AUSTIN HILL FROM WINSTON, GEORGIA PULLING DOUBLE-DUTY IN CHICAGO THIS WEEKEND, POSTING A TOP FIVE P4 XFINITY FINISH ON SATURDAY AND CLAIMING A TOP TEN P9 SPOT IN THE NASCAR CUP RACE ON SUNDAY IN THE WINDY CITY.
* Shane van Gisbergen capped off a dominating weekend in the “Windy
City” by taking the checkered flag in the Grant Park 165 – keeping
Chevrolet undefeated in NASCAR’s top division in the Chicago Street
Race. The victory marks Van Gisbergen’s third victory in just 33
career starts in the division – two of which have come at the 2.2-mile
Chicago street circuit.
* The victory came after Van Gisbergen defended his race winning title
in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the circuit – driving the No. 9 JR
Motorsports Chevrolet to the win in yesterday’s The Loop 110. The
Chicago Street Course provided yet another milestone weekend for the
36-year-old Auckland, New Zealand, native with the Team Chevy driver
becoming just the second driver in series’ history to sweep the pole
and race wins in both of NASCAR’s top two division on the same
weekend.
* Michael McDowell turned a front-row qualifying effort into a
dominating performance in Stage One. The 40-year-old Phoenix, Arizona,
native took the lead from the polesitter and fellow Team Chevy driver,
Shane van Gisbergen, on the opening lap and never looked back – taking
the green-white checkered flag for his fourth career stage win. With
fuel strategy at the forefront, crew chief Travis Peterson opted to keep
the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet off pit road to take advantage of
prime track position for the start of Stage Two. But a strong run
quickly took a turn when an issue with the throttle forced the team back
down pit road to diagnose the issue and ultimately behind the wall for
repairs.
* Progressively inching his way back up through the field, Van
Gisbergen found himself in the runner-up position when the race hit 16
laps to go. Making the pass on then race leader Chase Briscoe, the No.
88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet went on to hold the top position for the
remainder of the race en route to the team’s second victory of the
2025 season.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st – Shane van Gisbergen
5th – Kyle Busch
6th – AJ Allmendinger
8th – Alex Bowman
9th – Austin Hill
10th – Ross Chastain
UP NEXT: THE 2025 NASCAR CUP SERIES SEASON CONTINUES AT SONOMA RACEWAY
WITH THE TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350 ON SUNDAY, JULY 13, AT 3:30 P.M. ET.
LIVE COVERAGE CAN BE FOUND ON TNT, PRN AND SIRIUSXM NASCAR RADIO CHANNEL
90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 5th
“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) seven. 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.”
Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 9th
“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.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 32nd
“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.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 1st
“It was a brilliant day for this No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet team.
Our car was really, really nice – the best car I’ve had here, by
far. The strategy was a bit all over the place, as we knew it would be
today – racing the weather, racing cars and different stops. Stephen
(Doran, crew chief) did a really good job on the box all day of just
painting the picture in my head of who I was up against. We had two
great pit stops. Just so stoked to get WeatherTech in victory lane for
their home race.”