NASCAR Xfinity Chicago: Shane van Gisbergen rallies to impressive win
Van Gisbergen ā who was involved in a wild back and forth battle with Kyle Larson for the lead early in the race ā had to find his way back to the front of the field in the final stage while on a different pit strategy.
He moved into third with seven of 50 laps remaining and was still third when a caution for a stalled car on the track set up a restart with three to go.
He quickly got around second-place Ty Gibbs on the restart and just before completing the first lap, he passed leader Jesse Love. The three-time Supercars champion edged Gibbs by 1.287 seconds at the checkered flag.
The win is van Gisbergenās third of the 2024 season and series career, with all coming on street or road courses. After a wild celebratory burnout, the Kiwi then kicked an American football into the frontstretch grandstands.
āWhat a great race. It was amazing out there,ā van Gisbergen said. āIt was great racing with Kyle. He was really good on the restarts. That was fun one to be a part of it. Had some great racing with everyone.ā
Asked if he āowned this town now,ā van Gisbergen laughed and said, āNo. Itās a privilege to race here. Itās amazing what NASCAR has done here.ā
Van Gisbergen is so far undefeated on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn course through the Grant Park area of downtown Chicago. Last year, he became the first driver in more than 60 years to win in his Cup series debut with a victory in the inaugural Cup race.
Larson was third, Parker Kligerman fourth and Love ended up fifth.
Completing the top 10 were Connor Mosack, Austin Hill, Joey Logano (who replaced Hailie Deegan this weekend), Justin Allgaier and Austin Green.
Stage 1
Van Gisbergen passed Larson in Turn 6 of the final lap and held on by 0.789 seconds to take the win in Stage 1, which showcased a back-and-forth duel between the two drivers. Gibbs was third, Mosack fourth and Cole Custer fifth.
Stage 2
Hill grabbed the lead on a restart with five laps remaining and cruised to a 1.418-second Stage 2 win over Sammy Smith. Love was third, Allgaier fourth and Sheldon Creed fifth.
On lap 23, A.J. Allmendinger ā who had made his way up to third ā crashed hard into the tire barriers in Turn 6 to bring out a caution. Allmendingerās No. 16 Chevrolet suffered heavy damage in the incident.
Stage 3
During the break between Stages 2 and 3, a handful of lead-lap cars elected to pit, but Hill remained on the track and in the lead when the race resumed with 16 laps remaining. Love quickly powered around his teammate and into the lead on the restart.
A multi-car accordion-like wreck erupted as the field wound through Turn 11 on lap 36 in which several drivers suffered serious damage, including Parker Retzlaff, Andre Castro and Sage Karam.
After an extensive cleanup of fluid on the track, Love remained the leader over Gibbs with 11 laps to go.
Preston Pardus stalled on the track in Turn 11 to put the race back under caution and set up another restart with eight laps remaining and Love still out front.
With seven laps to go, van Gisbergen moved into third, behind Love and Gibbs.
Leland Honeyman piled into the tire barrier in Turn 1 to place the race back under caution on lap 46. Love led Gibbs and van Gisbergen when the race resumed with three laps remaining.
