NASCAR Preview: Chicago Street Course Race Weekend
- DIVEBOMB Motorsport
- Jul 4
- 5 min read
Written by Gabriel Tsui & Ashleigh McGregor
As one of the most anticipated races of the year, the Chicago street course returns for Try No. 3 for the 2025 season.
The Chicago street course, as hinted by its name, is a 2.2-mile (3.5-kilometre) temporary street circuit right in the heart of Chicago, Illinois. As the only race of its type on the schedule, teams are often faced with uncertain territory every weekend. Couple this with the fact that every previous race here has seen rainfall, this is why fans, media and teams nervously await this circuit.
Below are the start times for each race plus lap count:
Xfinity: Saturday, 5 July, 15:30 local (21:30 UK) - 50 laps
Cup: Sunday, 6 July, 13:00 local (19:00 UK) - 75 laps
Below are the defending winners for each race:
Xfinity: No. 97 - Shane van Gisbergen (Kaulig Racing)
Cup: No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)
Cup Series: Grant Park 165 Preview
Written by Gabriel Tsui
Following a back and forth race that saw Chase Elliott finally secure his spot in the playoffs, the field heads north to Windy City for the 19th race of the season. With the 12th drivers locked into the playoffs, there are four spots remaining up for grabs. Will we see another road course miracle for one of the drivers getting too far away from the cut line, or would we find one of the playoff drivers such as Shane Van Gisbergen add extra playoff points to his tally?
The drivers will be driving 75 laps around the race track, with 20 laps in the first stage, 25 laps in the second stage, and 30 laps in the final stage, totalling a distance of 165 miles (265.5 kilometres) run around the track.
The weather report indicates there will be rain on Sunday, so a repeat of 2024 might happen. On the other hand, the temperatures will remain above 27 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) despite the rain, so tyre degradation will also be a point of focus. The race will commence on the Sunday of July 6th, at 14:00 Eastern (11:00 Pacific, 19:00 British).
Race Predictions
The first iteration of the race was won by Shane Van Gisbergen, who dominated the final stage and found his first win in NASCAR in his first start. 2024 was a rainy affair, where we saw intermittent racing as Alex Bowman ended up triumphant as Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs ran out of laps to catch up to the No.48 in the storm-shortened race.
It would be easy to pick one of the many road course warriors such as SVG, AJ Allmendinger, or even Ty Gibbs as our choice to win the race. However, most humans don’t live for the safe picks. Therefore, the pick for the week will be Chris Buescher.
Although Buescher’s name wouldn’t jump out in terms of road course racing, the 32-year-old has had good performances in the past when visiting road courses, including a win and multiple top-ten finishes at the Glen, while racking up three consecutive top-four finishes at Sonoma.
Riding on a four-race top-ten streak, it is time for the No.17 to be rewarded for their consistency throughout the season.
Three things to look out for
Chase Elliott locks it in
After 17 (!!!) consecutive top-twenty finishes to start the season, Chase Elliott extends the streak in race 18 while picking up his ticket to the playoffs. He snaps a 43-race winless streak as he mounts a regular season title challenge against his fellow Hendrick Motorsport drivers, only 37 points behind Byron in the lead. Byron has been on a cold streak recently, so it might be time to dethrone the No.24, at least for now.
Suarez’s time in the Cup is on the clock
Halfway through the week, Daniel Suárez was informed he will not return to the Trackhouse organisation in 2026. This was a long time coming for the Mexican, as 29th in the standings does not do justice for the Trackhouse Chevy, especially when teammate Ross Chastain has been keeping the car within the top-ten of the championship standings.
An eleventh finish from Connor Zilisch in Atlanta was the nail in the coffin, as that was the justification Justin Marks needed to put Zilisch in the third car next season and wave goodbye to the Mexican. Now, Suárez must find a new seat, but time is running out and the more likely outcome is for Suárez to head back down to the Xfinity Series and find his groove.
Final year in Windy City?
With NASCAR reportedly heading to San Diego next season according to The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi, this might mark the end of NASCAR’s appearance at the Windy City for now. The deal between NASCAR and Chicago City runs out at the end of the season, and they might do a one-for-one swap with the calendar already at its maximum 38 races (36 points races and 2 exhibition races).
However, NASCAR could also find alternatives by dropping a double appearance race track, such as Bristol, Martinsville, or Las Vegas as they have done with Richmond to accommodate Mexico City.
Xfinity Series: The Loop 110 Preview
Written by Ashleigh McGregor
Last race out at the Atlanta Motor Speedway saw Nick Sanchez drive away with his first career win in the Xfinity series.
This week it’s the highly anticipated street race in Chicago. With only its third year running it’s already a fan and driver favorite track. This weekend promises a good show for all.
Fans will feel closer to the action than ever as they watch these cars zip through the streets of the city. Drivers will be on the absolute limit as they finesse their cars down the very restricted course.
So far this racecourse has been successful on the streets of Chicago. Compared to Formula - where they are starting to have more and more street races added into their calendar. It’s looking like this could be a similar case for NASCAR.
It’s exciting to race through the actual streets of a city. It also brings a slew of challenges- pavement issues, a secured track and tight margins. All of this adds excitement to the race week.
Race Weekend Guide
Drivers are racing 110 miles over 50 laps. This will be broken down into Stage 1 and Stage 2 with 15 laps each. The final stage will have 20 laps.
It may have a smaller number of laps than some races but it’s 50 laps that are jam packed with wheel to wheel racing down tight streets.
Drivers to watch
Sam Mayer has yet to achieve a win this season. He has succeeded in getting ahead of Austin Hill in the championship battle. He now sits in second place behind Justin Allgaier by 63 points. This weekend doesn’t look his strongest but he’ll be hungry to try.
Shane Van Gisbergen- a full time Cup driver is racing in the Xfinity series for this weekend. Previously he’s already won at this track for both the Cup and Xfinity series. He’s also racing in car No. 9- the car previously raced and won in Mexico with Daniel Suarez. Gisbergen is absolutely the driver to watch this weekend as it could be a clean sweep for him.
Connor Zilisch has broken into the Xfinity series with a dominance. He’s consistent week in and week out and has a liking for road courses. Seeing him in the top five this weekend is a high probability.
Last year Jesse Love finished in fifth at this track. He had some strong laps during the race then. It will be exciting to see his improvement from last year and if he can challenge the likes of Gisbergen or his childhood friend Connor Zilisch.
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