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.

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.

CHICAGO (AP) — Shane van Gisbergen completed a sweep on the Chicago Street Course on Sunday, winning the NASCAR Cup Series race on the tricky downtown circuit.

It was van Gisbergen’s second victory of the season and his third career Cup win. The Trackhouse Racing driver also won in Chicago in 2023, becoming the first driver to take his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in the second qualifying race at Daytona in 1963.

Ty Gibbs was second, and Tyler Reddick finished third. Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.

It was a dominant weekend for van Gisbergen, a three-time champion in Australia’s Supercars. The 36-year-old New Zealand native won the Xfinity Series race from the pole Saturday. He also was the top qualifier for the Cup race.

Michael McDowell joined van Gisbergen on the front row and quickly moved in front. He won Stage 1 and led for 31 laps before he was derailed by a throttle cable issue.

Van Gisbergen regained the lead when he passed Chase Briscoe with 16 laps left. As fog moved into downtown Chicago with thunderstorms in the forecast, van Gisbergen controlled the action the rest of the way.

AJ Allmendinger was sixth, and Ryan Preece finished seventh. Ryan Blaney, who won the second stage, was 12th.

William Byron’s day was cut short by a clutch problem. The Hendrick Motorsports driver began the day on top of the series standings.

After McDowell seized the lead early in the race, Carson Hocevar caused a multicar crash when he hit the wall and spun out between Turns 10 and 11. Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez and Will Brown were among the drivers collected in the wreck.

“I didn’t see it until the last second,” Keselowski said. “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.”

Ty Dillon and Reddick moved into the third round of NASCAR’s inaugural in-season tournament when Keselowski and Hocevar were unable to finish the race. Dillon, the No. 32 seed, eliminated Keselowski after he upset top-seeded Denny Hamlin last weekend at Atlanta.

Gibbs, Preece, Alex Bowman, John H. Nemechek, Zane Smith and Erik Jones also advanced. The winner of the five-race, bracket-style tournament takes home a $1 million prize.

Bowman, the 2024 champion on the downtown street course, won his head-to-head matchup with Bubba Wallace. Bowman and Wallace made contact as they battled for position late in the race after they also tangled in Chicago last year.

___

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CHICAGO – With all four of the organization’s cars forced to start in the back after tough-luck practice and qualifying sessions, Hendrick Motorsports had its work cut out for it on Sunday in the Chicago Street Race. 

But a Saturday setback set up quite the Sunday comeback for the race’s defending winner. 

Alex Bowman maneuvered through crashes and came out on the right side of pit strategy to score an eighth-place finish, advancing past Bubba Wallace in the NASCAR In-Season Challenge as well. 

Chase Elliott, also relegated to the back of the field to start Sunday’s race, fell one spot short of advancing, coming home 16th, right behind opponent John Hunter Nemechek in 15th. Both Bowman (fourth) and Elliott (seventh) stayed out at the end of stage two, scoring pivotal stage points as well. 

Kyle Larson ascended the fastest of any of the Hendrick Motorsports cars, moving up 10 spots from 30th to 20th by the time a massive crash broke out on lap four. He was a fixture in the top 10 before coming away with a 13th-place finish. 

The NASCAR Cup Series will return next week with a race at Sonoma Raceway. Green flag is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Sunday and the race will air on TNT Sports. 

Shane van Gisbergen completed a sweep on the Chicago Street Course on Sunday, winning the NASCAR Cup Series race on the tricky downtown circuit.

It was van Gisbergen’s second victory of the season and his third career Cup win. The Trackhouse Racing driver also won in Chicago in 2023, becoming the first driver to take his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in the second qualifying race at Daytona in 1963.

Ty Gibbs was second, and Tyler Reddick finished third. Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.

It was a dominant weekend for van Gisbergen, a three-time champion in Australia’s Supercars. The 36-year-old New Zealand native won the Xfinity Series race from the pole Saturday. He also was the top qualifier for the Cup race.

Michael McDowell joined van Gisbergen on the front row and quickly moved in front. He won Stage 1 and led for 31 laps before he was derailed by a throttle cable issue.

Van Gisbergen regained the lead when he passed Chase Briscoe with 16 laps left. As fog moved into downtown Chicago with thunderstorms in the forecast, van Gisbergen controlled the action the rest of the way.

AJ Allmendinger was sixth, and Ryan Preece finished seventh. Ryan Blaney, who won the second stage, was 12th.

William Byron’s day was cut short by a clutch problem. The Hendrick Motorsports driver began the day on top of the series standings.

Photos: 2025 NASCAR Chicago Street Race

After McDowell seized the lead early in the race, Carson Hocevar caused a multicar crash when he hit the wall and spun out between Turns 10 and 11. Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez and Will Brown were among the drivers collected in the wreck.

“I didn’t see it until the last second,” Keselowski said. “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.”

Ty Dillon and Reddick moved into the third round of NASCAR’s inaugural in-season tournament when Keselowski and Hocevar were unable to finish the race. Dillon, the No. 32 seed, eliminated Keselowski after he upset top-seeded Denny Hamlin last weekend at Atlanta.

Gibbs, Preece, Alex Bowman, John H. Nemechek, Zane Smith and Erik Jones also advanced. The winner of the five-race, bracket-style tournament takes home a $1 million prize.

Bowman, the 2024 champion on the downtown street course, won his head-to-head matchup with Bubba Wallace. Bowman and Wallace made contact as they battled for position late in the race after they also tangled in Chicago last year.

Originally Published: July 6, 2025 at 4:41 PM CDT

The smallest of delays, as NASCAR officials had to get the Chicago Street Race pit road cleaned off after debris from a small fireworks show made a mess. Not a major deal, but not what NASCAR needs right now as they try to get this race completed before rain and bad weather show up in Chicago again.

The pomp and circumstance is real for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race. This is a big deal for the sport, and they are showing it in year three. It helps that the weather has cooperated, at least up to this point.

Derrick Rose gave the command to start engines. We have a drumline and cheer squad from the city helping to get things started. It is almost time to go race…after they clean off pit road, according to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports.

Today’s NASCAR Chicago Street Race is going to be intense. If the race stays dry then we are going to get a show that we have never seen on this track yet. A completely dry Cup Series race has not happened on this track yet. The Xfinity Series race was fantastic yesterday. Now it’s time to see if the Cup drivers can repeat that.

NASCAR wants to get this race completed in the dry. The least amount of issues and cautions, and weird pit stops they have to make, the better.

Of course, Shane van Gisbergen is the big favorite this weekend. He won both pole awards and the Xfinity Series race. One more thing to do to complete the sweep, win the Cup race.

NASCAR Chicago: SVG looking to complete sweep

What this NASCAR Chicago Street Race has meant to Shane van Gisbergen cannot be overstated. He has this event to thank for his Cup Series career right now. Winning that 2023 race led him to landing a Trackhouse Racing deal. Now, that has had more effects on the Cup Series.

Trackhouse has found a secret formula. They landed SVG in 2023. Then they signed Connor Zilisch, 18, to a development deal. Those two drivers are likely the best road course racers in the sport. With Trackhouse moving on from Daniel Suárez after this season, Zilisch is expected to move up to that third car.

More or less, Trackhouse has figured out that they can make the playoffs with these road course ringers. However, Zilisch, in the long term, will be a more well-rounded racer. He could be a future champion of the sport.

For SVG, winning road course races and making the playoffs each year is worth millions of dollars in charter money. It is a big deal. So, ideally, Zilicsh can replicate that early in his career as he catches up to the field on ovals.

So, this weekend means a lot to SVG and Trackhouse. It represents the new-school aspect of this organization and of NASCAR as a sport. If he can finish the sweep this weekend, then he will once again show why Justin Marks and company took a chance on the Kiwi.