Shane van Gisbergen stellar in Chicago, wins Cup debut

Shane van Gisbergen is the top driver in the Supercars Championship today as the reigning champion, but he solidified his standing as one of the best racers in general on Sunday as he won the NASCAR Cup Series‘ inaugural Grant Park 220 on the streets of Chicago in his first ever stock car race.

Riding on newer tyres, Gisbergen consistently set the fastest lap times in the closing twenty laps before catching leader Justin Haley. Despite a late caution for Bubba Wallace and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.‘s crash that triggered overtime, Gisbergen cleared Haley after just two corners and pulled away for the walk-off win.

He is the first driver in NASCAR’s modern era to win in his Cup début and seventh all time at the top level after Jim Roper (1949, inaugural Cup race), Jack White (1949), Harold Kite (1950), Leon Sales (1950), Marvin Burke (1951), and Johnny Rutherford (1963). The Kiwi also joins fellow Supercar veteran Marcos Ambrose, Mario Andretti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Earl Ross, and Trackhouse Racing team-mate Daniel Suárez as the six international-born Cup winners.

Trackhouse’s #91, operated as part of PROJECT91 to attract global racing stars to NASCAR, became the first part-time Cup vehicle to visit Victory Lane since Wood Brothers Racing‘s #21 won the 2011 Daytona 500 with Trevor Bayne. The number had also last won a Cup race in 1953 at Hickory courtesy of Tim Flock.

“This was so cool. This is what you dream of. Hopefully I can come and do more,” said Gisbergen. While his Supercars obligations keep him in Australia for 2024, the triple champion has been keen about committing to NASCAR on a more regular basis afterwards. “When we had that back strategy back to eighteenth, I started to worry a bit but had some full stands on some people and the racing was really good, everyone was respectful. It was tough but a lot of fun.

“The fans in Australia and New Zealand, the response this week and the coverage has been, I can’t explain it. Like the response and the support I’ve got from everyone and even over here how welcoming everyone is, I can’t believe it. Dream come true.”

Gisbergen impressed almost immediately when he led practice before qualifying third. Although he fell to eighteenth at one point, he methodically worked his way back up to the front before entering the battle for the lead with Haley on lap 71.

Despite Haley’s best efforts, including an attempted pass on Gisbergen in overtime after losing the lead, he was forced to settle for second. Missing out on the win is an obvious disappointment, especially as he is twenty-third in points and trying to make the playoffs, though his effort was nothing to scoff at as he had to hold off seven-time road course race winner Chase Elliott for the runner-up position. Had he been able to defeat Gisbergen, Haley would have notched his second Cup win, the first also coming on an American Independence Day weekend marred by rain.

“Congrats to PROJECT91. It sucks, where we are right now, we aren’t in position to win every week, so coming that close obviously is not what you want,” commented Haley. “I was really struggling under the braking zones. Felt like I could get off the corner better than anyone, but what are you going to do? He had sixteen-lap fresher tyres.”

Kyle Busch salvaged a fifth after crashing into the tyre barrier in turn six on the opening lap. Multiple drivers went around in that accident including pole winner Denny Hamlin, who spent the rest of the race trying to make up lost ground and placed eleventh. Hamlin’s team-mate Christopher Bell and employee Tyler Reddick finished 1–2 in Stage #1 and the former also won the second leg, but neither finished in the top ten as Bell was taken out by a spin while Reddick was another turn six victim.

The biggest accident came on lap 48 when William Byron missed the right-hand corner in turn eleven. Behind him, Kevin Harvick was clipped by Corey LaJoie and spun in front of the track, causing a massive pile-up that forced eleven other cars to come to a stop.

Legacy Motor Club ruined team boss Richard Petty‘s 86th birthday with a difficult showing, adding to an already dismal season. Erik Jones and Noah Gragson were involved in the first-lap fracas, and the latter struggled mightily as he spun into the turn six tyre barrier twice to produce cautions. The team was also without co-owner Jimmie Johnson, who was to pilot a third car but withdrew days before due to family matters.

F1 champion Jenson Button, who recently piloted a Cup car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finished twenty-first in his second NASCAR start. He was spun while pitting in the early stages of the race, which he described as “a real shame. I think we pitted at the right time. We went from wets to dries. It was a tricky choice. I couldn’t see out of the windscreen it was so dirty, but I think it was the right choice. When we got turned around we lost fifteen places plus, so that made it very difficult, but it was fun out there. I had some good fights. I got overtaken by some, but I overtook a lot more, so it was enjoyable.”

The race was shortened from the original 100 laps to 75—a decision made when racing had already begun—due to the weather and fear of not being able to complete the full distance before nightfall. Rain had forced the Xfinity Series support round to be called off before it reached halfway. Concerns about visibility also prompted NASCAR to order restarts to happen single file rather than the standard two abreast.

Despite the elements heavily impacting the weekend and initial skepticism about stock cars on a street course, many drivers seemed to consider it a rousing hit from an on-track standpoint.

“For a street course, I think it raced better than I thought it would,” commented Chase Briscoe, who finished twentieth. “There are definitely parts that can be improved like widening the track and other certain things, but all things considered, it surprised me compared to what I thought it was going to be. I thought there were a ton of fans here, and I thought the event was cool. I would have loved for the weather to cooperate, so we could have seen what this event could’ve really turned into because there were still so many people out there for how bad the weather was. Hopefully, we can do it again, do a couple things better, and put on an even better race.”

Race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	3	91	Shane van Gisbergen	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	78	Running
2	37	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	78	Running
3	26	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	78	Running
4	7	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	78	Running
5	18	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	78	Running
6	31	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	78	Running
7	6	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	78	Running
8	9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	78	Running
9	12	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	78	Running
10	15	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	78	Running
11	1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	78	Running
12	24	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	78	Running
13	22	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	78	Running
14	19	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	78	Running
15	28	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	78	Running
16	21	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	78	Running
17	10	16	A.J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	78	Running
18	4	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	78	Running
19	25	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	78	Running
20	16	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	78	Running
21	8	15	Jenson Button	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	78	Running
22	34	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	78	Running
23	27	78	Josh Bilicki*	Live Fast Motorsports	Chevrolet	78	Running
24	20	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	78	Running
25	23	42	Noah Gragson	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	78	Running
26	30	51	Andy Lally	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	78	Running
27	5	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	78	Running
28	2	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	78	Running
29	35	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	78	Running
30	32	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	78	Running
31	14	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	78	Running
32	11	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	77	Running
33	17	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	77	Running
34	36	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	77	Running
35	33	77	Ty Dillon	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	67	Suspension
36	29	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	62	Accident
37	13	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	40	Accident

Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points