front and compete for the win,” Gibbs said. “So it worked out for us today and I’m glad to have a good finish, but I wish we could have gone for the win.”

Gibbs started ninth and ran well for much of the day, but the team opted to prioritize track position over stage points throughout the early portions of the race to allow him be near the front for the final stage.

The plan worked to near-perfection as Gibbs lined up alongside van Gisbergen on the front row for what ultimately wound up being the race’s final restart with nine laps to go, giving him his best chance at snatching the win away from the Trackhouse Racing driver.

But it wasn’t meant to be for Gibbs, who experienced firsthand the perils of being stuck in the outside lane on a restart at the Chicago Street Course.

“Right in that last corner, the dude on the outside gets shafted every single time,” Gibbs said. “If you watch every one of them, the inside guy wins almost every time and he just got a good enough gap and had a good restart. I had a little bit of rear tire degradation and it didn’t really help me in my launch off the corner, so he just got a good gap and got away from me.”

Gibbs said there wasn’t a whole lot he could have done differently to change the outcome.

“The outside is the less preferred lane on the racetrack and especially on the starts because there’s just not as much grip,” Gibbs said. “Maybe if he had a hiccup and slid his right front tire, maybe I could have stayed on the outside of him.”

In the end, van Gisbergen drove away from Gibbs after the restart, leaving the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to fend off a hard-charging Tyler Reddick after Reddick had stormed back through the field following a late pit stop for fresh tires.

When the yellow flag waved on the final lap for Cody Ware being stuck in the turn six tire barrier, freezing the field in their respective running positions, Gibbs’ defense of second place proved to be a success, allowing him to better the third-place finish he had in Chicago last year after having lead the most laps.

The runner-up result marks the third top five finish of the season for Gibbs, who jumps five spots in the standings, from 24th to 19th. He’s 66 points back of Bubba Wallace for the final playoff spot with seven races remaining in the regular season.

Despite the substantial gains made in the points, Gibbs wishes the caution had come out before the white flag as opposed to just after, allowing him one more shot to fight for the win.

“I would have been all for that (caution),” Gibbs said. “100%. But I think the No. 51 was underneath the (barrier) over there, so I don’t know. It would’ve been awesome though.

“It would have worked in my favor.”