Shane van Gisbergen’s chances of going back-to-back at the NASCAR Cup Chicago Street Race have ended early following a Stage 2 incident.
Last year’s race winner was running fifth when he was tagged by a spinning Chase Briscoe, who was caught out by the wet conditions and spun into Turn 6. A nudge from the out-of-control #14 pushed van Gisbergen through the corner, and the added momentum sent him into the concrete barriers.
The damage to the #16 Camaro left it stranded on track. Van Gisbergen exited the car on the spot, and it needed to be towed back to the garage. Briscoe skidded straight into the tyres and returned to proceedings.
“I don’t know, I just sort of turned in, looked pretty good, and then just got smashed by someone,” he said.
“Gutting. Wendy’s Saucy Nuggs Camaro was really good. We were in the lead for a lot of that race, and I felt good taking off in the rain.”
On seeing the replay, he added, “Oh yeah; yeah, nice one. That sucks, but it’s an unfortunate mistake by him; I’m sure he didn’t mean it.
“But, when he just clipped me, there was nothing I could do.”
“Of course, I’m disappointed. We had a really amazing Camaro there, and Kaulig Racing/Trackhouse gave us a great car. We were able to lead, and I felt like I was driving well within myself.
“So, it’s a shame to be out so early and a shame we couldn’t have a proper crack at it at the end.”
Intensifying rain in Chicago saw the race red-flagged after the incident.
The three-time Supercars Champion had looked good through the opening 20-lap stage, making good passes and taking the green-and-white chequered first.
Intermittent rain before the start saw the field split on strategy, with several teams switching to wet tyres. Van Gisbergen and the majority of the lead group remained on slicks.
Ty Gibbs was quick to hit the front once the race went green and Tyler Reddick moved into second at the expense of Kyle Larson.
Van Gisbergen lost ground off the start and fell back to sixth but quickly worked forward to climb back to fifth before the end of the opening lap.
He then passed Alex Bowman and Larson in quick succession on Lap 2 to move to third.
A Lap 8 pass on Reddick on a drying track put the Kiwi in second before lapped traffic on the wet-tyre strategy became a significant factor for the lead group.
Van Gisbergen used this traffic to his advantage, taking the lead off Gibbs on Lap 12 amongst a large group. Christopher Bell also joined the battle for the top spot, while Briscoe climbed to fourth at the expense of Larson.
Bell and van Gisbergen exchanged places on Lap 15, with the former briefly leading but the latter quickly retaking it.
The rain intensified over the following tours, and a spin for Corey Lajoie at Turn 4 on Lap 16 brought out the race’s first caution.
Stage 1 would not resume as the rain intensified, with van Gisbergen leading the field in file to conclude the opening 20 laps.
The leaders all boxed at the end of the stage to switch to wet tyres, and van Gisbergen lost places to Bell, Larson and Gibbs in pit lane.
Jet driers were used during the delay to move standing water on the circuit.
Van Gisbergen was fifth at the start of Stage 2 and remained there over the opening corners.
Bubba Wallace was the first to spin in the wet after making contact with Alex Bowman and turned across the front of Daniel Suarez. Both were able to continue without intervention.
Briscoe was the next caught out in the rain, sliding out of control into the entry of Turn 6 and catching the rear of van Gisbergen, who was halfway through the turn on his way into the Turn 1 barriers.
Briscoe immediately spun out of the tyres to rejoin, but the hit to the concrete barriers caused significant damage to the right side of the Kiwi’s car.
A nearly two-hour delay followed before competitors returned to complete the second stage.
Larson suffered a crash of his own on Lap 34 and was forced from the race.
The field was again split on tyre choice to start Stage 3, with Bowman one of several amongst the lead group to remain on wets.
Sportscar star Joey Hand looked like a possibility for an upset victory as the clock counted down in the race, which went time certain, but Bowman took the lead on lap 51, moments before the caution was shown when Josh Berry went into the tyre barrier.
Four minutes remained on the clock at the Lap 54 restart, and Bowman hung on for victory ahead of a fast-approaching Tyler Reddick, who was on slick tyres on a drying surface.
Gibbs finished third, ahead of Hand, while Michael McDowell completed the top five.
