Alex Bowman wins messy, rain-shortened Grant Park 165
A smart pit road gamble, keeping on rain tires while the leaders put on slick racing tires, put Bowman way out in front to win NASCAR’s second Cup Series street race in Chicago.
Alex Bowman celebrates after winning a rain-shortened Grant Park 165, snapping an 80-race winless drought.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Alex Bowman in the No. 48 car has won the Grant Park 165, the premier race of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race weekend.
It’s the second year of the controversial event that has taken over downtown, leading to road closures and mixed reactions from businesses.
It was another mess, crash-filled Cup Series race that saw two of the favorites, last year’s winner Shane van Gisbergen and pole winner Kyle Larson, crash out.
Also for the second year in a row, weather wreaked havoc on Sunday. The race was stopped for an hour and 43 minutes as heavy rain storms moved through the area. Before the green flag, pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the race by locking themselves to a fence on the track.
NASCAR shortened the race, determining the white flag would come out at 8:20 p.m. whether or not drivers had completed all 75 scheduled laps of the race.
This worked out in Bowman’s favor. As the leaders came down Pit Road to swap their rain tires for faster slick tires, Bowman and several other drivers stayed out. It was a gamble — the drivers who changed their tires were much faster.
But with the clock running out, none of them were fast enough to catch up to Bowman. His win snaps a 80-race drought and comes after he broke his back in a Sprint Car crash last year, an injury he worried was career-ending.
Fans showed up early in the day for concerts from country superstars Lauren Alaina and Keith Urban, though the crowds were much sparser than the typical Grant Park music festival. Some of them stayed out as rain started to fall and the race stopped.
We have the latest news and updates from Grant Park below:
The biggest player of the Grant Park 165 wasn’t in a car at all — it was Mother Nature.
Joey Hand, who finished in fourth and won the second stage of the race, was able to get to the front of the pack by keeping on rain tires while the leaders went down Pit Road to switch for faster slicks.
After starting in 38th, Hand wasn’t going to risk getting shuffled back into the pack.
“I was ready to go down with it like that.”
It wound up being a good gamble by the experienced road course driver — with sunset and an 8:20 p.m. deadline imposed by NASCAR, there wasn’t enough time for most of the drivers on slick tires to catch up to him, even after Alex Bowman in the No. 48 passed him for the lead.
Tyler Riddick in the No. 45 was one of the drivers who passed Hand, eventually finishing in second. Riddick was closing in on Bowman on the last lap until he brushed the wall, slowing him down as he tried to keep his car out of the wall.
“I would’ve gotten there,” Tyler Riddick said. “What would’ve gotten when I gotten there? Who knows.”
Alex Bowman in the No. 48 Chevrolet has won the rain-shortened Grant Park 165.
This snaps an 80-race winless drought for Bowman. In April 2023, Bowman flipped a Sprint Car at a dirt track event in Iowa and fractured a vertebra — an injury he worried would be career-ending.
However, a smart pit road gamble, keeping on rain tires while the leaders put on slick racing tires, put Bowman way out in front as the clock ticked down.
Bowman passed Joey Hand in the No. 60 on Lap 51 and led the rest of the race. As the clock ticked down to the 8:20 p.m. cutoff for the race, Tyler Reddick in the No. 45 was closing in on Bowman but just didn’t have time to run him down.
Reddick came in second, followed by Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 — one of the favorites to win today — and Hand in fourth.
The win comes at a crucial time for Bowman in the Cup Series driver points standings. He came into the weekend right on the cusp of making the Cup Series playoffs, and his win will make his place in the playoffs much more secure.
A number of cars have gone hard into the tire barrier and wall as the racing turns physical in the last few laps of the Grant Park 165.
Christopher Bell in the No. 20 went hard into the wall in a crash that involved several different cars. The No. 42 of John Hunter Nemecheck got turned into the Tire Barrier in Turn 12.
The No. 11 and No. 33 got turned around with only about 30 seconds to go until the white flag.
Alex Bowman in the No. 48 is holding onto the lead on the restart with less than 5 minutes until the white flag.
The No. 14 of Chase Briscoe spun out almost immediately in Turn 1, his second spin of the day, but there’s still no yellow flag out.
With less than 12 minutes left, Alex Bowman in the No. 48 has taken the lead from Joey Hand in the No. 60
Just after he made the pass, the No. 4 of Josh Berry went hard into the wall again in Turn 2, bringing out the yellow flag. If we’re able to get back under green, we’ll only have a few minutes of racing left before the white flag comes out, signaling the last lap of the race.
ALEX BOWMAN TO THE LEAD!
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 8, 2024
LESS THAN 10 MINUTES REMAIN ON NBC AND PEACOCK. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/Ijt2wT1unG
Christopher Bell, who was leading before coming down Pit Road to replace his rain tires with slicks, has a very fast car, much faster than Bowman or Hand. But there may not be enough time for him to work his way up from ninth to the lead.
The green flag is out again with Joey Hand in the No. 60 still in the lead.
The leaders have wound up out front by staying out and not switching their rain tires for the faster slick tires. Will they hold off the faster cars behind them? The clock is running out.
The No. 13 of A.J. Allmendinger has gotten turned around and into the tire barrier in Turn 12, but the yellow flag hasn’t come out. He’s able to get to Pit Road on his own.
Joey Hand in the No. 60 won the second 25-lap stage of the Grant Park 165.
Its the first career stage win for the part-time Cup Series driver. While the leaders of the race came into Pit Road to swap rain tires for faster slick tires as the track dried out, Hand stayed out and fended off Alex Bowman in the No. 48 — who also stayed out — to keep the lead.
He’ll have a hard time holding off the rest of the field in faster slick tires when we go green, but the clock is ticking down.
With the end of the stage, the race is under caution again. We’ve only got about 23 minutes left in the race.
Most drivers are coming down Pit Road to swap their rain tires for faster, slick tires.
The track is not even close to dry, but drivers are making a calculated risk. We’ve got two laps to go until the end of Stage 2, which will end with a caution.
The field has been completely shaken up by the pit stops, with less than 30 minutes left in the race.
Drivers are taking the street course much more carefully in the wet conditions than they were earlier in the day.
The number of spins and wrecks since the restart show why — go too hard into a corner and you’ll be in the tire barrier. Ryan Preece in the No. 41 just went into the tire barrier after missing his mark in a turn.
Lap times are significantly slower than earlier in the race. Christopher Bell in the No. 20 finished his most recent lap in 102.922 seconds, compared to his best lap of the race at 89.932.
There are less than 33 minutes left in the race.
We’re back under green flag as Christopher Bell in the No. 20 continues to lead the field.
The No. 4 of Josh Berry went hard into the tire barrier in Turn 4 but was able to drive away. Chase Briscoe in the No. 14 missed the turn right behind him too. Both seemed to go into the corner too hard and weren’t able to make the turn.
The green flag stays out.
Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet went hard into the wall in Turn 6, bringing out the yellow flag.
Larson was racing Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 for second when he lost control. He turned right to avoid the back of the No. 54 and went straight into the tire barrier, getting buried windshield deep.
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 8, 2024
He was the pole winner today and one of the favorites to win the race along with Shane von Gisbergen. Now, both of them have crashed out in the wet conditions.
Larson tried to limp the car back to Pit Road, but couldn’t make it and won’t finish the race. He had hoped to stay in the race for driver points, as he came into the weekend the Cup Series points leader.
Christopher Bell in the No. 20 remains in the lead. Before the caution, he was starting to pull away from Gibbs and Larson.
The green flag is out again and we’re back racing after a long rain delay.
There’s less than an hour remaining in the race. Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 is in the lead on the restart, followed by Christopher Bell in the No. 20 and Kyle Larson in the No. 5.
Within a lap, Denny Hamlin and Ricky Stenthouse got turned around in Turn 6. Hamlin’s car was stalled but was able to restart the car, and we stay under green flag conditions.
Even before attendance numbers for the 2024 NASCAR Chicago Street Race were released, one thing was clear over the weekend: Barely anyone showed up for the music.
The organization nabbed topline entertainment in its second year — among the list, leading country star Keith Urban, DJ duo du jour The Chainsmokers, “American Idol” alum Lauren Alaina and blues rock bigwigs The Black Keys. Yet, the crowds heading to Festival Field were a tiny fraction of what similar large events like Lollapalooza are able to draw in the same park. Small beer lines, spots to sit in the shade and actual phone signals are foreign concepts to anyone who’s had to tap into survival skills at a headlining set at Lolla. Yet, at the Street Race, they were commonplace.
“I’m surprised there’s not more people here, but I’m excited to be up close,” said Kelly Lulay, who drove in from Aurora to see Keith Urban. “If this was Soldier Field, you’d pay a fortune to be this close.”
Cup Series drivers are back out on the track under caution after a long rain delay that lasted an hour and 43 minutes.
Last year, the track dried out pretty quickly once drivers got back out on the course with rain tires on. We’ll see what the conditions are like when we go green. Right now, it’s still pretty damp out there.
At 8:20 p.m., NASCAR will put out the white flag — signaling this will be the last lap of the race.
For the second year in a row, NASCAR won’t be able to finish the full scheduled Cup Series race in Chicago.
At 7 p.m., the red flag was still out. Before rain halted the race, drivers ran 25 of the 75 scheduled laps of the race in about an hour.
The full Grant Park 165 — 75 laps for 165 miles — was scheduled to last 3.5 hours. Based off that, we’d expect the next 50 laps to take at least two hours.
NASCAR has said the race will be cut off at 8:20 p.m. At most, we’ll be able to get another 25 laps in before the white flag, and that’s only if the track can get dried out. There is still standing water on the course that needs to be cleared before racing can resume.
Last year, NASCAR ran 75 laps of a scheduled 100 before sunset forced an early finish.
Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose.
Sometimes it rains.
That’s a baseball-inspired way of saying that — for the second summer in a row — NASCAR’s signature downtown Chicago race was all wet.
Look, many of us around these parts are still learning the ins and outs of communicating in stock-car terms. One slippery lap at a time, we’ll get there.
A year ago, the conceit in much of the local media coverage of the first Chicago Street Race weekend was that it was so new and different from the types of sporting events we were used to, we barely knew what the hell we were looking at and, thus, really couldn’t get the stories wrong as long as we were there trying.
Your old pal here leaned into it big-time, bumbling and BS-ing like a first-year student in a fourth-year foreign-language class. By the end, truth be told, it felt rather silly.
On the other hand, it worked OK because of the unintended theme to NASCAR’s maiden foray onto our lakefront: Mother Nature rendered it a disaster.Last year’s Saturday Xfinity Series race, the Loop 121, was rained out after 25 of a scheduled 55 laps. Sunday’s Cup Series race, the Grant Park 220, was delayed 90 minutes due to rainfall that obliterated Chicago’s previous record for July 2 — set way back in 1982 — and eventually had 25 of the scheduled 100 laps lopped off the back end just so the race could reach a conclusion. A bunch of concerts and other non-race activities were called off, a total bummer.
But even if we weren’t fluent enough in stock-car racing to do the details of a pair of street races justice, we damn sure could talk about the weather.
Pit crews could be seen using blowers on their cars while we’re waiting for the Grant Park 165 to go green again.
The wet weather poses multiple challenges for drivers. Some crews have been putting extra water repellant on the windshield — visibility was an issue on the wet track even before the red flag.
Drivers have opted for clear visors on their helmets as sunset approaches. Several drivers complained their fire suits got wet as rain came in through the car’s open windows and other gaps in the body.
The moisture will also make it hard to see out of the rear windshield, so drivers will mostly rely on their rearview cameras.
Although NASCAR has called drivers back to their cars, another round of heavy rain is moving into the area, prompting crews to throw covers back over their cars to protect the drivers inside. The track will need to be cleared of standing water after the rain stops before we can go green again.
NASCAR says that drivers will return to their cars at 6:30 p.m.
We’ll have less than two hours to finish the race — NASCAR said the race will finish when they run 75 laps or at 8:20 p.m., whichever comes first.
UPDATE: Drivers will be called to their cars at @NASCARChicago at 7:30 p.m. ET.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 7, 2024
NASCAR will also have drivers restart the race single-file instead of the usual double-wide, given the wet conditions.
Two protesters were arrested after locking themselves to the fence at the Chicago Street Course before today’s race, according to social media posts.
According to a press release shared on social media, the action was in protest of local and international official’s support of Israel’s actions in the Israel-Hamas war and their “mass imprisonment agenda.”
They held signs that said “Pritzker: We Charge Genocide” and “Bombs for Gaza, Prisons for Illinois.”
2 pro-Palestine protesters were arrested 40 minutes after locking themselves inside the fence of the 2nd annual NASCAR Chicago Street Race. They held a sign that read, “PRITZER: WE CHARGE GENOCIDE” and “BOMBS FOR GAZA, PRISONS FOR ILLINOIS.” #NASCARChicago pic.twitter.com/pDQDcmpCNH
— Grace Del Vecchio (she/they) (@delvecchiograce) July 7, 2024
Drivers are taking advantage of the red flag to find a snack while they’re waiting for the rain to stop.
The radar shows a potential break in the rain coming up, followed by another small band behind it. We can go racing in the rain, but right now there’s just too much standing water on the track, according to NASCAR.
on the plus side the press room is dry and has pretty good catering https://t.co/ujZSbIlIGi pic.twitter.com/GfhYbf4DyV
— ellery jones (@elleryrjones) July 7, 2024
The driver to beat coming into the Grant Park 165, Shane van Gisbergen, has crashed out of the rainy race. With last year’s winner out of the running, who could take the checkered flag?
As we wait for the street course to dry out, here are three drivers we’re watching:
Ty Gibbs (No. 54)
Gibbs is in the lead with the race under red flag. He’s been strong all weekend and finished second in yesterday’s Xfinity Series The Loop 110.
The grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, he was the 2023 Cup Series Rookie of the Year and the 2022 Xfinity Series champion. He’s still on the hunt for his first Cup Series win, and he has a strong record on road courses. He won his very first Xfinity Series start at the Daytona Road Course in 2022 and has picked up three more road course wins since then.
Christopher Bell (No. 20)
Gibbs’ teammate Bell came into the weekend with a strong record. Two weekends ago, he swept both the Xfinity and Cup series races in New Hampshire — his third Cup Series win of the season. He’s already locked into this season’s Cup Series playoffs.
He qualified seventh for today’s race but was slower than SVG, Gibbs and Larson in practice. But he’s a good road course driver in his own right, having won two road courses in the Cup Series, and a threat to win it all. He’s on Pit Road with the rest of the field in second place.
Kyle Larson (No. 5)
Larson gave SVG a run for his money in yesterday’s Xfinity Series race. Both SVG and Larson said they were learning from each other as they dueled for the lead during the first 15-lap stage of the race.
He won the pole for today’s race and is currently in third as we wait for the race to resume.
He’s a road course champion who swept both races at road course Watkins Glen in 2022. And he comes into the weekend the Cup Series points leader. Once the rain slows and the NASCAR Air Tundras clear some of the standing water off the track, he has a good shot at picking up his fourth win of the season.
It wouldn’t be NASCAR in Chicago without some kind of weather disruption. For Keith Urban’s headlining set on Sunday, it happened to be a freak dust storm. As gusts picked up in the late afternoon, cyclones of dirt spun off the softball fields in Grant Park, prompting people to run for cover. “This is the freaking Windy City for sure,” the star declared.
It was just one of the many twists in a frenzied and entertaining set that was quite literally all over the place. Urban was a human ping-pong during the 90-minute show, jumping from the stage to the pit to the middle of the crowd without much thought, all while his handlers followed behind with his mic stand and rotating guitars.
After kicking things off with his new country pop single “Straight Line” (still hot from a performance on CNN’s “Fourth in America” special last week), Urban noticed a small group with the Special Olympics at the barrier and jumped down to greet them. “Talk amongst yourselves, we’ll be right back,” he joked, as he signed autographs and took selfies.
The red flag is out and the field is stopped on Pit Road as rain falls at the NASCAR Chicago Street Race course.
Air dryers are out, trying to dry the course out enough for drivers to return to racing. Although Cup Series can handle damp track conditions with rain tires, puddles pose too much of a risk of hydroplaning.
Cars have been brought to pit road due to rain at @NASCARChicago.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 7, 2024
The red flag is out on Lap 26. pic.twitter.com/gwi6q9SCmc
A band of heavy rain is moving through the city — it might be a while before we get moving again. Drivers are getting out of their cars and crews are putting rain covers on their cars.
NASCAR has set a hard cut-off time of 8:20 p.m. for the race, less than three hours away.
Shane van Gisbergen has been evaluated and released from the on-track medical center after Chase Briscoe clipped him in Turn 6.
Chase Briscoe slid into Shane van Gisbergen, causing SVG to hit the wall.
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 7, 2024
The defending Chicago winner is done for the day. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/0hjB8YFi8A
Shane van Gisbergen is out of the race after Chase Briscoe lost control and slid into the tire barrier hard.
SVG won last year’s Cup Series race and yesterday’s Xfinity Series race. He was one of the fastest cars in the race today, but wound up in the wall after Briscoe clipped him coming into Turn 6 — a turn drivers struggled with in last year’s wet and wild race.
Caution is back out again after the crash.
Drivers are struggling in the slick conditions. Bubba Wallace and Chris Suarez tangled on Turn 2 shortly after the last restart.
Trouble for @BubbaWallace ... and then for @ChaseBriscoe_14! pic.twitter.com/VdlR8ntjnE
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 7, 2024
Zane Smith in the No. 71 Chevrolet did not pit during this caution — putting him in front of the leaders that went down Pit Road for rain tires amid wet conditions.
Smith qualified 30th and was nowhere near the front before the caution. He started the race with rain tires unlike some of the leaders who are behind him.
There are already concerns about how weather delays will impact the race.
Last year’s race was cut short as night fell. NASCAR says that if they can’t complete all 75 laps, the race will end at 8:20 p.m. That’s important information for teams trying to figure out their fuel and tire strategy for the rest of the race.
UPDATE: Per NASCAR Rule Book Section 8.5.7.6.C, NASCAR has announced that if the #GrantPark165 cannot reach the advertised race distance, its conclusion time today will be 9:20 p.m. ET.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 7, 2024
The race was originally set to wrap around 7 p.m., but it’s set to run late after delays.
A bunch of cars got bunched up in a traffic jam leaving pit road after swapping their slick tires for rain tires, but no cars appeared to take serious damage.
WE'VE GOT A BOTTLENECK OFF PIT ROAD!
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 7, 2024
📺 : #NASCAR | NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/PbMlCayuvo
Shane van Gisbergen in the No. 16 has won the first 20-lap stage of a damp Grant Park 165.
Teams are gearing up for a wet weather race. Most of the front of the field is on slick tires and are going to come down Pit Road to swap them for treaded rain tires that can handle the water on the track better.
There are puddles all over the course. Even at slow speeds under caution, drivers are nervous about hydroplaning. The front stretch of the street course looks sudsy, like there’s soap on it.
The top three at the front of The Grant Park 165 are locked in a tight battle for the lead as caution comes out.
The No. 7 of Corey LaJoie got turned around coming out of Turn 4 into Turn 5, bringing out the yellow flag.
Christopher Bell in the No. 20 took the lead at one point from Shane van Gisbergen in the No. 16, who won yesterday’s Xfinity Series race — only for SVG to get back around him just in time for the caution.
Bell is one of the best road course drivers in the Cup Series with two career wins on road courses. He’s already won three times in the Cup Series this season.
It’s SVG, Bell and Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 at the front of the pack as the rain is starting to pick up in downtown Chicago. Most of the leaders have slick tires on, not rain tires — it’ll be interesting to see how they navigate the rain.
Puddles are starting to form on the track. NASCAR won’t open Pit Road until the end of Stage 1 in two laps, which the field will run under caution.
Shane van Gisbergen in the No. 16 has taken the lead from Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 as the leaders have caught up with the back of the pack.
As Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 was passing cars at the back of the pack, putting them a lap down, SVG was able to catch up with him and duck under him to get to the front.
That set up a battle between Gibbs and his teammate Christopher Bell in the No. 20 for second.
Despite the rain, we’ve run a clean, caution-free race so far with six laps to go in the first stage.
Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 is continuing to hold off the rest of the field, but others are closing in.
Steve van Gisbergen in the No. 16 is battling Tyler Reddick in the No. 45 for second, with Kyle Larson in the No. 5 not far behind. SVG is up two spots from where he qualified already as we enter the eighth lap of the 75-lap race.
Some drivers — including Martin Truex Jr. and Corey LaJoie — are coming down Pit Road to swap their rain tires for faster, slick tires.
The green flag is in the air in the Grant Park 165 after a short weather delay.
The No. 54 of Ty Gibbs led the field through the first lap. There’s still rain falling on the course on the second lap as the No. 45 of Tyler Reddick is looking for an angle to pass Gibbs.
Some teams are opting for rain tires and some teams are opting for slick racing tires as we get ready for the green flag.
It’s a difficult choice for drivers and their teams. There’s more rain on the way, according to weather radar. If they have to go back down Pit Road to switch their tires, they risk losing a lot of track position that’ll be hard to make up.
The pace car has turned off its lights — next lap around, we’ll go green for the Grant Park 165.
Drivers have rolled off Pit Road and onto the track to see how wet it is.
The rain shower that just passed was brief, and there doesn’t appear to be much standing water on the course, though there are a few spots of water in some turns.
After an inspection lap to see how wet the track is, many drivers are coming back down Pit Road to swap rain tires for faster but slicker racing tires.
However, as soon as they came off Pit Road, it started sprinkling again.
Fans out on the track are covering up as a little bit of rain falls at the NASCAR Chicago Street Race course.
Not much rain has fallen though, and the track is still pretty dry. Drivers are putting up their window nets and restarting their engines to go racing.
They’ll get to do one lap around the course as an inspection lap to see how wet the course is and if they want to use rain tires or faster slick tires that don’t have as much grip.
Drivers will be able to pit once before the race starts and keep their qualifying position. If they pit later, they’ll lose their starting position.
It’s started raining lightly at the NASCAR Chicago Street Race course.
NASCAR has declared the track wet, meaning rain tires are an option for drivers. Some teams are starting to change their tires, but some are waiting to see what happens.
Radar shows a small band of rain passing through downtown, but there are more showers coming behind it. Cars are still being held on Pit Road.
Cup Series cars can race in a little bit of rain, but lots of standing water on the course will present a massive challenge and risk a repeat of last year’s wet and wild race. The bigger issue could be any lightning in the area, which would require NASCAR to evacuate the course.
After starting their engines, NASCAR is holding drivers on Pit Road. We’re waiting for more information.
It’s time to go racing in downtown Chicago. NASCAR drivers have started their engines for the 75-lap Grant Park 165.
The crowd booed as Mayor Brandon Johnson took the stage to deliver brief remarks just before the race started.
“Chicago is the greatest sports city in the world,” Johnson said, and some of the boos turned to cheers.
Lauren Alaina is in her honeymoon phase, and the country singer was intent on spreading the love Sunday as she opened up the final day of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race. “I’m winning in the wife department today, getting to play a show before NASCAR,” she joked with the crowd. Like the Saturday turnout, it was curiously a very small draw.
Alaina’s attempts to coax her newlywed husband to the stage failed, but that didn’t stop her from talking about her other half several times during the set, including remarking on how marriage has made her rethink her longtime songwriting muse.
“I’ve been on a roll with breakup songs the past few years, but I’m writing a new record, and I woke up one day and thought, ‘Huh, is this the end of my breakup song era?’ … But I decided I’ve gone one left in me.” That slowed-drawn track, “Breaking Up With Single,” is unreleased, but Alaina gifted it early for the NASCAR crowd.
Drivers now are being introduced and heading to their cars on Pit Road as rain continues to threaten downtown Chicago.
However, the Chicago Street Race course remains dry. A few showers that were in the area have moved farther out over Lake Michigan, though a line of showers is still dropping rain on the Chicago suburbs.
The Chainsmokers started 20 minutes late at their NASCAR Chicago Street Race show — but at least they finally got their second chance. The chart-topping EDM duo was scheduled to headline last year, but the notorious deluge of 2023 delayed those plans until 2024. The duo returned Saturday with a solid bang (and a new EP, “No Hard Feelings”) as the glorified DJ set seriously challenged the decibel levels logged on the racetrack earlier in the day.
The producer/remix kings’ unique history with the city goes back even further than the NASCAR event, though. The showman of the group, Andrew Taggart, took a minute to explain after sampling DJO’s “End of Beginning,” with that line about being “back in Chicago.”
As he then introduced the Chainsmokers’ hit “Roses,” he shared, “This is always a special [city] for us to play. In 2015 … we had a moment somewhere in this park, playing [Lollapalooza’s] Perry Stage. It was the first big festival that would ever take a chance on us. … We played this song, and it felt like the entire city of Chicago jumped up and down for us. We always say that was the moment we felt like we f- - -ing did it. Thank you for being part of it.”
Unfortunately, the crowd at the DraftKings Stage was a fraction of the size as the NASCAR event struggled to draw a large attendance, at least for its entertainment portions. The Chainsmokers’ 90-minute set was hyped an hour earlier to no avail with a warmup jam featuring DJs along with Chicago sports mascots Sky Guy, Supernova, Southpaw, Benny the Bull and the Luvabulls dance squad; the duo also came out for a photo opp with the entire NASCAR driving lineup for Sunday’s premiere lap, though the moment came off as forced as the overly programmed set that relied heavily on smoke-and-mirror hijinks.
Shane van Gisbergen has a chance Sunday to do a relatively rare feat — win both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series at a track in the same weekend.
A couple of other drivers in the field have completed this feat at road courses. Joey Logano swept both races at Watkins Glen International in 2015. Kyle Larson — the driver who may have come closest to matching SVG’s performance yesterday — swept both races at Watkins Glen in 2022.
And Christopher Bell, who qualified in seventh for today’s race, swept the series two weeks ago in Loudon, New Hampshire.
SVG won yesterday’s The Loop 110 and won last year’s Cup Series race in downtown Chicago. Winning today would further cement his reputation as one of NASCAR’s best road and street course drivers, if he can get to the front and hold off the rest of the field.
The NASCAR Chicago Street Race weekend has been dry so far, but there’s a chance that changes this afternoon.
Radar shows a line of showers moving through the northwest suburbs. The National Weather Service is calling for a 30% chance of showers this afternoon with a high around 85 degrees.
Last year’s race was delayed after record rainfall earlier in the day, and drivers struggled to navigate the wet track. That much rain isn’t expected, but a heavy rainstorm or lightning could postpone the 3:30 p.m. start time for The Grant Park 165.
is this race going to get rained out again😭 pic.twitter.com/QJ9th3ze1X
— ellery jones (@elleryrjones) July 7, 2024
Actors Patrick John Flueger of “Chicago P.D.”, Joe Miñoso of “Chicago Fire” and Jessy Schram of “Chicago Med” are also at the Chicago Street Race today to be honorary event officials.
“If you’re going to go to you first race, go to your first race on the streets of Chicago,” Flueger said at a press conference before heading to the track to participate in pre-race ceremonies.
Flueger described the event as “the most epic version” of the free street festivals that happen throughout the summer every year in neighborhoods across the city.
The actors said they were impressed by the work that went into setting up and taking down the course and hope to see the race return in future years.
“It feels like it fits in our streets,” Schram said.
So far, the NASCAR Chicago Street Race weekend has been full of crashes and yellow flags.
Drivers have struggled to stay out of the wall in several spots on the track, especially bumpy Turns 4 and 5 where drivers leave the smooth asphalt of DuSable Lake Shore Drive for the rough concrete of Roosevelt Road.
Sixteen of the 50 laps in yesterday’s The Loop 110 were run under caution. But drivers can only pass when the green flag is out and they’re racing at full speed, so frequent crashes will limit their ability to work their way to the front.
That almost cost Shane van Gisbergen the win yesterday. After a mid-race pit stop, SVG got shuffled to the middle of the field and had to claw his way back to the front, getting there just in time to win the race.
There will also be pressure on teams to use their pit stops strategically. Everyone in the field will need to come down Pit Road at least once for tires and fuel. Frequent cautions will present plenty of opportunities to pit without losing the rest of the field, but coming down at the wrong time risks getting stuck in the middle of the pack when the checkered flag flies.
Crews are moving their cars into place on Pit Road ahead of the Grant Park 165, set to start at 3:30 p.m.
This afternoon’s race will last 75 laps around the 2.2-mile Chicago Street Race course.
The race is divided into three stages. The leaders of each stage will get points in the Cup Series standings, which is important for teams with the season’s playoffs coming up.
The first stage will last 20 laps, followed by a 25-lap second stage and a 30-lap final stage. After the first two stages, a caution will come out, slowing the pace and allowing cars to come down Pit Road.
The race is expected to start around 3:30 p.m. and wrap up around 7 p.m. However, a crash on the last lap — a strong possibility, given the number of crashes yesterday — could send the race into overtime.
Country singer Lauren Alaina took the stage at the NASCAR Chicago Street Race in front of a small crowd on Sunday morning.
NASCAR is back in Chicago this weekend, and so is a street course through Grant Park that will test drivers’ abilities to navigate tight corners and uneven roads.
Last year’s Cup Series race, the Grant Park 220, was a wreck-filled scramble. After a long delay following record rainfall, the field couldn’t make it a full lap before the first crash.
The layout of the 2.2-mile track is mostly the same for this year’s abbreviated Grant Park 165. Based off last year’s action, we can make some good guesses about what corners will cause the most problems for drivers this year during the 75-lap race.
Here’s a full breakdown of each turn and the challenges they pose.
Former Bears running back Matt Forte joined reporters this for a press conference before grand marshaling this afternoon’s race, where he’ll give the command for drivers to start their engines.
Forte said this is his first NASCAR event. He got to see behind the scenes during The Loop 110 yesterday and was impressed by the set up.
“I think it’s great for the city,” Forte said.
Anthony “Spice” Adams, another former Bear, joined him in the press room. Forte roasted Adams for driving a minivan, compared to his Mercedez-Benz AMG G 63.
“My wife tells me sometimes, ‘You drive like you’re in the game,’” Forte said.
Adams got to try out changing the tires on a car yesterday as part of a pit crew, which he said requires a lot of teamwork to get the car back out on the track as fast as possible.
“It is pretty amazing how everybody has to be on the same page to get the car out as fast as possible,” Forte said.
Here are five drivers besides Shane van Gisbergen in the No. 16 Chevrolet we’re paying attention to on Sunday.
Kyle Larson (No. 5)
SVG and Larson dominated the first 15-lap stage of yesterday’s The Loop 110, locked in a friendly but intense duel for the lead.
Larson comes into the weekend the Cup Series points leader with three wins under his belt already. This race marks his fifth pole of the season.
Yesterday, Larson struggled to keep up with SVG as they worked their way back through the pack after a pit stop. He told reporters yesterday afternoon he feels more confident about the Cup Series car he’s driving today.
Ty Gibbs (No. 54)
Gibbs has consistently been up there with SVG and Larson in practice and qualifying this weekend. He’s starting second this afternoon alongside Larson and came in second in yesterday’s race after SVG.
He was a strong road course driver in the Xfinity Series. In 2022, he won his very first Xfinity Series start at Daytona Road Course at the age of 18, one of the youngest drivers ever to win a road course in the series. He’s won three more times on road courses since then.
Daniel Suárez (No. 99)
Suárez had the fastest car in Cup Series practice on Saturday after SVG, Larson and Gibbs. He’s a strong road course driver, becoming the first Mexican-born driver to win a Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway in 2022.
He was one of nine drivers racing in today’s race who also ran in The Loop 110 but had a disappointing performance after a qualifying crash. Will he do better in his Cup Series car?
Chase Elliott (No. 9)
Elliott comes into the weekend second in Cup Series driver points after Larson. He’s also the best road course driver in the Cup Series with seven career wins.
He’s one of the most popular drivers in the series too, having won NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver award the last six seasons. He’ll be a bit of an underdog after qualifying 18th for Sunday’s race, but he had a fast car in practice and could be a serious threat.
Michael McDowell (No. 34)
McDowell has a fast car this weekend too — he qualified in third behind Larson and Gibbs. And he has road course experience, winning the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course last year.
He’s a bit of an underdog pick to win this race. He hasn’t won in the Cup Series this year, and that win in Indy came after a 94-race winless drought. Like Elliot, he didn’t run in The Loop 110 yesterday, which means he has less track time than some of the other drivers on this list.
But this race will be relatively short, and if yesterday’s race was any indication, frequent crashes back in the pack will make it hard to advance. Starting near the front is a distinct advantage.
By attending NASCAR Chicago Street Race in Grant Park, out-of-towners get to experience the beauty of the city.
By watching the House Music 40 Showcase and set by Buddy Guy, they get to experience the sound of the city.
So, it only makes sense that they all should experience the taste of the city, too.
To that end, the newly expanded Festival Field includes a variety of food options familiar to Chicagoans. At the “Chicago Style Classics” stand, patrons can purchase Garrett Popcorn Garrett Mix ($9), a Summer House Chocolate Chip Cookie ($6) and Chicago Style Hot Dog ($8), advertised as a premium Vienna beef hot dog “dragged through the garden.”
For those craving pizza, the Lou Malnati’s stand offers cheese, pepperoni and sausage deep dish by the slice ($10-$11) or whole ($38-$40). Bub City offers everything from a BBQ Chopped Brisket Sandwich ($16) to a Classic Mac N’ Cheesy dish ($9).
Nearly a month before NASCAR made its first foray into downtown Chicago early last summer, the Sun-Times dispatched the most witless reporter it could summon to a race weekend across the Mississippi River from St. Louis — the Illinois 300 — to find out how the true experts were feeling about taking to the streets along our lakefront.
The drivers themselves were anything but sold on the upcoming Chicago Street Race, a two-day event that was scheduled to begin with the Xfinity Series — NASCAR’s second-tier circuit — running the Loop 121 around the 2.2-mile course on Saturday, July 1, and then conclude the next afternoon with the main event, the Cup Series’ 100-lap Grant Park 220.
NASCAR was celebrating its 75th year, but this would be the first time in the sport’s history that stock cars would barrel on and around city streets, an undertaking about which drivers were wary. Some had visited the Loop already and struggled to envision what race conditions would be like. Most had tooled around the course virtually using state-of-the-art simulators and had been left with questions about everything from tight turns to varying street surfaces that would be as uniform as a patchwork quilt.
That it all would unfold in Chicago — such a non-“NASCAR country” location, it could have been New York City or London or Mars — was almost beside the point.
“I think we’re all excited, and we’re all really nervous at the same time,” Joey Logano said at the time.
Entering the 2024 Chicago Street Race, 2023 champion Shane van Gisbergen is entering with a spotlight focused on him. He can’t sneak up on opposing drivers. He’s now the hunted — the champion.
After his victory last season, van Gisbergen’s competitors contacted him for advice. He estimated that 10-15 drivers could compete for the top spot.
He knows he’s the man to beat, but van Gisbergen isn’t approaching the race with any added pressure.
“I’m not putting pressure on myself like, ‘I have to win to get on top next year,’” van Gisbergen said. “But certainly, a good result will help that.”
The 12-turn, 2.2-mile course takes drivers through the heart of downtown. Everyone involved hopes to have a dry weekend of weather after last year’s downpour. Inclement weather ruined the experience and first impression NASCAR could have on Chicagoans during last year’s Chicago Street Race.
A street race is rare and benefitted van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion who became the first driver since Johnny Rutherford in 1963 to win in his first Cup Series start.
Bodie Maddox wandered about the pit wearing a black baseball hat and a blue Folds of Honor shirt. He was mesmerized by the assortment of race cars. He has loved cars since he could crawl. But as he walked toward a specific car, the moment had greater significance.
Bodie and his mother, Alex Maddox, finally laid their eyes on the blue, white and red No. 99 Chevrolet car Daniel Suarez will drive to pay tribute to the Maddox family, who lost the patriarch, Chase Maddox, in February 2018 when he was killed on duty at 26 years old.
For the 2024 Chicago Street Race, Folds of Honor — a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to the children and spouses of first responders who died while on duty — teamed up with Jockey International and Trackhouse Racing to honor Chase and his family.
Chase was a police officer in Locust Grove, Georgia, which is about 35 miles southeast of Atlanta. Before becoming a police officer, Maddox spent six years in the Army Reserve.
The Maddoxes are big NASCAR fans. Their surname is on the side of the car, and the family created the artwork on the deck lid. Bodie and Alex traveled from Locust Grove for the Chicago Street Race.
“It just feels good that we’re six years later, and Chase is just as relevant and bringing smiles to people’s faces,” Alex said.
There are some sports that do well in inclement weather. Football, for example. Watching players morph into hippos rolling in mud is great fun. You wouldn’t want to watch it regularly, but every now and then it’s enjoyable to live vicariously through people with no concerns about impending laundry issues.
I wouldn’t have put NASCAR in the rain-is-good category. I thought rain would shut down a race the way it does a baseball game and or a golf tournament. But then came last year’s Chicago Street Race, which looked like an Olympic kayak course by the time Mother Nature was done crying. Strike that. She didn’t cry, she sobbed. And I laughed because it was so humorously entertaining. It was like watching clips of Southerners trying to drive in freak snowstorms.
This wasn’t a typical auto race in which crashes happen. This was drivers regularly losing control of their cars because traction, thanks to the wet course, was nonexistent. It was every pratfall by every vaudeville comedian ever. It was great. Noah Gragson hit the tire barriers in Turn 6 three different times because of the slick surface. New Zealand’s Shane van Gisbergen won the race, which was marred by rain delays and, eventually, the threat of darkness.
Shane van Gisbergen pulled away from Ty Gibbs on the 48th lap on his way to winning The Loop 110 on Saturday, his third victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He punctuated it by signing a football and punting it into the stands.
The 35-year-old New Zealand native also won the poll for the race, his second in 18 Xfinity races and first at the Chicago Street Race. Van Gisbergen surged past Jesse Love after a late restart with three laps to go.
In Stage 1, van Gisbergen and Kyle Larson battled for the No. 1 spot until van Gisbergen fell behind because of some pit choices. Though a minor setback caused him to fall to the middle of the pack, van Gisbergen said the pit stop prepared him for the rest of the race.
“That was a pretty awesome race,” he said. “My car was really weak. I couldn’t get going at the start. So [after] the restarts and then it takes two or three laps, and [Larson] would always pass me.”
