For the first half of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at the Chicago Street Course, there was an incredible display of car control and talent between Kyle Larson and Shane van Gisbergen.
After making a pit stop at the halfway point of Saturday’s The Loop 110, the three-time Supercars champion sliced his way through the pack to collect his third Xfinity Series victory, passing fellow rookie Jesse Love for the win with three to go, shortly after the race’s final restart.
For the 35-year-old racer, the key to the victory was getting away from his two biggest competitors — Kyle Larson and Connor Mosack — on the fresher tires, which he was able to do splendidly and get to the race leaders first among those on the alternate strategy.
“That’s awesome, what a great race. It was pretty wild there at the end, but can’t thank the Kaulig Racing guys enough, the WeatherTech Camaro was amazing,” said Van Gisbergen. “Had a great race at the start with Kyle [Larson], he was great on the restarts and we made our car better for the second set of tires, but, that was fun at the end passing all those guys, had some great racing with everyone.”
Ty Gibbs finished in the runner-up position, 1.287 seconds behind race-winner Van Gisbergen. Kyle Larson, who battled back and forth with the Trackhouse Racing development driver, finished in third. Both Gibbs and Larson will compete in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event.
After changing an engine and starting at the rear of the pack, Parker Kligerman rebounded for a fourth-place finish, while Xfinity Series rookie Jesse Love came home fifth, after leading a race-high 14 laps — equal to the number of laps led by Van Gisbergen.
Connor Mosack finished just outside the top five, in sixth, after running amongst the race leaders all afternoon. Mosack, competing full-time in the TransAm TA2 division, was making his first of two scheduled starts for JR Motorsports in the No. 88 Chevrolet.
Austin Hill finished seventh after leading some laps in the second half of the event, with Joey Logano, driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for AM Racing, coming home eighth, a season-best result for the smaller organization. Justin Allgaier piloted his backup car to ninth, while Austin Green recorded another top-10 finish for Jordan Anderson Racing, in 10th.
RESULTS: The Loop 110 at Chicago
The event featured seven full-course cautions for a total of 16 laps and saw the lead swapped nine times throughout the 50-laps run.
Leaving Chicago, Cole Custer utilized an 18th-place finish to maintain his points lead in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, stretching it to 38 points over new second-place driver Justin Allgaier.
Chandler Smith falls to third in points after suffering an engine issue only five laps into Saturday’s The Loop 110. Smith’s engine issue was the third of the weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing after John Hunter Nemechek and Sheldon Creed were also adversely impacted.
Next for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is a trip to Pocono Raceway, which will take place next Saturday, July 13.
