NASCAR will once again open up the month of July in the “Windy City” with the Cup and Xfinity Series hitting the city streets for the third rendition of the Chicago Street Race.

The doubleheader will get underway with the Xfinity Series in Saturday’s The Loop 110, followed by the Cup Series in Sunday’s Grant Park 165. NASCAR’s short history of street racing has seen a commanding performance by the Chevrolet camp with the Bowtie brand entering the weekend as the only triumphant manufacturer in both divisions at the circuit.

UNDEFEATED IN THE “WINDY CITY”

Just two years ago, a history-making weekend turned into a career-defining moment for Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen. Taking the green flag in the NASCAR Cup Series for the very first time, the Auckland, New Zealand, native became the first driver in 60 years to win in his debut start in the sport’s top division. The victory was accompanied by a Team Chevy top-five sweep earned by drivers representing four different Chevrolet organizations. One year ago, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman snapped an 80-race winless streak and put Chevrolet back in victory lane at the Chicago circuit for the second-consecutive season. Success has been shared across the Chevrolet camp at the circuit with five of its full-time organizations earning top-10 results in the two-race stint. Kyle Busch has piloted his Richard Childress Racing-prepared Chevrolet to top-10 results in each event, with Kaulig Racing earning a best finish of second in the inaugural event and Hyak Motorsports scoring a sixth-place finish in 2024.
 

BOWMAN ON BRINK OF FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON

Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman is hungrier than ever to get back into victory lane, and the 32-year-old Tucson, Arizona, native is setting himself up for the opportunity to do just that this weekend. Bowman and the No. 48 Chevrolet team already have the momentum as the series’ defending winners in the Chicago Street Race. But on top of that, the Chevrolet driver is on a hot streak of top-five finishes in two of the past three races, which started on the left- and right-hand turns of Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Also earning a ninth-place finish in the first road course race of the season at Circuit of The Americas, Bowman will enter the weekend with six top-10 finishes in the past 10 road races.
 

BACK WHERE IT ALL STARTED

The Chicago Street Course will forever hold a special place in Shane van Gisbergen’s racing career. The three-time Australian Supercars Champion made the crossover of a lifetime two seasons ago that ended in a history-making victory and catapulted the Chevrolet driver into a full-time NASCAR career. Now competing in his rookie campaign in NASCAR’s top division, Van Gisbergen already solidified his shot at the championship title thanks to his dominating triumph in Mexico City just a few weeks ago. Looking to become the series’ fourth repeat winner of the season, there’s no better opportunity than the streets of Chicago. Van Gisbergen is the only driver to have earned a victory in both divisions at the “Windy City” circuit, with the driver also taking a Kaulig Racing-prepared Chevrolet to victory lane in the Xfinity Series last season. All five of his NASCAR national series victories have been earned making left- and right-hand turns.
 

BROWN BACK STATESIDE

Yet another Supercars standout will make the crossover back into the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend. Reigning Australian Supercars Champion, Will Brown, is set to make his second career start in NASCAR’s top division at the Chicago Street Course – this time behind the wheel of a third entry for Kaulig Racing. The 27-year-old Australian native made his Cup Series debut with Richard Childress Racing at Sonoma Raceway last season. The driver quickly found his footing behind the wheel of a Next Gen Camaro ZL1. Brown clocked-in third-fastest overall in practice, but battled an electrical issue throughout the remainder of the weekend. Looking to follow suit of fellow Supercars champion, Shane van Gisbergen, a win in Sunday’s event would make Brown the first-ever Australian-born driver to win in NASCAR’s top division.
 

TEAM CHEVY LEADS IN PLAYOFF BERTHS

After being a consistent contender throughout much of the season, Chase Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team earned their spot back in victory lane at EchoPark Speedway last weekend. The win – his 20th all-time in his Cup Series career – added onto an already strong first-half of the 2025 season for the 29-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia, native. Elliott has been a steady fixture in the top-10 of the driver points standings throughout the season, with the Chevrolet driver making his way up into the second position following his win – now sitting just 37-points behind his teammate, William Byron.

With 18 points-paying races complete in NASCAR’s top division, Chevrolet sits at a series-best seven wins. As the playoff picture inches closer, the Bowtie brand also leads the series in early playoff berths with Elliott becoming the manufacturer’s fifth different driver to find victory lane this season.
 

SANCHEZ ADDS TO STELLAR XFINITY SERIES SEASON

2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series ‘Rookie of the Year’ contender, Nick Sanchez, added onto an already stout list of season winners by picking up his first victory in just 25 career starts in the series at EchoPark Speedway. The victory marks Chevrolet’s 15th win in 17 Xfinity Series races, with the Bowtie brand heading to the “Windy City” looking to extend its win streak into the double-digits. Continuing to prove the strength across the Chevrolet camp, Big Machine Racing is now the fourth different organization under the Bowtie banner to earn a trip to victory lane this season. Sanchez is the ninth different Chevrolet driver to contribute to the manufacturer’s 2025 win count – six of which are full-time competitors that have also earned an early playoff berth.

Opportunity lies ahead for the Bowtie brigade to turn its season win streak into 10-straight this weekend. Returning to the circuit as the series’ defending winners, the manufacturer has also gone two-for-two making left- and right-hand turns this season courtesy of wins by Connor Zilisch (Circuit of The Americas) and Daniel Suarez (Mexico City).
 

ZILISCH AMONG LEADING ROAD COURSE WARRIORS

Among the sport’s road course warriors includes Team Chevy’s rising star, Connor Zilisch. Already proving to be diverse on each configuration on the circuit, the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series ‘Rookie of the Year’ contender has found early success in his road racing roots. Zilisch found victory lane in his first career start at Watkins Glen International in Sept. 2024, becoming just the seventh driver in Xfinity Series history to win in his debut. Now competing in a full-time campaign in the series, Zilisch has tallied three victories in just 20 career starts behind the wheel of a Camaro SS, with his first of the season coming at Circuit of The Americas in March. On top of the victory, the 18-year old North Carolina native has swept the pole wins in both road course races this season, as well as tallied a top-five finish in Mexico City. Heading into his first start at the Chicago Street Course, Zilisch’s expertise on left- and right-hand turns is accompanied by a string of five-straight top-five finishes, dating back to a pair of runner-up results at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway.
 

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 18 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:

Wins: 7

Poles: 8

Laps Led: 2,293

Top-Fives: 37

Top-10s: 78

Stage Wins: 16

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 17 NASCAR Xfinity Series races complete:

Wins: 15

Poles: 10

Laps Led: 2,255

Top-Fives: 58

Top-10s: 111

Stage Wins: 26

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 15 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races complete:

Wins: 6

Poles: 2

Laps Led: 854

Top-Fives: 35

Top-10s: 71

Stage Wins: 7

BOWTIE BULLETS:

· The pace car lineup for the NASCAR doubleheader weekend at the Chicago Street Course will feature all three NASCAR OEM partners, with the Chevrolet Blazer EV SS assisting in pacing the Cup Series in Sunday’s Grant Park 165 and the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray assisting in pacing the Xfinity Series in Saturday’s The Loop 110.

· Together with NASCAR, ABB and the sports’ OEM partners, Chevrolet will be participating in an electric vehicle showcase during the NASCAR Chicago Street Race weekend. The showcase on Sunday will feature live exhibition track laps by the Chevy, Ford and ABB electric vehicle prototypes, with the Chevrolet Blazer EV.R NASCAR Prototype being driven by Rajah Caruth.

· Chevrolet heads into the third annual Chicago Street Race undefeated in NASCAR’s top division:

July 2023 – Shane van Gisbergen

July 2024 – Alex Bowman

· Chevrolet drivers swept the top-five finishing positions in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street Race – recorded by drivers from four different Chevrolet organizations. The feat marked the second time the Bowtie brand swept the top-five finishing results in the Next Gen era – also accomplishing the feat at another road course, Road America, in July 2022.

· Chevrolet has earned at least half of the top-10 finishing results in 10 of the 18 points-paying races thus far this season, including a season-high seven top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

· In 126 points-paying races in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 59 victories – a winning percentage of 46.8%.

· With its 43 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 873 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.
 

TUNE-IN:

NASCAR Cup Series

Challenge Round 2 – Grant Park 165

Sunday, June 6, at 2 p.m. ET

(TNT, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

NASCAR Xfinity Series

The Loop 110

Saturday, June 5, at 4:30 p.m. ET

(CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
 

QUOTABLE QUOTES:

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Do you enjoy road racing?

“I’m ready to turn left and right again. I’ve really grown to like road course racing and it is something I’ve spent time improving on. The better I get at it, the more I like it. It’s fun to have Shane and Daniel as teammates because they’re both so good at road racing and I can learn from them and obviously Connor knows his way around road courses too. I need to have a clean race this weekend. Mexico City was going well until the spin, pit road and things like that. I’m really looking forward to Chicago this weekend.”

Chicago is a unique event… do you like racing in the city?

“Chicago is such a fun weekend. It’s unique in that we can just walk across the street to the track. We don’t have rental cars and can walk or take transportation everywhere. There is something for everyone – museums, parks, excellent food. It feels really familiar now that it’s going to be our third year.”

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

What are your thoughts on racing on the streets of Chicago?

“The Chicago Street Course is an awesome race to check out. There are tight corners that impact how you enter and exit the corners. You’ve got to be so precise. The walls are very tight, and it’s easy to make a mistake on the Chicago street course. The past couple of years, we’ve had to deal with the rain. Our Richard Childress Racing team will be ready for whatever comes our way.”

What’s it like driving the Chicago Street Course compared to a regular track—does it feel different behind the wheel?

“The Chicago Street Course is very different from the other courses we race on. We’re racing on the streets of downtown Chicago, and seeing the city skyline and the traffic lights definitely gives the race a different feeling. It’s a pretty cool sight to race around Buckingham Fountain and other historic monuments in the city. It’s going to be a great July Fourth holiday weekend. The fan support is huge, and NASCAR puts on a great race.”

Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet

Larson on the Chicago Street Race:

“It’s a really fun event. I love it. I hope the weather is good, rain has kind of come out of no where the last couple of years. I hope it goes good. The fans deserve to see a good race there. I love being in the city and walking to the race track and good food, it’s fun.”

Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

What are your thoughts heading to Chicago?

“Chicago is one of my favorite races of the year. The atmosphere and crowd are incredible, so it’s always a special weekend. I’ve been looking forward to the Chicago Street Race all season. Our cars were fast at both road races this season, so I’m eager to see how we’ll do on the street course.”

Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

There’s a whole lot of unique tracks coming up on the schedule, is there anything you can take from that?

“Each week we try to continue to focus on that week’s race and making sure that we know what to do to have good results. There’s a few road courses coming up, so honestly, some might say ‘hey, we screwed up road course points at Mexico, so now we’re not going to be very good on all the rest of the road courses.’ I wouldn’t say that’s true. You can either do really well and earn a lot of points at those races by staying out at the end of the stages and playing the strategy game, or you can have what happened to us in Mexico and have an incident where you get zero points. It’s up to our team to do everything we can to maximize the opportunities to earn points.”

Anytime you get to any of the road courses, you don’t want to have to deal with those road course ringers, right?

“The A.J. Allmendinger’s or the Shane van Gisbergen’s, those guys are really good, and recognized for their road course experience, although, last year Alex Bowman won the race and he does not come from a road course racing background. So, it’s anyone and everyone in the field that can go out there and get it done on at the road course races.”

Would you be okay with adding another street race to the schedule? If so, what would be a good location?

“Another street circuit would be a pretty good idea. If we’re going to do it, we should go to an area that we’re not currently racing in. I wouldn’t change racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to run on the streets of Las Vegas. Let’s go somewhere different.”

Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Elliott on the performance of the team:

“We’ve just been doing this long enough to know it all kind of starts and ends with us. We have to make sure we’re doing our part and I’m doing my part. Just bringing everything I can possibly bring every single week. It’s the honest conversations that we have on Monday mornings that are either going to make us better or make us fail. All of the pieces of the puzzle are there. We’re working on the right things. I think I’m asking for the right things out of the car. I’m really proud of our team for just sticking together. I think there’s been so many times that we could have thrown in the towel and really kind of fractured from the inside. It’s a really important thing for me to have climbed that mountain and stood on top of it with AG (Alan Gustafson) and we’ve kind of fallen off that hill. Getting back to the top with him and with our group and doing it together, I think is a really important thing to do. We have so much respect for one another as a team that we’re going to continue to make each other better as we push forward.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

“I love racing on the streets of Chicago, and I always think it’s a fun event overall. Racing on a street course is unique; it’s challenging in so many different ways. The weather has always been a factor there and that throws another kind of obstacle to figure out. The two years we’ve been there have been difficult in the way the race has played out. I need to be better with some of the mistakes I have made on track and we’re working hard to get a better result. Our focus this year is getting out there and having a good practice. That will set the tone for the weekend and that’s probably where we’ve lacked most in the past. I’m doing all my homework to try to be better for practice and moving on to put together a good race. We’ve had opportunities to have really good finishes, and it just hasn’t played out. We’re working to learn from those mistakes and be better this weekend.”

William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Byron on the Chicago Street Race:

“Honestly, I’m just hoping we have good weather this weekend in Chicago. The last two years it has rained, and it really changed the dynamic of how the race goes and who is a factor. It would just be cool to see how the race plays out when that element isn’t involved. But even if it is, we have two years of experience with it. I just love the vibe the race brings, racing downtown through the city. It’s unlike the other venues we go to, and I think it brings an element that we need.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet

“I’m excited to light up the streets of Chicago and represent Rate in front of their hometown crowd.”

Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Bowman on returning to the Chicago Street Race after winning last season :

“Going back to Chicago is pretty special. That win last year was huge for me and this 48 team it was one of those races where everything came together at the right time. The street course is such a unique challenge, and the atmosphere is unlike anything else we see all year. I’m excited to get back there, defend that win, and hopefully keep building momentum for the playoff push.”

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

What are your thoughts heading back to a track where you have back-to-back top-10’s and how do you feel about NASCAR’s attempt at street racing?

“I am looking forward to Chicago, it is a fun track and hopefully we can get a smooth weekend with no rain. It is a place we have finished in the top five and top 10 a couple of times, and I feel confident going there. Our road course program is getting better each race and I really feel like we are building on something. We still have things to learn, but I feel like going into Chicago and Sonoma back-to-back gives us a couple of good opportunities to win, and get into the playoffs.”

Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

How does a street course differ from the traditional road courses the Cup Series typically visits?

”The biggest difference, which is also the most obvious, is we’re racing on a surface that sees high traffic on a daily basis compared to a purpose-built track that holds events a few times a year. The City of Chicago and NASCAR do a great job making sure the course is prepared for us and we’ve seen improvement each year the series has gone back to Chicago. Because we’re racing on streets that are built for people to navigate through a city, the corners are usually a bit more narrow and that’s where we’ve seen a lot of incidents in the past. You run out of room quickly when everyone is fighting for the preferred line. Weather has been a factor the last two years so I guess we’ll see what comes of that, but that’s pretty normal for this time of year, anywhere we race. I’m really excited for this weekend’s race. There’s always a lot of action on track and a lot of fun things to do in the city.”

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Chicago has been really good to you. What does that city and street course mean to you?

“Ah, every time I come back, I get the memories of the first-ever race, coming and doing really well here. This city will always hold so many memories. I’m really looking forward to getting back on the streets of Chicago and hopefully getting a third win for the city and a second Chicago win for Trackhouse.”

How are you feeling about this weekend?

“We should be very strong this weekend. I know everyone is going to be better. Last year was a big step up on competition and I know this year will be, too. We just have to continue to focus on us. We’ve prepped very hard, spent last week’s simulator time on Chicago, so hopefully we get there this weekend and are solid.”

What is Chicago a track that fits your driving style so well? You have been very successful there…

“It’s just like the tracks I’ve grown up racing on. In Supercars there are a lot of street circuits on the schedule, so I’m comfortable with the walls. It’s similar to a few tracks that I raced in Australia, whereas most of these guys aren’t used to street circuits. Just something I’m comfortable with and have spent many years racing.”

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

What are your thoughts on Chicago?

“I am very optimistic. We’ve been fast there both years. It was frustrating because we had a really good car and I thought we would be there at the end, but we ended up having too many issues. I know we are good enough to win this race on Sunday.”

What is the key to winning?

“You have to survive. Stay out of trouble. You do that by qualifying well, making good pit stops, good strategy and having a little bit of luck.”

How important is Chicago to NASCAR?

“I think Chicago is very important. We need as many new markets as possible, plus, it’s a fun place to visit.”

How important is having Jockey on your car this weekend?

“Jockey is a huge supporter of Trackhouse Racing and I know they spend a lot of time thinking about the paint schemes they bring to the track. Not only do they make us look good on the track, but we get a lot of Jockey apparel that helps us look good off the track.”

On parting ways with Trackhouse at the end of the 2025 season:

“I want to thank all the men and women at Trackhouse Racing for your love and support. I’ve had some of the best years of my Cup Series career at Trackhouse. We had great successes as a team and I gained some incredible friends. We took a team nobody had even heard of in 2021 and in just a couple of years we were winning races and running up front on a weekly basis. Just like the seasons in a year, sometimes things change and we have mutually agreed to each go in our own direction. I wish Trackhouse nothing but the best, this No. 99 team will always be special to me. And like I always say, the best is ahead!”

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