What Happened?
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Shane van Gisbergen has won at the Chicago street course.
For the fourth time in five career Cup Series and Xfinity Series races in the Windy City, van Gisbergen went to victory lane, picking up his third career Cup win in the Grant Park 165 on Sunday (July 6).
It’s the second win of the season for van Gisbergen, who won just a few races ago at Autodromos Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. It also capped off a perfect weekend for van Gisbergen, who won both the Xfinity and Cup races from the pole both days.
What Really Happened?
After van Gisbergen emerged victorious in Mexico City, there was some understandable frustration from the NASCAR faithful.
At the time, van Gisbergen was among the last-place drivers in the point standings, and he suddenly found himself with a playoff spot after taking the victory, similar to Harrison Burton’s triumph at Daytona International Speedway last season.
It’s clear to see that there was a specific reason van Gisbergen was brought over from the Repco Supercars Championship — to win races on road courses. While he has slowly been improving on ovals, road courses have always been his bread and butter, and he will continue to be for the remainder of his NASCAR career. This is why Trackhouse Racing signed him.
Will he make noise in the playoffs? Highly doubt it, but never say never. But he’s done his part well.
But if once is a fluke, twice is a pattern. SVG now has two wins on the season. He’s slowly climbed to just outside the top 25 in points, making his spot in the playoffs more and more earned.
Now van Gisbergen has a second win on the season, and he could easily get one or two more by the time the playoffs start. So you can make the case that van Gisbergen’s position in points is subpar, but you can no longer make the case that he will “waste” a playoff spot like some made after Mexico City.
There are other drivers who could win and take up a spot in the playoffs from someone more deserving — van Gisbergen is no longer one of those drivers.
Who Stood Out?
Man, it’s about time Ty Gibbs found the top five again.
The grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs earned just his third top five of the season and first since Michigan International Speedway in early June. The 22-year-old has yet to find victory lane, and with his pace this season, it doesn’t appear that 2025 will be the season either. But it has to be a confidence booster to head to one of the toughest courses on the schedule and score a runner-up.
Speaking of drivers named Ty, Ty Dillon continues to make headlines.
A 20th-place finish is not something to write home about, but for Dillon, it was enough to advance him to the third round of the In-Season Challenge.
Remember, Dillon is the 32nd and final seed in this tournament, and he has taken advantage of his opponents’ misfortune at both EchoPark Speedway and Chicago to advance to the third round. At EchoPark, Dillon’s opponent Denny Hamlin ignited a massive crash early in the race that busted everybody’s brackets. All Dillon did was survive and advance.
Chicago was more of the same. Dillon managed to avoid a multi-car crash early in the race, while his rival was caught up in it.
Who did Dillon face?
Who Fell Flat?
Brad Keselowski’s season from hell continues.
It took just four laps for Keselowski’s race to come to a swift end after running into — and getting run into by — several drivers.
The damage was too much for Keselowski to continue, eliminating him by default from the In-Season Challenge and allowing Dillon to advance.
Speaking of seasons from hell, William Byron has found zero luck since his arguably lucky Daytona 500 victory.
Byron had a mechanical issue with his transmission on the opening lap, finishing dead last in 40th for his fourth finish outside the top 25 in the last five races. It’s another summer gone cold for the No. 24 team, and a major change is needed if the Charlotte native wants a legitimate shot at the championship.
Paint Scheme of the Race
Want a slurpee?
Did Kyle Busch’s No. 8 convince you to go get one this summer? Because it convinced me.
Busch’s No. 8 sported a bright blue front half and a bright pink back half, with a small strip of black separating the two. With sponsorship from Slurpee on a warm day in the Windy City, Busch certainly could have convinced some people to go buy one to cool off.
What’s Next?
From the Windy City to Wine Country, we’re still making right turns.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads out west to Sonoma Raceway for the Toyota/Save Mart 350, where van Gisbergen looks to continue his road course hot streak. He’ll have to stop Kyle Larson to do it, as Larson is the defending winner of the race.
Coverage for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 begins at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 13. Television coverage can be found on TNT, while Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90 will carry the radio broadcast.
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and serves as an at-track reporter. He has also assisted with short track content and social media, among other duties he takes/has taken on for the site. In 2025, he became an official member of the National Motorsports Press Association. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight coordinator in his free time.
You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.