Shane van Gisbergen has done it again.
Less than 24 hours after taking a thrilling victory in the Xfinity Series, the Kiwi street course specialist stormed to a sensational win in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the streets of Chicago, making history with a weekend sweep from pole in both categories.
The Kiwi ace delivered a stunning performance to win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series race on the Chicago street circuit, completing a rare weekend sweep.
The Trackhouse Racing driver became only the second driver in NASCAR history to win both races in a weekend from pole position.
It was a chaotic and strategic 75-lap contest that tested every part of Van Gisbergen’s racecraft, and ended with the New Zealander surviving a final-lap caution to clinch victory under yellow in what fans are calling one of the most anti-climactic victories in recent NASCAR history.
After storming to pole with a blistering lap nearly half a second quicker than the rest of the field in qualifying earlier in the day, Van Gisbergen lined up alongside Michael McDowell on the front row.
Despite the early advantage, it was McDowell who muscled through at Turn 1 to snatch the lead on the opening lap.
Tyler Reddick and Carson Hocevar immediately swamped Van Gisbergen. He managed to hold off Reddick after the 45 made a mistake, but slipped to third behind Hocevar. McDowell set a blistering early pace, stretching out a one-second lead by Lap 2.
William Byron’s race took an early hit, reporting a frustrating clutch issue. He dropped to the tail of the field and limped his car back to pit road, eventually retiring just a few laps into the race.
The race was neutralised on Lap 3 following a massive pile-up triggered by Hocevar. After striking the inside wall, the Spire driver shot across the track into the outside wall and spun out mid-corner, leaving several drivers nowhere to go.
Supercars star Will Brown was collected, as were Ty Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski, Todd Gilliland, and Riley Herbst. With cars stranded and the track nearly blocked, NASCAR threw the red flag to allow for cleanup.
Meanwhile, Kyle Larson, another key pre-race favourite, came to a halt on track during the caution and required a push to get going again.
Hocevar, Brown, Byron, Dillon, Keselowski, and Gilliland were all officially retired before the race resumed.
Chris Buescher, who had been running strongly in fifth, brought his car to pit road under the extended caution with backfiring issues and engine concerns. His team performed diagnostics while the race continued.
On the restart, McDowell again got the jump on Van Gisbergen, with Busch and Reddick tucked in behind. The front two began to pull away, and with nine laps to go in Stage 1, SVG was just three-tenths behind McDowell and applying pressure.
With three laps to go in the stage, Van Gisbergen made a strategic call to pit under green, attempting an undercut. He reported McDowell had more grip and was pulling away, his lead stretching to 1.4 seconds before the Kiwi dived into the lane.
McDowell went on to win Stage 1, followed by Kyle Busch, Reddick, Briscoe, Preece, Chastain, Nemechek, Smith, Hill and Gragson. SVG rejoined in 11th after his stop.
The second stage began with Van Gisbergen losing a few spots initially, but he quickly regained them with fresh tyres. By Lap 6, McDowell led from Busch and Reddick, with SVG sitting in eighth and lapping faster than anyone ahead.
Lap 8 saw SVG pass Gibbs for fifth, Preece for fourth, then Busch for third, all in rapid succession.
A caution came out on Lap 11 after Josh Berry spun and struck the wall hard. The race remained green for a lap and a half despite Berry being stranded on the track, prompting criticism before the yellow flag was finally waved.
During the caution, disaster struck McDowell. His throttle got stuck behind the safety car, forcing him to shut the engine off to avoid overtaking the pace car. He limped into the pits with a shredded throttle cable and dropped to 30th. McDowell would continue to battle issues before ultimately retiring.
With the front row reshuffled, Van Gisbergen restarted alongside AJ Allmendinger and held the lead off the green. Kyle Busch spun soon after, nearly collecting Larson, and dropped to 31st before receiving a drive-through penalty for driving through too many pit boxes.
SVG built a 0.9s lead over Allmendinger by Lap 9 of the stage. Behind them, Gibbs ran third but was over four seconds adrift.
With four laps to go, Larson came in for his scheduled stop. Van Gisbergen followed suit with three to go, handing the lead to Allmendinger, who pitted the next lap but suffered a slow stop due to a right rear tyre issue.
SVG cycled back to 13th, Allmendinger to 15th. Ryan Blaney inherited the lead and went on to win Stage 2 ahead of Briscoe, Reddick, Bowman, and Wallace. SVG would restart Stage 3 from 7th as others ahead pitted.
Briscoe and Reddick led the field to green in Stage 3. Van Gisbergen moved from seventh to fifth on the restart and then passed Wallace and Hamlin to jump into third with 24 laps to go.
SVG was closing in fast. He caught and passed Reddick for second and set his sights on Briscoe, who was on 12-lap older tyres. With 16 laps to go, Van Gisbergen made the move for the lead.
Just as he took control, a caution was called due to a spectator needing medical attention trackside. Lightning and fog began creeping into the area, raising concerns of a race stoppage.
Back underway with 14 to go, Briscoe tapped SVG at Turn 1, but the Kiwi held strong and retained the lead while Briscoe slipped backward. Moments later, Stenhouse Jr. suffered a broken steering and pulled off into an escape road, prompting yet another caution.
With nine laps remaining, SVG led Gibbs, Allmendinger, Hamlin, and Briscoe. The fog was now thick around the city skyline, threatening visibility.
On the restart, Van Gisbergen got the jump and edged away from Gibbs. Briscoe’s right front tyre blew with eight to go, and he missed pit entry, having to limp around the circuit with a flat one more time. Then, Bubba Wallace spun after contact with Bowman while fighting for 6th, triggering another caution.
With six laps to go, Van Gisbergen had a 1.3-second gap on Gibbs. Reddick was flying behind them and took third from Hamlin. With just under two laps to go, Cody Ware slammed into the tyre barriers.
Van Gisbergen crossed the start/finish line just in time to take the white flag before the caution was called. With the field frozen, he coasted to the chequered flag under yellow and sealed a historic win.
To top it off, with three victories, Van Gisbergen now holds the record for the most NASCAR Cup Series wins by a foreign-born driver.
“I love this place,” said van Gisbergen.
‘What an amazing weekend for me. I’m a lucky guy to drive some great cars. I have to thank Trackhouse, WeatherTech, Chevy, and all these guys and girls here.
“What an amazing weekend. Thanks to everyone for coming out. Hopefully, we put on a good show.
“I guess we made no mistakes. There were some really fast cars, and we just seemed to get it right, making no mistakes and being smooth every lap. Really cool.
“It’s been so hot this weekend. The track was very slick, and the times were a lot slower, and the margin for error was very tiny. I just had to get it right.
“We’ve really come together as a team, got a lot better and Ross [Chastain] got a win too, so brilliant. Thank you to everyone.”
A second win also cements SVG into the playoffs, no matter what else happens.
Behind Van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs finished second, Reddick third, and Hamlin, after starting dead last in 40th, finished a remarkable fourth by fuel saving the final 43 laps.
Busch, Allmendinger, Preece, Bowman, Hill, and Chastain completed the top ten, with SVG and Chastain giving Trackhouse Racing a double top-10 result.
NASCAR now heads to Sonoma Raceway next weekend, another road course where Van Gisbergen will once again be among the favourites.
After an unforgettable weekend in Chicago, one thing is clear: SVG is NASCAR’s newest road course king.
Header Image: NASCAR
