In the NASCAR Cup Series’ second trip to the Second City, it was Alex Bowman who outlasted the competition, the weather and darkness to prevail in the Grant Park 165 on the streets of Chicago on Sunday (July 7).
Just like the inaugural race in Chicago last season, Mother Nature made her presence felt throughout the afternoon and evening, with a light rain just before the green flag and a heavier storm that led to a one-hour, 43-minute red flag.
The elements forced crew chiefs to make tough decisions the entire race. Let’s see who fell on the right and wrong side of the strategy in the Windy City.
Wets (Barely) Win the Day Over Slicks
The strategy game started before the green flag even waved over Columbus Street. The rain began to fall but not very hard, which sparked a debate up and down pit road about whether to put on wet-weather tires or stick with slicks.
Ultimately, the vast majority of the field affixed slicks to their racecars, with only a small handful of drivers taking the initial starts on wets, including Joey Logano, Harrison Burton and Michael McDowell. With the rain mostly staying away early, those drivers on wets fell behind, with a few even going one lap down.
Then the heavy rain arrived, momentarily making the choice easy for crew chiefs as the whole field moved to wet-weather tires when the race went back green after the red flag.
The decisive split in strategy came late in stage two when the majority of the field changed from wet-weather tires to slick tires. Twelve of the 38 drivers still in the race kept the wet-weather tires on, led by stage two winner Joey Hand and Bowman.
In the end, No. 48 crew chief Blake Harris made the winning call to maintain track position and put Bowman in position to make the race-winning pass around Hand on lap 51.
While Bowman won the race on the wets, switching to slicks proved to be a good choice for many other teams. Out of the top 10 finishers, only three of them — Bowman, Hand (fourth) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (sixth) — ended the race on wets while the rest of the top 10 crossed the line on slicks.
Arguably no other driver and team epitomized the up-and-down strategy of the day more than McDowell and the No. 34 team. McDowell, who was on the wrong side of the strategy early, rallied to a fifth-place finish after No. 34 crew chief Travis Peterson brought him down for slick tires on lap 42.
NASCAR’s Inconsistent Wet-Weather Procedures
The wet weather in the Windy City put NASCAR race control and its decision-making under the microscope again. The result was a mixed bag.
After New Hampshire Motor Speedway, when NASCAR largely dictated the pit strategy for the teams under wet conditions, many fans were not happy and wanted to see the teams have the choice of what tire to put on in that situation.
At Chicago, NASCAR did exactly that. After an inspection lap before the race, race officials permitted teams to come down pit road to put on slicks or wet-weather tires for the initial start without losing their spots on the grid. That freedom of strategy stayed intact throughout the race.
On the other hand, NASCAR decided to allow competitive pit stops all race long, even when the heavy rain started after stage one. Pit crews conducted these stops with slick tires on most of the cars and in their normal footwear and gear intended for dry conditions.
This resulted in slower stops, but it could have also presented safety issues for pit crew members. While there were no injuries to crew members during these pit stops, it might be prudent for NASCAR to consider having non-competitive pit stops in wet or damp conditions going forward.
Look Ahead to Next Week
The NASCAR Cup Series will head to the Keystone State next Sunday, July 14, for the running of The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VisitPA.com at Pocono Raceway.
With its three distinct corners and a length of 2.5 miles, some say Pocono has elements of road course racing, particularly when it comes to pit strategy. Fuel mileage has determined the outcome at Pocono in the past, such as in 2015 when Matt Kenseth won after Kyle Busch’s fuel tank ran dry.
Crew chiefs will have their hands full again next weekend. Here’s hoping Mother Nature has nothing to do with it.
About the author
Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.
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All the pit stops should be competitive pit stops. IMSA has done this in the rain forever. The other big issue is race start time. How about we start the race earlier in the afternoon to maybe get ahead of the thunderstorms???? Oh that’s right start times are dictated by TV networks, not NASCAR.
News flash, Red flag, my channel changes, I didn’t bother coming back. I’m betting I’m not the only one to tune out.