Shane van Gisbergen has once again asserted his street course dominance, claiming a second straight NASCAR Xfinity Series win on the streets of Chicago after a hard-fought battle with teammate Connor Zilisch.
Starting from pole position after setting the fastest lap in qualifying earlier in the day, the Kiwi got a clean jump off the rolling start and led through the opening corners.
Sheldon Creed quickly moved past Austin Hill for second and wasted no time challenging Van Gisbergen, the pair going side-by-side through Turns 8 and 9. Van Gisbergen held him off but was forced to push harder than he wanted early on, creating an early strategic challenge.
Further back, Zilisch, who started from the rear after a crash in practice left him without a qualifying time, was already carving his way through the field, up to 29th by Lap 3.
The first caution came out on Lap 5 after Jack Perkins, making his series debut for Joe Gibbs Racing, made heavy contact with the wall and came to a stop facing the wrong way. Replays showed possible contact with the #8 car of Sammy Smith, though that was still under review.
It kicked off a string of misfortunes for JGR. William Sawalich reported a small fire onboard while under caution and was forced to stop on track, while Taylar Gray was black-flagged for a radio issue.
Under that same caution, Van Gisbergen radioed in with concerns over his engine, saying it was struggling worse than it had during practice. But despite the mechanical worries, he was quick again on the restart.
He maintained his lead through to the end of Stage 1, just moments ahead of another caution triggered by Brad Perez spinning into the tyre barriers.
Stage 1 Winner: Shane van Gisbergen
The second stage began with Van Gisbergen once again out front, this time alongside Jeb Burton. Jesse Love moved into second and initially looked like a threat, but Van Gisbergen steadily built up a commanding 7.9-second gap by the halfway point.
That margin disappeared in an instant, though, when debris from Matt DiBenedetto’s car brought out a caution. Van Gisbergen pitted for four fresh tyres under yellow, the team’s first stop of the day, but dropped into the mid-pack, a development that didn’t sit well with the driver over team radio.
While under caution, Josh Bilicki pulled over with a fire onboard his car.
With only a two-lap shootout to end the stage, Van Gisbergen could only recover to 13th. Sheldon Creed took the Stage 2 win ahead of Love, Hill, Zilisch, and Sammy Smith.
Stage 2 Winner: Sheldon Creed
The final stage, an 18-lap dash to the finish, saw Van Gisbergen restart in 11th place. On top of that, he was dealing with a failed cool suit in the 32-degree heat, making conditions inside the car even more gruelling.
Another caution, this time for Thomas Annunziata, going into the tyre barriers, briefly stalled his progress. Gray, with nowhere to go, was caught up in the aftermath.
Van Gisbergen managed to avoid the incident and was up to 7th when the green flag dropped again with 13 laps to go.
Up front, Zilisch had climbed into second and made a slick move on Creed to take the lead with 12 to go. Van Gisbergen was moving too, passing Hill, then Creed to move into second. With 10 laps remaining, he was 3.3 seconds behind his teammate.
On fresher tyres, the Kiwi began closing in fast. He set the fastest lap of the race, eight tenths quicker than Zilisch, and cut the gap down to 2.3 seconds. When it looked like a late-race showdown might slip away, Andre Castro crashed into the tyre barriers, bringing out a final caution with just a few laps to go.
That set up a two-lap shootout for the win. Zilisch led into Turn 1, but Van Gisbergen outbraked him into Turn 2 and never looked back, taking the chequered flag to seal a back-to-back win in Chicago.
Zilisch crossed the line in second after a remarkable drive from last to first before the final restart, with Creed finishing third. Austin Hill and Nick Sanchez completed the top five.
“I guess I should have just not let him get to my bottom,” said Zilisch.
“I was clear there. Just barely on the front straight and just let him get to my inside and took advantage of it.
“Hate it for my #88 group. I should have just been a little more aggressive there. I just thought he was going to race me a little cleaner. I’ll learn from it, move on and look forward to racing him again next week at Sonoma.”
Top 10 Finishers:
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Connor Zilisch
- Sheldon Creed
- Austin Hill
- Nick Sanchez
- Jesse Love
- Sammy Smith
- Sam Mayer
- Taylar Gray
- Brennan Poole
Van Gisbergen’s latest win adds to his growing reputation as a street course specialist in NASCAR.
Despite concerns about engine issues, a failed cool suit, and getting shuffled back through pit strategy, the former Supercars champion once again showed his racecraft and composure in pressure moments, delivering another win in classic SVG style.
Van Gisbergen will now reset and prepare for the Cup Series race tomorrow where he starts from pole position, The race is scheduled for Monday 7th July at 6am (NZST). The weather forecast for the Cup race is light rain with possible thunderstorms.
Header Image: NASCAR
