NASCAR will be taking to the streets of Chicago for the 2nd time. We are all very excited and curious to see what is going to happen this weekend. But before we go racing on Sunday, it’s necessary to understand and remember why last year’s race was so important. It came through years of research and design and the mark that the race left on the sport will remain for years to come.
A Short History
In 2019, NASCAR was beginning to think about the future. What could it look like? What it would it sound like? They developed a roadmap to begin the process of instituting the “Next-Gen Car”. The car was originally scheduled for 2021, however, the Coronavirus Pandemic shut the world down in 2020, forcing NASCAR to push back the debut of the “Next-Gen Car” to 2022.
With plans for a new car, came plans for a new and revamped schedule. That, we did get in 2021. After years of a stale schedule that was growing repetitive and bland, NASCAR swung for the fences in 2021. Including the addition of the Bristol Dirt Race, Circuit of the Americas, the All-Star Race moved to Texas Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Pocono became a double-header weekend (which needs to be brought back; but i digress), Road America, and the Indianapolis Road Course.
But NASCAR wasn’t done with big swings, in 2022 the season kicked off with a bang. “The Clash at the Coliseum” was held in Los Angeles, California’s historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. As well as the addition of World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis. Late in 2022, when NASCAR released the 2023 schedule, there was one date circled. It had been heavily rumored for months, if not years. But, it was now a reality. NASCAR had finally pulled the trigger on a Street Circuit in Chicago.
On July 2nd, 2023, NASCAR would grace the streets of Chicago for the very first time.
A Fresh Face From Down Under
I’m sure you know who I’m referring to by the title of this section, but for the sake of telling a story, I’m not going to say just yet.
In 2022, Trackhouse Racing team Co-Owner Justin Marks created the “Project 91” team. “Project 91” was an operation designed to give drivers outside of NASCAR a chance to try it out in a competitive car. Marks would tap 2007 Formula 1 World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen, to debut the project at Watkins Glen in 2022. Raikkonen would put in a solid effort before getting caught up in an incident just shy of halfway.
Raikkonen would drive the car again at Circuit of the Americas in the Spring of 2023. In May, Trackhouse Racing would announce the next driver to climb aboard. Kimi Raikkonen was a boni fide superstar, he was incredibly well known all over the world. But, the driver Marks brought on; the same could not yet be said. He was fairly unknown outside of his native New Zealand and Australia. A little over a year ago, we didn’t know much about him, aside from the fact that he was a 3-Time Australian Supercars Series Champion, and that his name was weirdly hard to pronounce for some people.
Who Is He?
A native of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. Shane van Gisbergen, also known as SVG for short, got his start racing ATV’s and Quarter Midgets briefly before moving to Karts. In 2006, SVG won the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship and in late 2007, he signed with Stone Brothers Racing in the V8 Supercars Championship (Now known as just simply “Supercars”). He would make his debut at 17-Years Old at Oran Park, in Narellan, New South Wales, Australia, just southwest of Sydney.
In short (because his list of achievements is very long), van Gisbergen went on to become one of the greatest drivers in the history of Australian Motorsport. In 508 starts in the Supercars Championship, van Gisbergen won 81 Races, won 3 Championships, and had 176 Podium Finishes and that’s hardly the least of his accomplishments in a race car.
An Air of Pessimism
As the weekend drew nearer and excitement grew, the weather forecast became clearer and clearer…figuratively. The Greater Chicago area had been experiencing a terrible drought. The month of May was the driest May the city had seen in 30 Years. June was not much better, as dry conditions worsened throughout the month. But as is generally the theme, when NASCAR comes to town, so does the rain. That statement was about to seem as true as ever, even to a drought-stricken Chicago. This wasn’t just any storm though. This was going to be a monumental downpour of historic proportions.
Practice and Qualifying went off without a hitch for both the Cup and Xfinity Series. Later in the day, the green flag flew on the Xfinity Series race. All was well until lightning made its way within the 8-mile threshold (The threshold at which NASCAR will throw a caution and subsequent red flag for safety reasons). The rains came soon thereafter and forced the race to be postponed to the next morning.
O’Hare International Airport had gotten 3.29 inches of rain by just 5pm on Saturday, a record for the day by a wide margin. Many other areas of Chicago reported large amounts of rain ranging from 5 inches to a whopping 9 inches of rain. At the track, the flooding was so bad that tires and other equipment were filmed floating away. Uncertainty was mounting as Saturday turned to Sunday.
On Sunday Morning, the rain hadn’t let up all night. At around 11am, NASCAR made the unprecedented decision to call the Xfinity Series race before halfway. Cole Custer was named the winner. Attention quickly shifted to the Cup Series race, which was scheduled to start at 3:30pm CST.
History Is Made
As the scheduled green flag time quickly approached and the rain not letting up, the race was delayed. After about an hour delay, the weather had gotten considerably better. the rain had stopped and the track was slowly drying.
Opening ceremonies got underway and drivers hopped in the cars. Given the conditions, the use of wet weather tires were the easiest decision NASCAR made that day. Racing in wet conditions is not a new concept for NASCAR at this point in time, but is not something that has actually been put into action very much until recently. So most of the field has very limited experience in the conditions they would be experiencing.
After a weekend of pessimism, uncertainty, and anxiety for everyone, history was finally going to be made. The drivers pulled off pit road for the pace laps. The race was started single file, for safety reasons.
A Rainy Evening In Chicago
Once the green flag flew, drivers tip-toed their way through the first few laps. Kyle Busch would lose control under braking entering Turn 6 and bury his car in the tires on Lap 3. Busch would be pulled out of the barrier and in a shining demonstration of how tough the Next-Gen Car is, would continue without issue.
The remainder of Stage 1 would be largely uneventful as everyone was taking it very easy. The stage would come to a close on Lap 25 with Christopher Bell winning. Bell would wind up winning Stage 2 as well.
On Lap 49, a call came from race control saying that due to impending darkness, the race would be shortened from the originally scheduled 100 Laps to 75 Laps. This decision flipped strategy on its head. Many new faces ended up in the front permanently because of this. Teams had pitted thinking they would have to make another stop. But, the shortening of the race distance allowed the teams who had pitted previously to cycle to the front and not have to worry about stopping again.
Justin Haley would end up in the lead from the jumbled up strategy. To his credit, he took the opportunity and made the most of it, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Haley would hold off Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott through several restarts and tricky track conditions.
As Haley is making the most of an unexpected opportunity, Shane van Gisbergen was trapped deep in the field. He was on the other end of the strategy. He had pitted and ended up 18th on the ensuing restart. van Gisbergen used his experience racing in wet conditions to his advantage and quietly picked his way through traffic. Finding himself in prime position to make a move for the lead.
van Gisbergen had run down the leaders, he passed Elliott in Turn 2 and later in the same lap he made his move on Haley as they crossed the bridge down towards Turn 7. But just before van Gisbergen passed Haley, the caution had come out. Martin Truex Jr. had lost control and crashed into the Turn 1 wall.
The restart would come with 5 Laps to go. van Gisbergen would restart in 2nd behind Haley. van Gisbergen set up Haley perfectly through Turn 1 and made his move, clearing Haley exiting Turn 2 only for Haley to pull the crossover. As they fired down Lakeshore Drive alongside Lake Michigan to the east and the setting sun to the west, van Gisbergen lifted and pulled a crossover of his own through the flat out Turn 3. As they came towards Turn 4, van Gisbergen out braked and cleared Haley and never looked back.
That is until Bubba Wallace lost traction trying to pass Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the two made contact, bringing out the caution and sending them into overtime. Shane van Gisbergen would restart 1st, Haley 2nd, Elliott 3rd, and that’s how they stayed. No one had anything for van Gisbergen in overtime.
Shane van Gisbergen crossed the Start/Finish line for the final time and made history in the process. Not only was he the winner of NASCAR’s first ever race on a Street Circuit, but he was also the first debutant to win in the Cup Series in 60 years.
The Immediate Future
In his post-race interview with NBC, Shane van Gisbergen announced that he was going to run another season in the Supercars Championship and then come to the states to try his hand at NASCAR full-time. Plans change though. van Gisbergen would soon come to an agreement with his Supercars team, to end his contract early.
The Long Lasting Effects
Shane van Gisbergen’s win in Chicago in 2023 has had a ripple effect still being felt a year later. It is a ripple effect that will still be felt for years to come. He followed up his win with his Oval debut at Indianapolis Raceway Park in the Craftsman Truck Series, as well as a return to the Cup Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. He finished 10th.
But perhaps the more important thing was not what van Gisbergen did in Indianapolis, but more so who he brought with him.
Brodie Kostecki came stateside with van Gisbergen to make his Cup Series debut at Indianapolis. Kostecki made sporadic starts in the K&N Pro Series in the early 2010s. But he returned home to Australia after not finding much success. Kostecki’s appearance would truly set into motion the “Aussie Invasion”.
Two of Kostecki’s biggest competitors made their presence known in the US this season. 12-Time Supercars winner Cam Waters made his Truck Series debut at Martinsville in the Spring. It was a night that ultimately didn’t go his way after he was forced to retire from the race after sustaining terminal damage. Waters would return at Kansas, putting in a performance much more representative of his abilities with a 19th place finish, but not without ruffling some feathers.
Waters returned for his Cup Series debut at Sonoma with RFK Racing. He debuted in the series alongside another one of his Supercars competitors. Will Brown, the current Supercars points leader at the time of writing, is an 8-Time winner and made his debut with Richard Childress Racing. Waters and Brown’s debuts at Sonoma didn’t go to plan, with Brown finishing in 31st and Waters 35th.
Also in 2024, Shane van Gisbergen made his Xfinity Series debut at Daytona International Speedway, marking the beginning of a new era for van Gisbergen. At this time, he has won 3 races with the third fittingly being his return to Chicago.
The Finish Line
The 2023 Chicago Street Race, despite all of its ups and downs, was a spectacle to behold. It was an event that had repercussions still being felt over a year later and that will still be felt for years to come. Shane van Gisbergen opened a door for a large contingent of untapped stock car racing talent to make their way to NASCAR. Many drivers from Supercars have come to NASCAR since. Many more are still awaiting their opportunity. Time will only tell how many of them may make the move permanently. But either way, as time goes on we will look back in awe at the effect that a rainy night in Chicago had on the sport.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
