CHICAGO — Alex Bowman thinks he is moving in the right direction. With the NASCAR Cup Series back in Chicago to race Sunday, it’s good timing for the Hendrick Motorsports driver.

Bowman raced to a sorely needed victory on the downtown streets of the Windy City a year ago, ending an 80-race drought and securing a spot in the playoffs. He is still looking for his first win this season, but he finished third last weekend at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta.

The 32-year-old Bowman is the only driver to win at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, a 45-mile drive from downtown, and on the Chicago street course, which debuted in 2023. He got his first Cup Series victory at Chicagoland in 2019 as NASCAR’s top circuit ended a 19-year run at the 1.5-mile track.

“As far as confidence coming into this race, I feel like we’re plenty capable,” Bowman said Saturday. “We’re typically pretty good at road courses. A lot of confidence coming into these places.”

Bowman struggled at the beginning of June, finishing 36th in back-to-back oval races at Nashville Superspeedway and Michigan International Speedway. The No. 48 Chevrolet driver turned it around in Mexico City, finishing fourth at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez — a 2.42-mile permanent road course with 15 turns.

Three of the last eight regular-season races before the 10-race, 16-driver playoffs are on road or street courses: Chicago, California’s Sonoma Raceway next weekend and New York’s Watkins Glen International on Aug. 10.

Bowman said he likes Chicago because it’s so different from the rest of the NASCAR schedule.

“We do a lot of the same thing for most of the year,” he said. “So, you know, walking through the city to get to the race track … makes it different and a little more enjoyable. The challenge of a street course in general is super fun. Very technical, very little room for error.”

Bowman held off Tyler Reddick for last year’s win on the 12-turn, 2.2-mile course, a tricky drive with manhole covers and transitions from concrete to asphalt and back. The race was shortened in each of its first two editions because of rain, and there could be more showers in store Sunday.

All three of Bowman’s Hendrick teammates are already locked into the playoffs via a victory. William Byron repeated as the winner of the season-opening Daytona 500, Kyle Larson has three wins (one in each of the first three months of the schedule) and Georgia native Chase Elliott won last weekend at his home track, become the 12th driver overall with a Cup Series victory in 2025.

Bowman has less than two months to join the group, and he’d obviously like to make it happen sooner than later. He is 15th in points and could make it to the postseason by that route, but a victory would make things much easier.

He’s also competing in the second round of NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Challenge tournament this weekend. He faces Bubba Wallace after the two tangled in Chicago last year.

During the cooldown lap after his victory, Bowman was bumped into the wall by Wallace. Bowman spun out Wallace’s 23XI Racing Toyota early in the race.

“I think he and I are totally good,” Bowman said. “But yeah, I mean, he’s been really fast here in the past. Like, you don’t tend to think of him as a road course guy, but here last year, he was really fast. So definitely going to be a tough one.”

The head-to-head matchup with Bowman in the bracketed event certainly got Wallace’s attention.

“I’m sure he knows that a door slam does not count us even,” Wallace said. “So we’ll see what happens.”

CHICAGO — When it comes to NASCAR on the streets of Chicago, there is Shane van Gisbergen, and then there is everyone else.

Van Gisbergen will start Sunday’s Cup Series race on the downtown course in pole position after the 36-year-old New Zealander turned a lap at 88.338 mph in the Trackhouse Racing No. 88 Chevrolet on a tricky 2.2-mile route made more treacherous by temperatures in the 90s during Saturday’s qualifying session.

“Practice wasn’t that great for us, but when we went out for qualifying, the car felt really good,” van Gisbergen said. “We turned in two pretty good laps.”

He will be joined on the front row by Michael McDowell, who grabbed the second slot at 87.879 mph in the Spire Motorsports No. 71 Chevy. Carson Hocevar (87.824 mph) in another Spire Chevy, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick (87.779 mph) and fellow Toyota driver Chase Briscoe (87.734 mph) of Joe Gibbs Racing rounded out the top five.

Kyle Busch was sixth in his Richard Childress Racing Chevy, and RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece has the best starting spot for a Ford driver at seventh.

McDowell is one of three drivers who finished in the top 10 in both of the first two races in downtown Chicago, where van Gisbergen won the inaugural edition in 2023 — it was also his NASCAR debut — and Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman took the checkered flag last year.

“Our car’s in the game,” McDowell said. “Tomorrow will be a mixed bag with potential weather in and out. So a lot of variables to go out there and navigate.”

Van Gisbergen, a three-time season champion in Australia’s Supercars Series, also won Saturday’s second-tier Xfinity Series race from the pole in a part-time entry for JR Motorsports. He outdueled Connor Zilisch, a full-time driver for JRM, in the final laps.

“I learned a lot in the Xfinity Series car this morning, and that just gives you a great leg up for the Cup car,” he said before winning the Xfinity Series race for the second year in a row. “I think it’s great running both cars; it certainly helps.”

Two years ago, the guy known as SVG made the most of his extensive street-racing experience to become the first driver to win his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in the second qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway in 1963.

Van Gisbergen won the first stage in the 2024 Cup Series race in Chicago before he was knocked out by a crash, and he is listed as the favorite in Sunday’s race by BetMGM Sportsbook. After driving in one other Cup Series race for Trackhouse Racing in 2023 and competing on a part-time basis for Kaulig Racing last season, he gained a full-time ride this year and added a second career win last month at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, a permanent road course.

Sunday’s starting lineup will have international representation beyond the front row, too.

Will Brown, the reigning champion in Australia’s Supercars Series, is making his second career start in the Cup Series. The driver of the No. 13 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet was 19th in qualifying.

Brown is hoping to duplicate the success of van Gisbergen.

“Obviously, a lot of us Supercar drivers after watching Shane in 2023 loved the look of Chicago and the event, so a lot of us wanted to come over and try this event,” Brown said. “Very lucky to be here.”

In addition, Katherine Legge became the first woman to qualify for the Cup Series race in downtown Chicago when the 44-year-old British driver turned a lap of 85.744 mph in a Live Fast Motorsports entry, knocking Corey Heim out of the field.

“We would have been a lot faster, I think, had I not kept nicking the wall,” Legge said. “I’ve given my crew a lot of work to do from that, but we had to keep pushing to put it in the show. I’m really proud of this team, and I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow.”

This will be the third Cup Series start for Legge, a motorsports veteran who has competed in the Indianapolis 500 four times. She finished 30th at Phoenix Raceway in March and was 32nd in Mexico City last month.

Meanwhile, Daniel Suárez is racing for the first time since his split from Trackhouse was announced. The driver of the No. 99 Chevrolet and the team are parting ways at the end of this season.

The 33-year-old Suárez is the only Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series race. He has two victories in 305 career starts on the top-tier Cup Series.

Suárez, who became an American citizen last year, said he knew the relationship was going in this direction for months, and the resolution was a relief.

“To be able to make it official and be able to talk to other people and stuff for me was crucial to be able to feel lighter,” he said.

Suárez, who has driven for Trackhouse for five years and helped the organization debut, indicated he thinks he will be able to stay in the Cup Series.

“I have had a lot of conversations with a lot of people, and there is going to be opportunities,” he said. “We just have to see how things play out a little bit. I’m not going to lie. I believe that if this was happening next year, it was going to be way easier, because next year there’s a lot more openings, but there is going to be some, and I’m confident that things are going to work out.”

Shane van Gisbergen continues to set the standard on NASCAR’s road and street courses.

The Kiwi, who made his NASCAR debut with a win on the streets of Chicago in 2023, will lead the field to the green flag this Sunday after recording a pole lap of 88.338mph (89.656s).

It is the third pole of van Gisbergen’s career. He won from the pole in Mexico City last month.

“That was epic,” van Gisbergen said. “The guys did a great job. The WeatherTech Chevy is really good. I’m a lucky boy; I’ve got some great cars today. Xfinity pole, Cup pole. The Cup pole is pretty special. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow, but what a tune-up.

“Practice wasn’t that great and went out in qualifying. The car felt really good and laid down two pretty good laps.”

Michael McDowell qualified second at 87.879mph, Carson Hocevar third at 87.824mph, Tyler Reddick fourth at 87.779mph and Chase Briscoe completed the top five at 87.734mph. Kyle Busch qualified sixth at 87.639mph, Ryan Preece seventh at 87.481mph, Chris Buescher eighth at 87.471mph, Ty Gibbs ninth at 87.391mph and Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10 at 87.303mph.

The defending race winner, Alex Bowman, qualified 11th. Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and Brad Keselowski completed the top 15.

Will Brown qualified 19th for his second Cup Series start. He was the fastest of the Open teams entered in the race.

Bubba Wallace had multiple issues in qualifying that put him 37th on the grid. He spun during one attempt, and then spun again and bounced off the tire barriers in a separate incident.

Katherine Legge earned the final spot on the grid of the five Open teams who entered the event. Legge and Live Fast Motorsports out-qualified Corey Heim of 23XI Racing.

“I was thinking, ‘Way to go showing all my minor indiscretions there,’” Legge said of the highlight reel of her qualifying attempt, which included bouncing off the walls. “I tried my best to mess that qualifying up, honestly. I think it was a lot of pressure to come in with only 20 minutes of practice on a street course where there is no room for error to try and put it in the show. But I actually feel pretty good about it now having done that.

“We would have been a lot faster, I think, had I not kept nicking the walls. I’ve given my crew a lot of work to do. Sorry, guys. I just had to keep pushing and put it in the show, which we did, so I’m very proud of them and I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow and a little bit less stress.”

There will be multiple big-name drivers coming from the rear of the field on Sunday, including three who were unable to make a qualifying lap.

William Byron and Chase Elliott were sidelined after hitting the wall in practice and requiring repairs. Denny Hamlin did not get on track after blowing an engine.

NEXT: The Grant Park 165 at 2 p.m. ET Sunday.

RESULTS

Returning to the circuit that started his NASCAR career, Shane van Gisbergen started his double-duty weekend by driving Chevrolet to a sweep of the pole wins for the Chicago Street Race weekend. The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street Race winner laid down a monster best-lap of 89.656 seconds in his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to earn the pole position for the third rendition the event.

· Van Gisbergen’s pole – his third all-time in NASCAR’s top division – came after he drove the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to the pole position for the 36-year-old Auckland, New Zealand, natives first start of the season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Van Gisbergen is the last driver to sweep the pole wins in a doubleheader weekend for NASCAR’s top-two division – accomplished at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in 2024.

· Van Gisbergen led the Bowtie brigade to a sweep of the top-three starting positions with the pair of Spire Motorsports teammates, Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar, driving their Chevrolet-powered machines to second- and third-place qualifying efforts, respectively.

· Having to qualify her way into tomorrow’s Grant Park 165, Katherine Legge drove her No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet to a best-lap of 92.368 seconds to earn her spot in the starting lineup for tomorrow’s event – making her the first woman to make a start in NASCAR’s top division at the Chicago Street Course.

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 STARTING LINEUP

POS. DRIVER

1st – Shane van Gisbergen

2nd – Michael McDowell

3rd – Carson Hocevar

6th – Kyle Busch

10th – Austin Dillon

Chevrolet’s season statistics heading into the 20th NASCAR Cup Series race:

Wins: 7

Poles: 9

Top-Fives: 37

Top 10s: 76

Stage Wins: 16

Post-Race Driver Quotes:

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet – Pole Win Quotes

Where did you find that extra time when you went back out?

“Yeah, that was epic! Our team did a great job. The No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet was ripping really good. I’m a lucky boy, I’ve got some great cars today — both the Cup and Xfinity car. This is pretty special. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow. Practice wasn’t that great for us, but when we went out for qualifying, the car felt really good. We turned in two pretty good laps.”

We heard you mention that the field has picked up its game. How do you do that for yourself? How do you up your game?

“You can always do something better, right? You’re always learning. I learned a lot in the Xfinity Series car this morning, and that just gives you a great leg up for the Cup car. I think it’s great running both cars, it certainly helps.”

Katherine Legge, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet

“It’s a lot of pressure to come in with only 20 minutes of practice on a street course where there’s no room for error to put it in the show. I actually feel pretty good about it now. We would have been a lot faster, I think, had I not kept nicking the wall. I’ve given my crew a lot of work to do from that, but we had to keep pushing to put it in the show. I’m really proud of this team, and I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow.”

Shane van Gisbergen and Michael McDowell – Front-Row Press Conference Quotes

How did you feel about your car’s race trim?

Van Gisbergen: “Yeah, my practice went okay. It’s very hot, so it’s slick out there at the times. They’re a lot slower than previous years. My car felt pretty good. I probably took it too easy. I had too much left at the end of practice, but yeah, I feel like my race car was pretty good. I liked a few things, and then in qualifying, I sharpened it up. My first lap was a pretty good banker and I knew I had a lot left. And then the next lap went pretty decent… probably had two- or three-tenths left, and pretty cool to lay it down.”

We saw quite a few drivers making mistakes or coming close to making mistakes today. Can you describe how on edge you guys are, and how little margin of error may be out there?

Van Gisbergen: “Yeah, I think that’s the temperature. We’re over a second off, I think, from what we managed last year. The track’s just treacherous, and when it’s that hot and slick, the margin for error is just so small. On a track like this with no run-offs, you’ve really got to be — like I hit the wall two or three times, I think, on my qualifying lap. You’ve got to be that accurate and that close to the walls, and you have no margin left. I don’t blame the guys crash, it’s a very, very tough track, this one.”

You guys mentioned the heat, but how do you feel like the track looks compared to the last two years – similar or different, anything stand out to you guys?

Van Gisbergen: “It’s the same for me.”

McDowell: “Yeah, I think everything looks the same. I mean, for a street course, it’s miraculous how good they get the corners the same every year. I think some of that is because there’s some hard stops too, right, like there’s curves on the other side, and street markers there that kind of get it that way. There’s a couple little bumps that are slightly bigger, but for the most part, it’s the same. They do a good job of having the barriers in the same spot. Visual references — I feel like they’re the same. In the first couple of years, it was a little different. But I felt like this was really consistent.”

Brad Keselowski was saying that he thought there were areas of the track that were repaved last year, and they’re just much more treacherous this year…

Van Gisbergen: “Yeah, I think it’s turn 12, turn 1, it’s lost a little grip and some color. But I still think that they’re the highest grip parts of the track. And there’s no bumps there, so yeah, I find it okay.”

McDowell: “I think, overall, the day was just hotter. I mean we were about a second slower in qualifying and in rac, , so everywhere was a bit slicker. But yeah, there’s some new asphalt that we have to use too on the inside of turn 11. I don’t know — well SVG will use it for passing, he did last year there. But that’s about the only spot I feel like that’s much different.”

You two were among the fastest at Mexico, so are either of you surprised that the other one’s on the front row with you?

McDowell: “I’m not surprised at all. As Jeff Gluck said this morning, asking what I was going to do to beat SVG, obviously I didn’t do enough… he still got me about a half second there (laughs). We still got some work to do, but our race trim was good. Tomorrow will be a mixed bag with potential weather in and out, so a lot of variables to go out there and navigate.”

Van Gisbergen: “He (Michael McDowell) is a good road course racer. But you never know in NASCAR. There’s 15 guys that can turn up on a road course, and that’s the beauty of this series. Everyone’s so good, so you never know on a given weekend who’s going to be the challenger, so I’m not really surprised by anything in this sport.”

GM PR

Shane van Gisbergen dazzled in the streets of Chicago with a dominant performance in Saturday’s (July 5) The Loop 110, passing JR Motorsports teammate Connor Zilisch on the final restart to score back-to-back NASCAR Xfinity Series wins in the Windy City.

An untimely caution and subsequent pit stop on lap 26 dropped van Gisbergen to 25th after leading from the pole. He fought through heavy traffic and gritted out a mid-race cool suit failure to complete the comeback. He did so with temperatures around 95 degrees outside and even hotter inside of his No. 9 racecar.

Shane van Gisbergen Completes Perfect Windy City Saturday With Xfinity Win

He was treated and released from the care center around 7:35 p.m. local time. He’ll start on the pole for Sunday’s (July 6) Grant Park 165 and will look to double up by sweeping the weekend and scoring his second NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2025 season.

NASCAR Content Director at Frontstretch

Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote “4 Burning Questions” for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.

Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf