Shane van Gisbergen Triumphant Again in Chicago

Shane van Gisbergen celebrating in Victory Lane after winning The Loop 110. (Photo: Kevin Bowman | The Podium Finish)

CHICAGO — With NASCAR returning to the Chicago Street Course again this weekend, there was one main question in mind — could Shane van Gisbergen win at the temporary street circuit again?

This year, that question applied to two races, Saturday’s Loop 110 for the Xfinity Series and the Grant Park 165 on Sunday.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series field was loaded for Saturday’s race with the likes of Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Ty Gibbs, John Hunter Nemechek and the main threat to van Gisbergen, Kyle Larson.

Even with the stacked field and a heavy-weight duel between SVG and Larson through the first two stages, no one was a match for the New Zealander, and van Gisbergen captured the checkered flag.

“That’s awesome, what a great race,” van Gisbergen said after doing his celebratory rugby kick into the stands. “It was pretty wild there at the end, but I can’t thank the Kaulig Racing guys enough.”

During Stage 2 for a caution on Lap 23 for AJ Allmendinger, van Gisbergen and Larson came down pit road for their only pit stop of the race. SVG lost Larson and continued his march toward the front, having to pass the likes of Jesse Love, Sam Mayer and Gibbs for the win late.

“It was great racing to start with Kyle (Larson),” said van Gisbergen. “He was really good on the restarts and we made our car better with the second set of tires, but whooo, that was fun at the end passing all those guys. Had some great racing with everyone.”

Shane van Gisbergen on top of his car after winning The Loop 100 at the Chicago Street Course. (Photo: Kevin Bowman | The Podium Finish)

In Stage 1, it was back and forth, corner after corner between the two drivers with Larson leading the first six laps and SVG leading the final nine to earn the stage victory. With both drivers starting in the top five for Sunday’s race, expect those battles to continue.

“Really respectful but big moves. He was amazing on the brakes and on the bumps,” said van Gisbergen. “Really cool. I learned a lot and he probably learned a lot off me. Hope to race him again for the win tomorrow.”

Learning was the big goal for Larson during the Xfinity race to help him go for the win during the Cup race on Sunday, something he thinks was accomplished along with having a lot of fun.

“I was having a blast,” said Larson, who finished in the third position. “Obviously, I wanted to win today but I wanted to learn more than anything. I wanted to get to battle with him because he’s just really good at creating shapes and angles and passing.”

Gibbs came home in second place finishing just over 1.2 seconds behind SVG. A bad pit stop at the end of Stage 1 put the No. 19 team behind the eight ball but were able to fight back into contention at the end.

“We had a bad pit stop and I feel like I used my stuff up a lot to get back through the field,” Gibbs said. “I’d say it would have been close in the end though.”

Shane van Gisbergen doing a burnout on the front straightaway following his victory at Chicago. (Photo: Kevin Bowman | The Podium Finish)

The top finishing full-time Xfinity Series driver was Parker Kligerman in fourth and the rookie Love came home in fifth place.

Connor Mosack, Austin Hill, Logano, Justin Allgaier and Austin Green rounded out the top 10.

Despite an 18th-place finish, Cole Custer grew his points lead to 38 points over the now second-place Allgaier. In terms of the playoff standings, the No. 1 seed is now van Gisbergen, who has a series-high three wins and 17 playoff points.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Shane van Gisbergen
2. Kyle Larson
3. Ty Gibbs
4. Connor Mosack
5. Cole Custer
6. AJ Allmendinger
7. Jesse Love
8. Austin Hill
9. Sam Mayer
10. Parker Kligerman

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Austin Hill
2. Sammy Smith
3. Jesse Love
4. Justin Allgaier
5. Sheldon Creed
6. Ty Gibbs
7. Parker Kligerman
8. Sam Mayer
9. John Hunter Nemechek
10. Shane van Gisbergen

The Loop 110 at Chicago Street Course Race Results