Frontstretch Newsletter: Shane van Gisbergen Sweeps Chicago

Published: Mon, 07/07/25

Updated: Mon, 07/07/25

Frontstretch Newsletter: July 7, 2025
Volume XIX, Edition CXI

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What to Watch: Monday

- Teams are swapping out their equipment today ahead of the long haul out to Sonoma. Entry lists for this weekend's action should be released today. We'll have the entry lists and everything else breaks for you at Frontstretch.

TV Schedule: Here

Today's Top News:

Shane van Gisbergen Wins Grant Park 165, Earns Chicago Sweep

Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen took the lead with 16 laps to go Sunday and held on to win the Grant Park 165 for his second win of the year. Ty Gibbs was second, then Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

Heated Tempers Flare Among Drivers After Hot NASCAR Chicago Street Race

There were a lot of unhappy people after Sunday's Grant Park 165. While there are no reports of fights, there were a couple of arguments on pit road after the checkered flag.

Here’s What Happened in the 23XI Racing/FRM vs. NASCAR Lawsuit This Week (June 29-July 4)

The past week has been relatively quiet in the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lawsuit against NASCAR. However, a couple of tidbits have emerged recently.

Shane van Gisbergen Completes Perfect Windy City Saturday With Xfinity Win

Shane van Gisbergen was able to get past teammate Connor Zilisch on the final restart Saturday, then held on to win The Loop 110. Zilisch was second, then Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill and Nick Sanchez.

Shane van Gisbergen Treated, Released from Care Center Following Chicago Win

After Saturday's The Loop 110, Shane van Gisbergen went to the infield care center and did have a winner's press conference due to his Cool Suit failing during the race and additional medical issues.

Austin Green Impresses Again with 2nd Consecutive Xfinity Top 10

Austin Green is quietly impressive when he competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Saturday saw him finish ninth in Chicago, his second straight top 10 finish and fifth overall in 13 career starts.

(Photo: James Black/Penske Entertainment)

Scott Dixon Capitalizes on Alex Palou’s Mistake to Win at Mid-Ohio

Alex Palou made a rare mistake Sunday. That was all Scott Dixon needed to sweep past to win the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Palou was second, then Christian Lundgaard, Colton Herta and Pato O'Ward.

(Photo: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

Pato O’Ward Finishes 5th At Mid-Ohio On Emergency Fuel

Pato O'Ward took a sizable fuel gamble Sunday at Mid-Ohio. It was a little too much of one, forcing him to enter extreme fuel conservation just to make it to the finish.

Lando Norris Wins An Action-Packed British GP In Silverstone

Lando Norris acquired the lead after teammate Oscar Piastri was given a 10-second penalty. From there, Norris held on to win the British Grand Prix in mixed conditions. Piastri was second, then Nico Hulkenberg, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

At Long Last, Nico Hulkenberg Scores a F1 Podium at Silverstone

Nico Hulkenberg charged from the back of the grid Sunday to finish in third. It is the first podium finish of his Formula 1 career that dates back to 2010.

Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, James Black and Joe Skibinski of Penske Entertainment, Alastair Staley of LAT Images, Getty Images via Kick Sauber and our own Dalton Hopkins.

Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip.

Around the World in Motorsports: July 4-6

- In Italy Sunday, VDS Panis Racing's Esteban Masson and Charles Milesi led 99 of 126 laps to win the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Imola. Their margin of victory was 8.856 seconds over Inter Europol Competition's Tom Dillmann, Jakub Smiechowski and Nick Yelloly. Algarve Pro Racing's Lorenzo Fluxa, Matthias Kaiser and Theo Pourchaire were third, then Iron Lynx - Proton's Matteo Cairoli, Maceo Capietto and Jonas Ried. CLX Motorsport's Pipo Derani, Manuel Espirito Santo and Pietro Fittipaldi were a lap down in fifth.

In LMP2 Pro-Am, AO by TF's Dane Cameron, Louis Deletraz and PJ Hyett earned the subclass win in sixth overall. Their margin of victory was 5.557 seconds over Proton Competition's Rene Binder, Giorgio Roda and Bent Viscaal. Algarve Pro Racing's Olli Caldwell, Kriton Lentoudis and Alex Quinn were third, then TDS Racing's Mathias Beche, Clement Novalak and Rodrigo Sales. AF Corse's Francois Perrodo, Alessio Rovera and Matthieu Vaxiviere were fifth.

In GT, the win went to TF Sport's Rui Andrade, Charlie Eastwood and Hiroshi Koizumi in their Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Their margin of victory was 7.443 seconds over the Ferrari of Kessel Racing's Andrew Gilbert, Miguel Molina and Fran Rueda. Spirit of Race's Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin and David Perel were third, then AF Corse's Conrad Laursen, Davide Rigon and Charles-Henri Samani. Proton Competition's Porsche for Matteo Cressoni, Alessio Picariello and Christian Ried were fifth.

Finally, the LMP3 win went to CLX Motorsport's Adrien Closmenil, Theodor Jensen and Paul Lanchere, who won from pole in their Ligier JS P325-Toyota. They won by two laps over Racing Spirit of Leman's Marius Fossard, Jean-Ludovic Foubert and Jacques Wolff. Eurointernational's Ian Aguilera and Fabien Michal were third, while WTM by Rinaldi Racing's Torsten Kratz, Griffin Peebles and Leonard Weiss were another lap back in fourth. Team Virage's Rik Koen, Daniel Nogales and Jacek Zielonka were fifth.

- World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series teams were at Deer Creek Speedway for the NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50. Friday night saw Nick Hoffman start second and hold there until an early caution for a blown engine.

On the restart, Hoffman dove to the inside in turn 3 and made the move stick to take the lead. Meanwhile, Bruening spun out in front of the field, triggering a pile-up that saw points leader Bobby Pierce roll over. Everyone was ok, but the red flag was thrown.

After the cleanup, Hoffman was able to hold on to take the victory by .782 seconds over Ryan Gustin. Dennis Erb Jr. was third, followed by Tanner English and Drake Troutman.

Saturday night's 50-lap finale from Deer Creek ended up being wiped out by thunderstorms. It will not be rescheduled.

The big wreck saw Pierce's points lead cut from 90 to 50 points over Hoffman. Gustin is third, then Troutman and Tim McCreadie.

Frontstretch Videos:

Alex Bowman on Bubba Wallace: "I Really Thought We Had Squashed Our Beef, but Clearly We Haven't"

Cody Ware OK After Late Brake Failure At Chicago, Was Surprised NASCAR Took So Long to Throw Caution

Daniel Suarez Confident That He'll Be Back In Cup: "It Was a Matter of Time To End This Chapter"

Pato O'Ward Calls Mid-Ohio Performance a "Great Day" After Moving Up to Finish 5th

This is just a sampling of the videos that we uploaded to our YouTube channels from Chicago and Mid-Ohio last weekend. For more from Chicago, Mid-Ohio, or from other race weekends, be sure to subscribe to our suite of YouTube channels (Frontstretch, Frontstretch Grassroots, Frontstretch Plus and FS Open Wheel) and don't forget to click the bell to be notified of future videos.

Newsletter Exclusives:

Seeking the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: William Byron's Lead Is Almost Gone
by Phil Allaway

William Byron had the worst possible weekend in Chicago. A crash in practice put him at the back of the grid for the race. Then, the clutch broke almost immediately, putting him out in 40th.

Byron's lead is down to only 13 points over teammate Chase Elliott. Elliott had an adventure of his own in Chicago, but still finished 16th. Kyle Larson is still in third after a 13th-place finish. Denny Hamlin blew an engine on his warmup lap in practice, then came from 40th on the grid to fourth in the race.

Tyler Reddick is up one place to fifth after finishing third. Christopher Bell fell from a tie for fourth to sixth due to a late race spin that dropped him to 24th. Ryan Blaney won stage two, then got lapped and recovered to 12th to stay in seventh. Ross Chastain stays in eighth after a 10th-place finish.

Chase Briscoe scored a race-high 16 stage points, but a flat tire dropped him to a 23rd-place finish. Despite that, he moved up one place to ninth. Alex Bowman moved up two places to 10th after a rough ride to eighth. Chris Buescher is down two places to 11th after mechanical issues hampered his day. Joey Logano is down one place to 11th after getting spun by Chastain late.

Bubba Wallace crashed with five laps to go after contact from Bowman and broke a toe link. That dropped him to a 28th-place finish. He is still the last driver in the playoffs on points, but he lost his margin. He is now only two points ahead of Ryan Preece, who finished seventh. AJ Allmendinger finished sixth and moved up two places to 15th, while Kyle Busch finished fifth and moved up four spots to 16th.

Erik Jones ended up a lap down in 25th and dropped two places to 17th. Austin Cindric broke a toe link due to contact and finished 27th, dropping three places to 18th. Ty Gibbs' third-place finish moved him up five spots to 19th, while John Hunter Nemechek is up three positions to 20th.

Outside of the top 20, Shane van Gisbergen's second win of the year moved him up five places to 27th in points.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) William Byron 632, 2) Chase Elliott -13, 3) Kyle Larson -19, 4) Denny Hamlin -43, 5) Tyler Reddick -48, 6) Christopher Bell -67, 7) Ryan Blaney -93, 8) Ross Chastain -142, 9) Chase Briscoe -150, 10) Alex Bowman -152, 11) Chris Buescher -156, 12) Joey Logano -161, 13) Bubba Wallace -189, 14) Ryan Preece -191, 15) AJ Allmendinger -232, 16) Kyle Busch -235.

Outside of the top-16, but still in playoffs: 18) Austin Cindric -243, t-22) Josh Berry -266, 27) Shane van Gisbergen -324.

Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points.

Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson 23, 2) Denny Hamlin -4, 3) Christopher Bell -7, 4) William Byron -11, 5) Shane van Gisbergen -12, 6) Ryan Blaney -14, 7) Austin Cindric -15, 8) Joey Logano -16, t-9) Chase Briscoe -17, t-9) Josh Berry -17, t-11) Chase Elliott -18, t-11) Ross Chastain -18, t-13) Bubba Wallace -21, t-13) Ryan Preece -21, t-15) Tyler Reddick -22, t-15) Chris Buescher -22, t-15) Michael McDowell -22.

Stage Points: 1) William Byron 188, 2) Ryan Blaney -30, 3) Tyler Reddick -38, 4) Denny Hamlin -44, 5) Kyle Larson -54, 6) Bubba Wallace -71, 7) Chase Elliott -75, 8) Alex Bowman -82, 9) Austin Cindric -88, 10) Joey Logano -93, t-11) Carson Hocevar -97, t-11) Christopher Bell -97, 13) Josh Berry -118, 14) Chris Buescher -120, 15) Chase Briscoe -122, 16) Ryan Preece -124.

Note: The Stage Points include the Duels at Daytona.

Outside of the top 16, but Still in the Playoffs: 18) Ross Chastain -139, 22) Shane van Gisbergen -157.

Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 588, 2) Kyle Larson -29, 3) Christopher Bell -32, 4) William Byron -60, 5) Denny Hamlin -67, 6) Ross Chastain -72, 7) Tyler Reddick -73, 8) Chase Briscoe -88, 9) Chris Buescher -92, t-10) Ryan Blaney -127, t-10) Joey Logano -127, 12) Alex Bowman -129, 13) Ryan Preece -133, 14) Kyle Busch -138, 15) Ty Gibbs -150, 16) Erik Jones -165.

Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 20) Bubba Wallace -170, 24) Josh Berry -194, 25) Austin Cindric -201, 33) Shane van Gisbergen -253.

Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created.

WC Points (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 2597, 2) Kyle Larson -51, 3) Christopher Bell -74, 4) William Byron -137, 5) Denny Hamlin -199, 6) Tyler Reddick -220, 7) Ross Chastain -233, 8) Chase Briscoe -260, 9) Chris Buescher -313, 10) Ryan Blaney -364, 11) Alex Bowman -378, 12) Joey Logano -418, 13) Ryan Preece -427, 14) Kyle Busch -450, 15) Ty Gibbs -476, 16) John Hunter Nemechek -546.

Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: t-19) Bubba Wallace -568, 23) Josh Berry -677, 26) Austin Cindric -715, 28) Shane van Gisbergen -748.

Note No. 2: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975.

Race Winners: William Byron (Daytona), Christopher Bell (Atlanta-1, COTA, Phoenix), Josh Berry (Las Vegas), Kyle Larson (Homestead, Bristol, Kansas), Denny Hamlin (Martinsville, Darlington, Michigan), Austin Cindric (Talladega), Joey Logano (Texas), Ross Chastain (Charlotte), Ryan Blaney (Nashville), Shane van Gisbergen (Mexico City, Chicago), Chase Briscoe (Pocono), Chase Elliott (Atlanta-2)

Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

Seeking the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs: Justin Allgaier's Lead Shrinks After Brake Issues
by Phil Allaway

Justin Allgaier had a mediocre day Saturday in Chicago. He scored points in both stages, but ran into braking issues late and dropped to 23rd.

As a result, Allgaier's lead has been cut to 49 points over both Austin Hill and Sam Mayer. Hill finished fourth while Mayer was eighth. Jesse Love remains in fourth after a sixth-place finish.

Connor Zilisch finished second and gained a bunch of points on the leaders while staying in fifth. Carson Kvapil is still sixth, followed by Brandon Jones. Sheldon Creed moved up three places to eighth after finishing third.

Nick Sanchez finished fifth and moved up one place to ninth. He jumped over Jeb Burton, who finished 27th. Sammy Smith is up three places to 11th after a seventh-place finish. Taylor Gray is down four places to 12th after having to go to a backup car, then crashing out. He is the last driver in the playoffs on points at the moment.

Gray has an eight-point advantage over Harrison Burton, who finished 13th Saturday. Ryan Sieg had a miserable weekend, never turning a lap before the race, then crashing out in the opening laps. That dropped him to 14th. Christian Eckes is still 15th, while Dean Thompson is back up to 16th.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 646, t-2) Austin Hill -49, t-2) Sam Mayer -49, 4) Jesse Love -65, 5) Connor Zilisch -75, 6) Carson Kvapil -135, 7) Brandon Jones -162, 8) Sheldon Creed -168, 9) Nick Sanchez -172, 10) Jeb Burton -186, 11) Sammy Smith -187, 12) Taylor Gray -190, 13) Harrison Burton -198, 14) Ryan Sieg -220, 15) Christian Eckes -250, 16) Dean Thompson -251.

Playoff Points: t-1) Austin Hill 21, t-1) Justin Allgaier 21, 3) Connor Zilisch -8, t-4) Brandon Jones -15, t-4) Sammy Smith -14, t-6) Jesse Love -15, t-6) Nick Sanchez -15, t-6) Aric Almirola -15, 9) Harrison Burton -19, t-10) Sam Mayer -20, t-10) Carson Kvapil -20, t-10) Sheldon Creed -20, t-10) Taylor Gray -20, t-9) Dean Thompson -20.

Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson would be fourth, William Byron fifth, Shane van Gisbergen tied for eighth, Daniel Suarez 12th and Alex Bowman tied for 14th in playoff points.

Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 190, 2) Connor Zilisch -57, 3) Austin Hill -58, t-4) Sam Mayer -75, t-4) Sheldon Creed -75, 6) Nick Sanchez -81, 7) Jesse Love -84, 8) Sammy Smith -88, 9) Brandon Jones -95, 10) Carson Kvapil -96, 11) Taylor Gray -106, 12) Ryan Sieg -117, 13) Aric Almirola -120, 14) Jeb Burton -133, 15) Christian Eckes -140, 16) Dean Thompson -155.

Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Kyle Larson would be 16th in stage points.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Sam Mayer 559, 2) Jesse Love -3, 3) Austin Hill -19, 4) Justin Allgaier -22, 5) Connor Zilisch -42, 6) Carson Kvapil -66, 7) Harrison Burton -68, 8) Jeb Burton -83, 9) Brandon Jones -93, 10) Sammy Smith -114, 11) Taylor Gray -116, t-12) Nick Sanchez -120, t-12) Sheldon Creed -120, t-14) Daniel Dye -129, t-14) Dean Thompson -129, 16) Ryan Sieg -134.

WC Points (1-16): 1) Sam Mayer 2500, 2) Jesse Love -19, 3) Justin Allgaier -43, 4) Austin Hill -53, 5) Connor Zilisch -165, 6) Carson Kvapil -239, 7) Harrison Burton -267, 8) Jeb Burton -323, 9) Brandon Jones -331, 10) Taylor Gray -379, 11) Sheldon Creed -395, 12) Nick Sanchez -417, 13) Sammy Smith -436, 14) Ryan Sieg -467, t-15) Daniel Dye -472, t-15) Dean Thompson -472.

Race Winners: Jesse Love (Daytona), Austin Hill (Atlanta-1, Martinsville, Talladega), Connor Zilisch (COTA, Pocono), Aric Almirola (Phoenix), Justin Allgaier (Las Vegas, Homestead, Nashville), Brandon Jones (Darlington), Kyle Larson (Bristol, Texas), Sammy Smith (Rockingham), William Byron (Charlotte), Nick Sanchez (Atlanta-2), Shane van Gisbergen (Chicago)

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

Seeking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs: Off-Week Update No. 6
by Phil Allaway

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was off last weekend. They will not resume their season until July 25 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

When the teams get to Indiana, Corey Heim will have a 144-point lead over Chandler Smith with three races remaining in the regular season. He'll have the chance to lock up the regular season championship with a decent run.

Layne Riggs is third in points, followed by Daniel Hemric. Kaden Honeycutt rounds out the top-five.

Ty Majeski is the final driver in the playoffs on points. He has a 38-point lead over Jake Garcia. Gio Ruggiero is 10th, but he's more than a full race behind Majeski.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 690, 2) Chandler Smith -144, 3) Layne Riggs -165, 4) Daniel Hemric -176, 5) Kaden Honeycutt -199, 6) Grant Enfinger -202, 7) Tyler Ankrum -222, 8) Ty Majeski -228, 9) Jake Garcia -266, 10) Gio Ruggiero -293, 11) Stewart Friesen -295, 12) Ben Rhodes -296, 13) Rajah Caruth -306, 14) Tanner Gray -329, 15) Connor Mosack -369, 16) Matt Crafton -381.

Playoff Points: 1) Corey Heim 39, 2) Chandler Smith -28, 3) Layne Riggs -30, 4) Tyler Ankrum -33, t-5) Daniel Hemric -34, t-5) Rajah Caruth -34, t-5) Stewart Friesen -34, 8) Grant Enfinger -37, t-9) Ty Majeski -38, t-9) Ben Rhodes -38, t-9) Gio Ruggiero -38, t-9) Jack Wood -38, t-9) Matt Crafton -38, t-9) Bayley Currey -38.

Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Kyle Busch and Carson Hocevar would be tied for fourth and Kyle Larson tied for seventh in Playoff points.

Stage Points: 1) Corey Heim 221, 2) Kaden Honeycutt -90, 3) Layne Riggs -97, 4) Chandler Smith -98, 5) Ty Majeski -116, 6) Grant Enfinger -134, 7) Daniel Hemric -139, 8) Tyler Ankrum -142, 9) Connor Mosack -158, t-10) Stewart Friesen -164, t-10) Jake Garcia -164, 12) Ben Rhodes -169, 13) Tanner Gray -174, 14) Rajah Caruth -176, 15) Gio Ruggiero -188, 16) Matt Crafton -193.

Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Carson Hocevar would be 14th and Kyle Busch 16th in stage points.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 386, 2) Daniel Hemric -34, 3) Chandler Smith -43, 4) Grant Enfinger -60, 5) Layne Riggs -62, 6) Tyler Ankrum -75, 7) Jake Garcia -85, 8) Kaden Honeycutt -101, 9) Gio Ruggiero -107, 10) Rajah Caruth -112, 11) Stewart Friesen -114, 12) Ty Majeski -117, 13) Ben Rhodes -129, 14) Tanner Gray -150, 15) Matt Crafton -176, 16) Andres Perez -177.

WC Points (1-16): 1) Corey Heim 2361, 2) Daniel Hemric -191, 3) Chandler Smith -226, 4) Grant Enfinger -283, 5) Layne Riggs -287, 6) Tyler Ankrum -327, 7) Jake Garcia -423, 8) Gio Ruggiero -425, 9) Kaden Honeycutt -437, 10) Ty Majeski -451, 11) Rajah Caruth -489, 12) Ben Rhodes -499, 13) Stewart Friesen -509, 14) Tanner Gray -601, 15) Matt Crafton -714, 16) Andres Perez -720.

Race Winners: Corey Heim (Daytona, Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte, Lime Rock), Kyle Busch (Atlanta), Kyle Larson (Homestead), Daniel Hemric (Martinsville), Chandler Smith (Bristol, North Wilkesboro), Tyler Ankrum (Rockingham), Carson Hocevar (Kansas), Rajah Caruth (Nashville), Stewart Friesen (Michigan), Layne Riggs (Pocono)

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of our own Phil Allaway.

Letter of the Race: Sunday's Grant Park 165 was brought to you by the letter C for Car Breaker. Points leader William Byron never really got started before his clutch broke. Multiple drivers broke toe links. Michael McDowell's throttle cable broke while leading the race. When it doesn't rain, the Next Gen car can barely hold up over 165 miles in Grant Park. - Phil Allaway

Quotes to Remember: Grant Park 165

compiled by Phil Allaway

"Epic weekend for us. I'm a lucky guy. I got to drive for two great teams in JR Motorsports and Trackhouse and it just made my job easy. We had great preparation and my cars all weekend were excellent.

"Then today the strategy was a bit back and forth. I was probably a bit conservative at the start and not aggressive enough, but yeah, our pace was good, and then just believing in Stephen. He did a great job on painting the picture on strategy again, and even though we were a little bit out of sync, it was going to work out for the better.

"Had some really great battles at the end. The guys at the end I felt were really, really strong, but we probably had a tire advantage. Yeah, cool to win here again. I've had a great run at this place, and I really enjoy it." - Shane van Gisbergen, race winner

"I feel like we had a fast Monster Energy Toyota Camry [today]. Just need some more front turn. Feel like I wasn’t as – free enough to get my points and exits right, but there’s things I can work on as well to make it better. We had a good day overall and executed well. Just need to be a little bit faster and I think we could’ve got [Shane van Gisbergen]." - Ty Gibbs, finished second

"Shane [van Gisbergen] was just a little too far ahead. When we did pit and put those tires on [Kyle Busch] got spun and a couple cars got spun on the restart and we were just in the wrong lane and stacked up and a lot of the cars that run the same strategy as us we got behind. Lost time trying to pass them and then passing those cars on the older tires. Just part of it. Chaos on a street course at the end there, but I was really proud of our whole 23XI Racing team. This Jumpman Toyota Camry was really fast, it just – we needed that restart to go a little differently. I definitely think we had the pace to get to Shane. It was hard to say how much he was saving or not, but it felt good to have a shot of it." - Tyler Reddick, finished third

"Just a good job by the team. I had some pace and really the whole Progressive Toyota team did a great job. I’ve got to thank the whole team for working hard to kind of get us back to where we were running there. Truthfully, that’s where we were at on pace. It wasn’t a crazy strategy or anything like that. Just thought the car was really, really good. I would’ve loved to not have to save fuel with [Ty Gibbs] and [Shane van Gisbergen] there just to see how far off I am and how much I stack up. I’m really happy overall with the day." - Denny Hamlin, finished fourth

"Our day started out pretty good. We got a good jump on the initial start there and was able to roll forward and get to third. We tried to go long on that first set of tires, and with those couple of cautions, it didn’t fall into our favor. That put us on old tires and I spun out getting into [turn 7]. We just didn’t have any left-rear grip. That’s something we’ve struggled with on this car, and it just bit me there. The No. 8 Slurpee Chevrolet team rallied and we were able to rebound. We pitted a couple of times there at the end and had some fresh tires late for some of the melee that was going on in front of us and made up some spots. Our Chevrolet was definitely a top-two or three car, but it’s good to come home with a top-five finish." - Kyle Busch, finished fifth

"We had a really, really good car. We took stage points there and it was really, really tough to pass, even tires held on really well. Ultimately, a really good car. I’m excited for Sonoma. I’m excited for road racing. If there wasn’t such a jumble up sometimes with how you have to play for points or stages, I feel like we had a really good car. I’m proud of Derrike. Thanks to BuildSubmarines.com, Kroger, Mohawk Northeast and all the partners that are involved with RFK. Like I say every week, I’m happy to be a part of it." - Ryan Preece, finished seventh

"I don’t know.. I passed [Bubba Wallace] clean, or what I thought was clean. I just followed when [Tyler Reddick] passed him. Then he shipped us into [turn] 12; ran us into the fence in [turn 1] and ran us into the fence off of [turn 2]. And then we just sort of pin-balled off of each other and he ended up on the worse side of it, but we’re just trying to go straight off the corner. I don’t know why we did that… I wasn’t expecting that to happen or to get raced like that, but we did. We just have to move on from it and keep digging. I don’t really know what I could have done much different. I just got into the fence there and you’re kind of along for the ride. It’s just frustrating." - Alex Bowman, finished eighth

"Massive day for our United Rentals Chevrolet. The Cup Series isn’t easy. To only have five races with the No. 33 team and leave with a top-10 finish is huge for our group. We started 30th, drove up a little ways and played some strategy to gain even more ground. I feel like I won the race honestly. I was upset with finishing fourth yesterday in the Xfinity Series race, but to finish ninth in a Cup race feels like I won it. Hats off to RCR, ECR and everyone on this team. We put our heads together, called a great race, took tires when we needed to, and stayed out when we needed to. At the end, it was good enough to get up there and battle with the guys to finish inside the top 10." - Austin Hill, finished ninth

"The throttle cable just broke. I don’t know what caused it or how it got to that spot, but that’s what happened. I feel like we had control of the race. I think it would have been a battle, no doubt. I felt like any time I could open a gap on SVG, I could. We were just working on our strategy. We knew we were going to one-stop it, so I was taking care of the tires and doing all the things I could. I was behind the pace car and the throttle stuck wide-open. Luckily I got to the switches fast enough before I ran into something, and then a cable broke after that. It’s just a shame. We had a great No. 71 DePaul Chevrolet. We’ve got some good momentum heading into Sonoma next weekend." - Michael McDowell, finished 32nd

"Disappointing day in the No. 3 Breztri Aerosphere Chevrolet at the Chicago Street Race. Crew chief Richard Boswell and everyone on the RCR team brought a really fast Chevrolet to the streets of Chicago. We qualified 10th and thought we would be a contender today in the race. [Carson Hocevar] spun in front of us on the first lap and it ended our day before we could even get it started. It’s a shame and I’m just at a loss for words at this point. We’ll just keep bringing cars like this and hope our luck turns around for us at some point." - Austin Dillon, finished 36th (Crashed out)

"I didn’t see [the crash] until the last second. I slowed down and I actually felt I was gonna get stopped and then I just kind of got ran over from behind. It’s just a narrow street course and sometimes there’s nowhere to go." - Brad Keselowski, finished 37th (Crashed out)

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

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