The first-ever NASCAR street race in downtown Chicago has brought no shortage of thrills, challenges, and excitement as history has been made in more ways than one.
Lightning and heavy rain caused serious problems on the track and there were multiple crashes, but that didn’t stop the drivers.
Here’s a look at what happened:
Who won the NASCAR Chicago Street Race?
Shane van Gisbergen won the highly anticipated race on Sunday despite turbulent weather conditions that forced several delays, capping off a stunning debut performance.
What did the winner get?
The 34-year-old, who drives a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will receive the largest share of $7,565,807 in Cash prize That will be allocated around the field of 37 drivers. He also had at least 40 points for the win while still pushing qualifying for all drivers.
Who are the other leaderboards?
After 47 laps, NASCAR informed all teams that the race had been shortened from 100 laps to 75. At that point, Christopher Bell led the way with Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs lurking in second and third, respectively.
But Bell, who won Stages 1 and 2, eventually spun out and out of the lead, prompting Justin Haley to take over. Haley led all the way with six laps until Van Gisbergen made a special move to pass Haley for first, and the New Zealander closed him a few laps into overtime.
Haley finished second, while Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five in that order.
Bell ended up dropping to 18th while Riddick, who had contested the lead with Bell through a large portion of the early stages, dropped to 28th after hitting a tire barrier and getting stuck under it.
Otherwise, how did Van Gisbergen make history?
The 34-year-old Van Gisbergen, a New Zealand native, became the first driver to win on his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in qualifying race two at Daytona in 1963.
He became the sixth driver born outside the United States to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, joining Marcos Ambrose, Mario Andretti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Earl Ross and Daniel Suarez.
Part of Triple Eight Race Engineering, an Australian motor racing team, Van Gisbergen got into racing having won three Supercars championships in 2016, 2021 and 2022. Trackhouse Racing, though, was Van Gisbergen’s team in Cup Series racing.
The New Zealand native has competed in 499 races in the Supercars Championship, taking 80 wins, 174 podiums and 46 pole positions, and most recently claimed pole position in the 2022 campaign with 3,523 points.
What’s next for NASCAR?
Next in the Cup Series is the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart on Sunday, July 9th. The race will be held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Georgia.
Racing legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks about all the things that make the NASCAR Chicago Street Race so unique
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