CHICAGO — The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the streets of Chicago for the second time in what are expected to be much drier conditions.
Welcome To The Playoffs
By somehow stretching his final tank of fuel 110 laps, Joey Logano survived five overtime attempts to win last weekend at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. It was his first points-paying victory of the season, meaning the triumph secured his spot into the playoffs.
Entering Nashville, Logano held the final playoff spot on points by only 13 over Bubba Wallace. He had struggled much of the year, recording just five top-five finishes through the first 18 races. His win in the All-Star Race didn’t count for points but finished sixth or better in three of the six races since then.
By locking himself in, Alex Bowman (499 pts) is currently in the final playoff spot based on points, leading Wallace by 51 markers. Chris Buescher (504) is five points ahead of Bowman in 15th.
Among winless drivers, Martin Truex Jr. is 12th on the playoff grid and 143 points above the cutline. Ty Gibbs and Ross Chastain are 13th and 14th and are 70 and 66 points above the cut, respectively.
Time To Panic?
As the Cup Series rapidly approaches the playoffs several significant drivers are below the cutline.
As aforementioned, Wallace is 51 points below the cutline. His seventh-place finish at Nashville was his first top-10 effort in six races, and he has just six top-10 finishes on the season. Of his three top fives, two came in the first two races of the season at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kyle Busch slipped to 19th on the playoff grid after another disappointing finish. He got inside the top five at Nashville using strategy, but after Kyle Larson ran out of fuel on the third overtime attempt, Busch couldn’t get out of the way and crashed on the frontstretch. The two-time champion has finished 27th or worse in four of the last five races.
Michael McDowell (-166) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-194) — playoff drivers last year — also sit well below the cutline and will almost certainly need to win to return to the playoffs.
Can SVG Repeat?
One year ago, Shane van Gisbergen made history.
Making his first NASCAR start, the former Supercars star roared to an upset victory in Chicago, besting the likes of Justin Haley and Chase Elliott in a race that started in the wet. He became the seventh driver to win in his Cup debut, and the sixth non-American to win in NASCAR’s top series.
Certainly, a lot has changed since then.
Van Gisbergen is now a full-time NASCAR driver, piloting Kaulig Racing’s No. 97 Xfinity Series entry. He’s won two races — back-to-back road course events at Portland (Ore.) Int’l Raceway and Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. And on the Cup side, he’s running a part-time slate in Kaulig’s No. 16 car.
Remember, last year’s win came with a different organization: Trackhouse Racing in its Project 91 entry. It came under completely different circumstances with a foreign track, wet conditions and a race shortened from 100 to 75 laps.
But still, van Gisbergen remains the odds-on favorite in both Xfinity and Cup this weekend. Can SVG go back-to-back, and is a weekend sweep on the table, too?
(NOTE: All Supercars races air LIVE on SPEED SPORT 1)
Understanding The Chicago Street Course
NASCAR has made multiple changes in terms of competition locations for the race in downtown Chicago.
The field will be given the “one to go” sign in turn five, rather than turn seven last year, and the choose “V” has been moved up to turn six from turn nine.
Meanwhile, the restart zone will remain before turn 12 and the stay in lane line is located at the start of the frontstretch. That means cars must not pass between the restart zone and that line.
Spotters are located in three places: down the frontstretch, between turns three and four and atop a tower outside turn 11.
Race Information
Sunday’s Grant Park 165 is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The scheduled distance this year has been shortened from 100 to 75 laps around the 2.20-mile circuit lining Lake Michigan.
Stage breaks are at laps 20 and 45. The purse is $7,978,831.