Shane van Gisbergen wins Loop Xfinity Series race in NASCAR’s return to Chicago – The Columbia Chronicle

July 7, 2024

Under clear skies, the NASCAR Chicago Street Race took place for the second time this weekend, with more spectator seating for fans and modified road closures.

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97, won the The Loop 110 Xfinity Series race, a 50-lap event that was shortened last year due to lightning strikes. Illinois driver Justin Allgaier, No. 7, finished 9th.

Van Gisbergen, a Supercars Championwon his first NASCAR race last year in Chicago, taking home the trophy at the Grant Park 220. The race was stopped after 75 of 100 laps due to weather. Van Gisbergen became the first driver since Johnny Rutherford over 60 years ago to win a race in his NASCAR Cup Series debut.

After his surprise victory last year, Van Gisbergen signed a contract with Kaulig Racing for the entire Xfinity season.

In Saturday’s Xfinity race, Van Gisbergen drove a Kaulig Racing Chevrolet from third to first with two laps left to win. He will return to defend his title from last year on Sunday, July 7, in the Grant Park 220 race.

“It feels like we are welcome here and everyone supports the road race. It’s a really cool atmosphere when we walk from the hotel to the track,” said Van Gisberson.

Third-place driver Kyle Larson (No. 5), who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, talked about his “funny” battle with Van Gisberson throughout the race.

“He’s just really good. And he’s never touched anybody to get by him, and you rarely see that,” Larson said. “It’s fun to race against a guy like that and also see it through the windshield when he’s weaving his way around you.”

For two days, NASCAR drivers will race the 3.5-kilometer-long track with twelve turns that winds through Grant Park in the South Loop near the Columbia campus.

On Saturday, July 6, the gates opened at 8:45 a.m. Practice and qualifying rounds began at 9:00 a.m. and the Loop 110 Xfinity Series race started at 2:30 p.m. Of the 43 drivers who participated in the qualifying rounds, 38 earned a spot in the main race.

During the practice laps before the qualifying race, Allgaier, Racing for JR Motorsports in a Chevy Camaro had a rocky start to the day with a violent collision with driver No. 45 Alon Day in Turn 4. Allgaier clipped the track wall and flames blazed in his rear tire as Day made a tight turn and crashed into the rear of Allgaier’s car. Both drivers were taken to the local care center but escaped without major injuries.

The XfinThe Xfinity race is one of NASCAR’s three national series. The other two are the Craftsman Truck Series and the Cup Series. The Xfinity race involves different drivers than the Cup Series, which takes place the next day, with some exceptions where drivers compete in multiple races. Cole Custer He won the Xfinity Series race last year in the No. 00 Ford.

Julie Giese, president of the Chicago Street Race, said organizers made changes to the schedule based on feedback from Chicagoans. Race course setup was also shortened by six days and major roads DuSable Lakeshore Dr. and Michigan Ave. were closed at 12:01 a.m. Friday to avoid additional congestion.

Phil Perry, a longtime NASCAR fan from Chicago, has been attending races with his parents since he was a kid. He wasn’t in town for the race last year, but he says he makes it a point to attend a few races each year. He’s a big fan of Michael McDowell’s No. 34 in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“They’re a smaller team, so it’s fun to cheer on the underdogs,” Perry said while standing in line at the ticket booth at NASCAR Village at Butler Field.

Perry said Allgaier, the driver from Illinois, was a “likable guy” and someone he could get along with.

Allgaier is currently in his ninth season with JR Motorsports, driving the No. 7 and qualifying for his seventh playoff season. He finished the inaugural 2023 NXS Street racing in Chicago In third placeAfter an eventful eighth season last year with four wins, he finished second in the NSX Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway.

Allgaier expressed his excitement about this home race in a media press conference on Friday, July 5, at the Art Institute of Chicago.

“I’ve been coming to Chicago my whole life. It was the trip to see the big city,” Allgaier said. “Seeing people literally stand on statues to get a view of the race track, it’s a surreal train of thought from a driver’s perspective.”

Erin Hitchins, a Chicago resident and lifelong NASCAR fan, attended her first in-person race in eight years with her husband to keep her enthusiasm alive. Although she didn’t follow any specific racers, she found Allgaiers’ representation of Illinois increased NASCAR’s involvement for the better.

“I feel like NASCAR is known in the South,” Hitchins said as she made her way to the cash register with her husband. “I think bringing it here and making it accessible, even just learning about it through the festival, is great because it gives people an easy way to learn a little bit more about it and become a little more familiar with it. I think it’s a great idea. It’s a great experience and I hope people learn to like NASCAR.”

Allgaier noticed the diversity of fans in the Chicago crowd at last year’s road race and said he’s excited to see more of it this year. “It’s about appealing to different audiences and I think that’s what this event is all about. It’s really neat to see all the buzz around it,” he said.

Izzy Lugo of Milwaukee came to their first NASCAR race with his brother to see for themselves the excitement they had heard from others. Not only the novelty of the race taking place on city streets, but also the newly diverse crowd and racers draw Lugo to celebrate NASCAR as he follows racers No. 99 Daniel Suarez and No. 23 Bubba Wallace, the only black driver in the Cup Series this year.

“Being Puerto Rican, I never thought this sport was for me,” Lugo said. “But when I saw that there were more riders represented, it kind of made me want to come and support these riders and people that look like me.”

Edited by Doreen Abril Albuerne-Rodriguez and Trinity Balboa