by Shane van Gisbergen won his NASCAR Cup Series debut on a rainy Sunday in downtown Chicago, chasing Justin Haley and Chase Elliott in a memorable finish to the series’ first street race.
After passing Elliott, van Gisbergen dueled Haley in the closing laps before the three-time Supercar champion moved to the front for good. Haley remained in second place and Elliott was third.
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Shane Van Gisbergen drives during a NASCAR Cup Series car race at the Grant Park 220 on Sunday, July 2, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Van Gisbergen, 34, a native of New Zealand, got the chance to drive the No. 91 Chevrolet in Chicago as part of Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91. The team’s goal is to expand its global reach.
Van Gisbergen won his first Supercars championship in 2016 and has added two more in the last two years. He was aided in his NASCAR debut by Darian Grubb, who was Tony Stewart’s crew chief when he won the Cup Series championship in 2011.
The race was scheduled to be 100 laps and 220 miles, but was cut short due to diminishing sunlight after the start was delayed more than 90 minutes due to historic rain flooding the course. The last half of the Xfinity Race, which was to resume after being suspended Saturday due to lightning, was cancelled.
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Noah Gragson drives through track water as he exits pit lane during a NASCAR Cup Series car race at the Grant Park 220 on Sunday, July 2, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Just before the scheduled start, as the rain persisted, polesitter Denny Hamlin took to Twitter to push for a delay, and Noah Gragson posted a video of one of his tires floating on pit road. NASCAR then decided to allow the drivers to return to their trucks.
The weather eventually cleared up, but there were puddles on the course when the race started. Even as it began to dry out, and teams began to break in their slippery tires, water sprayed everywhere whenever a driver slid into a tire barrier.
Gragson, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano visited the tire rows in Turn 6. Hamlin and Elliott got on the tire pack in Turn 2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was hit by Bubba Wallace and got stuck in the tire barrier at Turn 1 to the end of the turn. the race.
A crew member dries the pavement in the pit lane during a NASCAR Cup Series car race at the Grant Park 220, Sunday, July 2, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
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There was also a massive collision involving 14 cars on Michigan Avenue on Lap 50, clogging the course and almost certainly bringing a smile to regular Chicago drivers familiar with the area.
