Report
The NASCAR Cup in Chicago started in wet conditions after a delay of over an hour due to rain. Denny Hamlin started in the pole position on the starting grid.
Tyler Reddick made a move on Hamlin in a turn 1 and they were side by side for the next four turns before Reddick took the lead of the race.
Several incidents occurred in the first three laps. In the first lap, Aric Almirola lost control of his car and spun out, causing him to lose positions and struggle to stay in the race. Shortly after, in turn 6, a massive collision involving the two Legacy Motor Club cars and Brad Keselowski occurred. Meanwhile, Hamlin, one of the prominent drivers in the competition, crashed into the wall, slightly damaging his car.
On the other hand, Reddick managed to establish a five-second lead over his competitors in the following three laps. However, the lead faded away when Kyle Busch, who ended up under a tire barrier after losing control of his car in a turn, caused the first yellow flag.
The race restarted on lap 5, but Reddick couldn't pull away from Christopher Bell as before. In fact, on lap 8, Bell overtook him to take the first position.
The second yellow flag was shown on lap 12 after Noah Gragson crashed heavily into the tire barriers in turn 6, with significant damage and smoke coming out of the car.
The first stage ended with Bell winning it and earning 10 points. The top 10 was completed by Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen, Martin Truex Jr., Michael McDowell, Daniel Suárez, Kyle Larson, A.J. Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, and Jenson Button, who also received stage points. The track started to dry, and Chase Briscoe and Alex Bowman took advantage of lap 21 to enter the pits and put on slick tires, becoming the first ones to do so.
Van Gisbergen surpassed Reddick to take the second position and closed in on the leader Bell, although he was still two seconds behind.
The leaders started making pit stops to switch to slick tires. Bell and Reddick did so on lap 25, and van Gisbergen on lap 26. There were no changes in the top three positions.
Bell led with a 9-second advantage over the second-place driver when Gragson crashed again in turn 6 on lap 30, triggering the third yellow flag.
The race restarted on lap 33, with Bell leading and widening the gap with van Gisbergen, who was also overtaken by Reddick for the second position. Suárez and Larson moved up to fourth and fifth, surpassing Truex. Later, Larson climbed to fourth place by passing Suárez and to third place by overtaking van Gisbergen, who also lost position to Suárez.
Larson continued his progress and on lap 38, he moved into second place by overtaking Reddick. Only Bell remained ahead, leading by over 3 seconds.
Alex Bowman spun out in turn 11 on lap 40, due to contact with Denny Hamlin, causing the fourth yellow flag.
The race restarted on lap 43, with 2 laps remaining in the second stage. Suárez went wide in turn 1, hit the wall, and was overtaken by van Gisbergen, McDowell, and Gibbs. Larson went after Bell for the lead, but Stage 2 ended under yellow with Alex Bowman stopped alongside the track due to engine problems.
The second stage concluded with Bell in first place, followed by Larson, Reddick, van Gisbergen, McDowell, Gibbs, Suárez, Truex Jr., Allmendinger, and Chase Briscoe, who completed the top 10.
Due to the impending sunset and lack of natural light, NASCAR decided to shorten the race from 100 to 75 laps, which would create interesting strategies.
There were massive pit stops on lap 47. Bell came out first, followed by Larson and Reddick. Gibbs gained two positions to place himself in fourth, while van Gisbergen lost three positions and ended up in seventh.
The drivers who made their pit stops earlier occupied the top positions. The top three (Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, and Chase Elliott) made their stops on lap 30 and hoped for yellow flags to make it to the end with enough fuel. The next eight drivers made their stops on lap 41, which allowed them to gain positions relative to the leaders. Among those who stopped on lap 46, the best was Bell, who restarted in 12th position.
The race restarted on lap 49, with Haley maintaining the lead. William Byron went wide in turn 11, and Corey LaJoie hit Kevin Harvick, blocking the track and causing traffic jam. Interestingly, Byron, Harvick, and LaJoie gave back their positions.
There was a restart on lap 52, with Haley still in the lead. Martin Truex Jr. spun out in turn 5 due to contact with Bubba Wallace but was able to continue, although he lost positions. Meanwhile, Suárez hit the wall and suffered damage to the front left, but remained on the track, losing positions. Gragson crashed into the wall in turn 6 for the fourth time in the race, and Bell spun out and hit the tire barrier in turn 1, losing all chances of making a comeback and winning the race.
Reddick, the best among the drivers who made their pit stop on lap 46, entered the top 5, but with 18 laps remaining, he crashed in turn 6 and couldn't continue, causing the seventh yellow flag.
The race restarted with 15 laps to go, with Austin Dillon pressuring Haley more than in previous restarts, but a lap later, Dillon crashed into the inner wall of turn 12 and then hit the outer wall. He reached the end of the main straight, reversed, and headed to the pits.
Van Gisbergen reached the third position with 10 laps to go, surpassing Kyle Busch, and began reducing the gap to Haley and Elliott, being the fastest driver at that moment. He managed to pass Elliott in turn 2 with 8 laps to go, and a few turns later, he attempted to overtake Haley, but Truex crashed and caused the yellow flag. Van Gisbergen passed him seconds after the yellow flag, so he returned the position to Haley.
There was a restart with 5 laps to go, with Haley leading into the first turn, but in the next turn, van Gisbergen overtook him and took the lead. Haley tried to pass him in turn 3, but van Gisbergen overtook him again in turn 4.
With two laps remaining, Wallace lost control of his car and collided with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in turn 1, causing the yellow flag. Van Gisbergen expressed concern about his engine, but the team told him that the data was fine. Van Gisbergen acknowledged that he was being paranoid.
An overtime was attempted, and van Gisbergen had a good start and managed his lead to cross the finish line and win for the first time in the category in his debut. Shane van Gisbergen was the second driver in Cup Series history to win in his debut joining Johnny Rutherford who did it in 1963 at Daytona.
