Shane van Gisbergen took The Windy City by storm this weekend, winning the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago street course on Sunday (July 6), collecting his second Cup Series win of the season. With the victory, van Gisbergen completed a clean sweep of the weekend, winning both poles and both races for the Cup and Xfinity Series.
It seems that no pit strategies were a match for SVG’s dominance on the street course, but there were some drivers who still benefitted from late race pit calls.
Late Caution Splits Up Pit Strategy
The winning strategy for van Gisbergen, as called by No. 88 crew chief Stephen Doran, was to flip both stages in lieu of pitting prior to the stage breaks. SVG came in first on lap 18 and again on lap 41 as his No. 88 pit crew executed two clean four-tire stops.
For a driver with a great car who already had a win at Mexico City in the bank, this was clearly the right call that worked out well at the end of the day. That is not to say the rest of the field did not at least try to shake things up.
On lap 61, the caution flew for the fifth time so that an ambulance could make its way to a medical emergency for a spectator. First and foremost, here’s hoping that spectator is okay. As for its impact, the caution brought several cars down pit road, led by Tyler Reddick, who pitted from third.
Drivers who pitted under that caution experienced. For Reddick, it had no real impact on his track position as he came in third and finished third in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. Meanwhile, John Hunter Nemechek entered pit road ninth but finished 15th, a net loss of six positions for the driver of the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota.
As for the big winner of this strategy, that was definitely Kyle Busch. Busch went to the service of his No. 8 crew in 13th and then rallied for a top-five finish in fifth. This was the cherry on top of a good points day for Busch, who also picked up nine stage points for a runner-up finish in stage one.
Busch also overcame an early pit penalty for going through too many pit boxes, and he now sits within 46 points of the playoff cut line with seven regular season races left.
Can Busch make the playoffs on points? He will need to get hot down the stretch and hope for repeat winners, but it is in the realm of possibility.
Speeding Penalty Buries Christopher Bell
Christopher Bell has emerged as one of the better road course racers in the Cup Series, collecting three of his 12 career wins on road courses, including Circuit of the Americas earlier this season.
Bell appeared poised to contend on left and rights turns again at Chicago, but it all came undone on lap 17. On his first pit stop, Bell got caught speeding on pit entrance, the most notable pit penalty of the day. As a result, Bell had to go to the tail of the field for the start of stage two, and he never fully recovered, settling for 24th place and one lap down to the leaders.
It was part of an up-and-down day for Joe Gibbs Racing. Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin finished in the top five at second and fourth respectively, while Chase Briscoe joined Bell outside the top 20 in 23rd.
Look Ahead to Next Week
The drivers of the Cup Series will make left and right-hand turns again next week, heading to wine country for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., next Sunday, July 13. Coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
With another road course on the docket, expect similar strategy to what we witnessed on the streets of Chicago. Some teams will opt to flip the stage, thinking ahead to the race win, while others will stay out to maximize stage points.
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.