NASCAR
Shane Van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Project 91 Take Historic Triumph in First Chicago Street Race
CHICAGO, ILL. – Nobody truly knew what to expect at the inaugural NASCAR street race weekend, and we got an all-time driving masterclass. Three-time Supercars champion Shane Van Gisbergen took the Trackhouse Racing Project 91 Chevrolet to victory lane in his NASCAR debut. The 34-year-old from New Zealand stole the show on the Chicago streets, taking command late and driving off to a historic win. Van Gisbergen is the first driver to win their NASCAR Cup Series debut in 50 years, giving Trackhouse Racing back-to-back wins.
The inaugural Chicago Street Race can truly be classified by two distinct halves. The opening two Stages saw Christopher Bell as the dominant car. The 20 took the lead on lap nine and hardly relinquished it in a Stage-sweeping day.
Just prior to Bell pitting after Stage 2 though, NASCAR declared the race would only run 75 laps instead of the 100 lap scheduled distance. This on-the-fly change was forced by the impending risk of darkness with sunset fast approaching.
After Bell’s pit stop set him back in the pack, the 20 was caught up in a major accident. After a chain-reaction blockage happened in turn 11, the 20 went from hero of the day to zero. Jackson Drive was turned into a parking lot after William Byron and Kevin Harvick were both stopped. Bell would only recover to finish 18th. Maximum Stage points are a nice consolation, but Bell left Chicago with a lot more to be desired.
When Bell and the leaders pitted after Stage 2, this handed the top-10 to a whole new cast of characters. All of these drivers now leading had short-pitted Stage 2, hoping for the race to be called shy of its full distance. At the head of this group was Justin Haley. The Kaulig Racing No. 31 looked untouchable out front, even forcing a mistake out of hard-charging Austin Dillon. The 3 pounded a tire barrier late but miraculously did not bring out a caution.
Leading the pack of cars on fresher tires who pitted after Stage 2 was the No. 91 of Shane Van Gisbergen. SVG slowly and methodically picked off each car one-by-one, until he was second behind Haley. A caution flew right as Van Gisbergen made a clutch pass for the lead. Scoring reverted Haley back ahead of the 91 though, a position he would not hold for long.
On the restart with five laps left, Van Gisbergen made his move in turn two, clearing Haley and setting sail for the checkers. Only an overtime-triggering accident halted the 91’s march to victory; Bubba Wallace spun in turn one and nailed Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
On the overtime restart Van Gisbergen was money and the win was never in doubt. One week after Trackhouse Racing won their home race in Nashville, their part-time Project 91 car wins its third-ever start.
To call Shane Van Gisbergen’s win nearly historically unprecedented is no understatement. A driver has not won their NASCAR Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in a 1963 Daytona 500 qualifying race. Likewise a road course ringer has not tasted Cup Series victory since Mark Donohue at Riverside in 1973. Lastly, Van Gisbergen is only the 11th foreign-born NASCAR National Series winner and first from New Zealand.
“You always dream of it,” Van Gisbergen said as the newest NASCAR Cup Series winner. “Thank you so much to the Trackhouse team and Enhance Health with Project 91. Man what an experience with the crowd out here. This is so cool and what you dream of! Hopefully I can come and do more.”
“When we had that bad strategy and backed up I started to worry a bit. Had some fork stands on some people. The racing was really good, everyone was respectful and it was tough but a lot of fun.”
“Anything is possible, the fans in Australia and New Zealand and the sponsors this week and the coverage, I can’t explain it. The response and support I’ve gotten from everyone, even over here with how welcoming everyone is, I can’t believe it. Dream come true.”
“I’m doing one more year in (Australia) and then I’d love to come over here,” SVG said when asked about a NASCAR future.
Behind SVG, the Chicago top-10 were Justin Haley, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher.
Although Van Gisbergen is a new winner, he is still only a part-time driver. As a result, his win has no impact on the Playoff grid. Five spots still remain open with eight races left in the 2023 regular season.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action next week from Atlanta Motor Speedway. From one wildcard race to another, the drafting track offers another chance at an underdog win. The Quaker State 400 will go green Sunday at 7:00 p.m. ET on USA, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Defending Atlanta winner Chase Elliott is in desperate need of another checkered flag. Can the racing pride of Georgia take another Peach State win?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Shane Van Gisbergen via Twitter
