Tag: Chicago Street Race

Chicago fine was ‘the best thing that happened to me’ – Wallace

Bubba Wallace confirmed he will not be appealing the fine NASCAR handed down this week, instead describing it as “the best thing that happened to me.” Wallace was fined $50,000 for hitting Alex Bowman’s car during the cooldown lap last weekend in …

Bubba Wallace confirmed he will not be appealing the fine NASCAR handed down this week, instead describing it as “the best thing that happened to me.”

Wallace was fined $50,000 for hitting Alex Bowman’s car during the cooldown lap last weekend in Chicago. It was frustration that carried over from contact during the race when Bowman spun Wallace off Turn 2 on lap 25. To make matters worse, Bowman went on to win the race and clinch a playoff spot as Wallace remained below the cutline.

“The penalty was probably the best thing that happened to me,” Wallace said Saturday. “I’ve been miserable for years walking around with a persona that I’m not proud of, and I need to apologize to a lot of people, especially that are close to me. [I’ve been] frustrated and trying way too hard and not focused on the right things.”

Despite the incident, Wallace finished 13th. He pointed out that for the critics, it’s hard to understand how much work (or heart and soul as Wallace said) has gone into improving his efforts on the road and street courses. In seven years at the Cup Series level, Wallace has two top-10 finishes on road courses.

The frustration with Bowman, even hours after it happened given the mid-race red flag for rain, stemmed from Wallace believing Chicago was the team’s “best road course ever.” It was wiped out in two corners when the track conditions changed as Bowman said his windshield wiper wasn’t working and he was trying to get his switches right.

“When that’s all ripped away, you feel some type of entitlement to show your frustration,” Wallace said. “Did I time it wrong? Sure, 100 percent. His window net was down, seatbelts were off — not an ideal situation. It’s the guy you’re racing with in the points and then he goes on to win the race, so it’s like icing on the cake, right? It’s just three or four slaps in the face when you’re working your [butt] off to be better for the team, and just ripped way.

“Not that I’m justifying it all, but I’m a passionate guy. I let my frustration get the best of me, but I will say, I got my media training from Kevin Harvick.”

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Wallace was at Charlotte Motor Speedway to run a Legend Cars race when he was informed of the fine. Harvick was also there with his son, Keelan. It turned out to be a fortunate turn of events because Harvick, now a retired Cup Series champion who has gone through his share of controversy and penalties, could be a wise voice in Wallace’s ear.

The first piece of advice from Harvick was to accept the penalty and show up to the next race with a smile on his face. After all, it could be worse, had there been points or a suspension involved. Harvick then told Wallace to get back to being himself.

“He told me a lot of powerful things [like] to show up and be the fun-loving guy that I am throughout the week,” Wallace said. “I think that has been one of the most important things told to me — that people don’t see who I actually am on Sundays, and that broke me. I always preach about being the same person on and off the racetrack, and it’s a pressure cooker being at the Cup level, and the last four years I’ve been miserable just trying to walk around like everything is OK.

“Not from a mental standpoint; I know I’m big on mental health and my mentals have been in check, but just trying to carry this persona of, ‘Hey, don’t bother me right now, I’m too busy,’ and then one thing goes wrong, the whole thing crumbles. I came into this weekend with a smile on my face and wanting to have fun. That’s what I’m focused on.”

Wallace went on to say that Chicago was the most fun he’s had at a racetrack in a long time. He hopes that translates over to other races as proof he can have fun and pass a lot of cars.

There were some lighthearted moments after the fine was issued. Wallace joked with his wife, Amanda, to hold off on doing more in the nursery for the child they are expecting. Amanda was another person Wallace apologized to because he hasn’t been the best husband, making her walk on eggshells after bad races.

“And that’s not what it’s about,” Wallace said. “It’s about going home and getting a fresh reset and being close to the people that are around you, so that’s what I’m looking forward to. I’m happy.”

Ditching wets proves no slick move for Bell, but Stevens stands by it

Crew chief Adam Stevens had no second thoughts about the decision to pit Christopher Bell for slick tires late Sunday in Chicago, which took his driver from the lead to mid-pack. Bell pitted for the final time on lap 43, which was two laps before …

Crew chief Adam Stevens had no second thoughts about the decision to pit Christopher Bell for slick tires late Sunday in Chicago, which took his driver from the lead to mid-pack.

Bell pitted for the final time on lap 43, which was two laps before the end of the second stage. The decision was made to put slick (dry) tires on the No. 20 Toyota Camry, thinking they would prevail over the wet weather tires some other teams elected for. It might have been the winning call for Bell to drive back to the front, but Stevens didn’t plan to be hit off Turn 2 by their Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr.

The contact came on lap 55 when there were less than two minutes and 30 seconds left in the event. Bell went from battling for the fifth position to a 37th-place finish with a wrecked race car.

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“We felt like the track was drying at a pretty high rate and with a known caution coming of the stage [break] that after the stage you’d want slicks,” Stevens said. “So, with a caution coming, we had to jump it because everyone could come at the stage [break], and you’d be behind them all. And we saw a bunch of them pit with three [laps] to go, and that kind of forced our hand with two to go being the leader.

“We really felt like you were going to have to have slicks to win the race. The two things that hurt us were that caution that cut down green flag laps for us to run and obviously, if the whole race runs under caution, which was a possibility, then you’re not going to win. If it runs green, we’re probably going to win. Even if we got through that little skirmish there without wrecking our suspension, we were early ahead of the 45 (Tyler Reddick) and the 54 (Ty Gibbs). So, we needed two things to go wrong to not win — and they both went wrong.”

The final caution that ate up the clock occurred with 11 minutes and 26 seconds left in the race. There were four and a half minutes left in the race when it restarted for the final time. Bell was ninth at the restart and had made it to the top five when the race-ending collision happened.

Truex came through Turn 2 wide and appeared out of shape around the time there might have been contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. It moved Truex to the right, where he hit the driver’s side door or Bell’s car, sending his teammate toward the wall nose-first. Bells’ car hit the wall and was also struck by an on-coming Carson Hocevar.

“If we stay [out], maybe 12 or 13 cars don’t stay … maybe it’s only five cars and then we’re toast,” Stevens said. “Absolute toast. So, you don’t know how it would have happened if we stayed [out]. But if it happened the way that it happened, we probably would have won.

“Unless we didn’t get that caution. Then we’d have been in the reverse situation that we were almost in. I felt like we played it the best we could, and we just made contact there.”

Bell led 14 laps. For the second consecutive year in Chicago, he was in a position to win the race before a late-race development. A year ago, Bell was leading and shortly after making his final pit stop, NASCAR announced the race would be cut short because of darkness. The timing of when NASCAR made the call changed the pit strategy, allowing others to stay out longer (having pitted before Bell) and flip the leaderboard.

“This one stings in a different way because there wasn’t anything else we could do,” Stevens said. “It just came down to circumstance. The last one was completely avoidable, just like the situation we had tonight. So, this one stings in a different way, but they sting just as much.”

Bell declined interviews after the race.

Crew chiefs pleased with timing of NASCAR’s race length decision

NASCAR had a chance to right the wrong it made a year ago in Chicago with a weather-impacted race, and the response from the garage was much more favorable this time around. Cup Series teams did not get to run the full distance of the street course …

NASCAR had a chance to right the wrong it made a year ago in Chicago with a weather-impacted race, and the response from the garage was much more favorable this time around.

Cup Series teams did not get to run the full distance of the street course race for the second straight year. However, unlike a year ago, NASCAR informed them well in advance when the race would be called to completion. Sunday, the call came early in the afternoon, at the end of the first stage that the drop-dead deadline was 8:20pm local time.

“This is obviously what the reaction was to how it unfolded last year,” said Billy Scott after finishing second with Tyler Reddick. “So, today was perfect. That’s how we wanted it: just to know the ending time before we get into a situation where it dictates strategy.

“They let us know early on and we definitely used it. It was cool to watch the reaction from last year put new procedures in place, let everybody know plenty ahead of time, and then it actually factors into the way the race ended.”

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Sunday’s race started in wet conditions and then was red-flagged for nearly two hours because of heavy rain. The race was scheduled for 75 laps but only completed 58 after the decision was made that it would have to end early because of darkness. However, teams were informed before the race started that if NASCAR had to make that call, it wouldn’t come as a late-race surprise.

“Probably a couple of hours before the race started, they told us that they were going to let us know before the end of stage 1, which I think is proper,” William Byron’s crew chief Rudy Fugle said. “I think it could be done before the race starts, but as long as we know before the end of Stage 1, in most cases, you’ll have many pit stops after that before you reach the situation where you’ll have to end the race.

“This one was a little iffy, but I think all good intentions there and that was OK.”

NASCAR Rule Book Section 8.5.7.6.C states: NASCAR may determine that it is impractical to complete the advertised race distance. In this occurrence, NASCAR, in its sole discretion, will determine when the race concludes and will communicate a predetermined time to the competitors. Once the race leader crosses the start/finish line after this time expires, the next lap will be the white flag followed by the checkered flag (no overtime).

Alex Bowman took the white flag at 8:21pm local time.

“The biggest thing I liked about what they did here that they didn’t do at Loudon was they told us when — well in advance — the race was going to end,” said Chris Gabehart of Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 team. “They never did that at Loudon and it was just as dark or darker at Loudon. So, from a team’s perspective that’s important.

“We all know how to race around it [when] it’s very, very clear. Again, a timed race is a new thing, so I’m not faulting them at Loudon for it, but this is what they said they were going to do, and they made the rules adjustment. At Loudon, they didn’t.”

During the inaugural Chicago street course race, NASCAR did not give teams advanced notice. It was the final lap of the second stage last year when NASCAR announced the race would be cut short and at that time, the field was split on pit strategy.

The timing of the call affected Christopher Bell’s race. Bell was leading when the decision was made and had not yet made his pit stop. The leaderboard flipped in favor of those who had pitted before NASCAR’s announcement, putting them at the front of the field. Bell was buried mid-pack and hit the tire barriers trying to regain lost ground.

“It changed the strategy because some of the final pit stops had already started to happen,” Gabehart said. “So, those that were running up front, you would have never pit when some of those guys were pitting had you had known when the race was going to end. So, I applaud them for that [today]t. I thought that worked perfectly.”

Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, was furious after last year’s race. Stevens was pointed in his comments afterward about NASCAR’s decision, going as far as to say it was “complete negligence.”

After Sunday night’s do-over for the sanctioning body, Stevens said, “Honestly, it was very clear and it worked very well. I think they hit the time about right; you could argue a minute or two one way or the other. But as far as the procedure to go for all the competitors to know, it was fantastic. “

Stevens then laughed, “I wish we would have had it last year, but we didn’t. We had to learn the hard way as a series and as a sport and they got it right. And I think they’ll continue to get it right going forward.”

Reddick mystified by last-lap mistake

Tyler Reddick “screwed up” on the final lap of Sunday’s race at Chicago and threw away a chance at challenging for the race win. Reddick was closing on race leader Alex Bowman when he clipped the Turn 5 wall with his right front. He then came off …

Tyler Reddick “screwed up” on the final lap of Sunday’s race at Chicago and threw away a chance at challenging for the race win.

Reddick was closing on race leader Alex Bowman when he clipped the Turn 5 wall with his right front. He then came off the corner and brushed the wall with the left side of his 23XI Racing Toyota Camry. The mistakes allowed Bowman to stretch the lead back out as Reddick faded.

“I’m upset,” Reddick said of second place. “I was catching Alex by a large margin there. I don’t know — that puzzles me. I clearly just screwed up trying to stay in the dry groove, and I had more than enough room of the dry groove. I cut the wheel a little too hard — just not focused enough, I guess.

“I knew I was going to get to him, and the earlier I could get to him, the more options I would have, and it was going to get a little bit more slick off line beyond Turn 8. [I] just didn’t even give ourselves a shot to race him unfortunately. I hate it. Not what this Jordan Brand Toyota Camry is about and what this team is about. [We] just got to start capitalizing on these (races).”

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Reddick was 1.9 seconds behind Bowman at the white flag. He was 1.4 seconds behind when he clipped the Turn 5 wall.

“I got the opportunity to run him down,” Reddick said. “Just obviously couldn’t get the job done. A clean lap was all I had to do and couldn’t even do that.”

It was a late-race surge for Reddick, who drove to second in the final minutes of the race. Reddick was running 10th when the timed race restarted for the final time with less than five minutes on the clock, but he was on slick tires after the No. 45 team decided to go with the dry set before the end of the second stage. The track was drying enough that Reddick and crew chief Billy Scott thought it would be the right call.

“[We were] expecting it to be a close pace difference, and that’s how it looked like it was going to play out,” Scott said. “It just depended on how many people stayed on the wets and how big of a gap they built up with the guys on slicks trying to get through there.”

Reddick gained several positions as the clock ticked under three minutes when Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell made contact off Turn 2. The rest were made up by using the slicks to his advantage — as Bowman continued on his wet weather tires.

“The last 10 [laps] entirely, there was a lot going on,” Reddick said. “The 20 (Bell) and the 54 (Gibbs) were obviously ahead of us most of the day and the situation just played out to where they got collected in other people’s nonsense. We were in a position to run down the 48 (Bowman), it was going to be really close, and had I not made the mistake – just crazy.

“[I] ran all day long and know where my limits are and here at the end, when it matters most, I made the dumbest mistake.”

Before the mistakes, Scott said, “By the numbers, we had time (to get there).”

Bowman ends drought in wet, time-certain battle in Chicago

On a wet-and-dry day on the streets of Chicago, crew chief Blake Harris made the right call, and driver Alex Bowman promised to wet his whistle after ending an 80-race drought. “The last time we won, we didn’t really get to celebrate-we’re going to …

On a wet-and-dry day on the streets of Chicago, crew chief Blake Harris made the right call, and driver Alex Bowman promised to wet his whistle after ending an 80-race drought.

“The last time we won, we didn’t really get to celebrate—we’re going to drink so much…bourbon tonight,” said Bowman, who clinched a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with his victory in Sunday’s Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Race.

“It’s going to be a bad deal. I’m probably going to wake up naked on the bathroom floor again. That’s just part of this deal sometimes.”

Driving the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Bowman claimed the eighth victory of his career with a pass of sports car ace Joey Hand on lap 51—moments before Josh Berry plowed into the tire barrier in Turn 2 of the 2.2-mile, 12-turn course to cause the fifth and final caution.

 

At that point, the race was on the clock, thanks to a heavy rain that had caused a lengthy stoppage after lap 25. Facing a deadline of 8:20 p.m., with two laps to follow that point in the race, Bowman held off runner-up Tyler Reddick to win an event shortened from 75 to 58 laps because of the delay.

Harris got his first win as a crew chief by keeping Bowman out on older wet tires after the final caution. Neither Christopher Bell, who arguably had the best car in the race, nor Reddick could catch Bowman over the closing laps.

Bell’s charge to the front was blunted by a five-car melee, and Reddick nicked the wall and lost momentum on the final lap.

“We were catching Alex by a large margin there, and, I don’t know, that puzzles me,” said Reddick, who finished second for the second straight week. “I clearly just screwed up. Trying to stay in the dry groove, and I had more than enough of dry groove… I cut the wheel a little too hard.”

Bowman crossed the finish line with a 3.447s edge over Reddick to score his first win since March 6, 2022 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“Man, I broke my back (in a sprint car accident), had a brain injury, and we’ve kind of sucked ever since,” Bowman said. “I didn’t… you start to second-guess if you’re ever going to get a chance to win a race again.”

Enhancing Bowman’s opportunity on Sunday was the ill fortune that befell the top two contenders.

Halfway through the restart lap for Stage 2 (lap 25), the complexion of the race changed dramatically. Chase Briscoe, out of control in his No. 14 Ford, slid toward the tire barrier in Turn 6 and clipped the rear of the Chevrolet of defending winner Shane van Gisbergen.

The impact propelled van Gisbergen’s Camaro nose-first into the outside wall at the exit from the corner, and the car came to rest, unable to continue. Van Gisbergen’s exit suddenly raised the stakes for the drivers who trailed him to the finish line in Stage 1.

After leaving the infield care center, van Gisbergen watched a replay of the incident.

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“Just sort of turned in, looked pretty good and then just got smashed by someone (Briscoe),” the New Zealander said. “Just gutting. The car was really good. We were in the lead for a lot of that race and, you know, felt good taking off in the rain. That sucks—an unfortunate mistake by him, but I’m sure he didn’t mean it.

“But, yeah, when he just clipped me, there was nothing I could do. Of course I’m disappointed. We had a pretty amazing Camaro there… I felt like I was driving well within myself. It’s a shame to be out so early and a shame we couldn’t have a proper crack at it at the end.”

By the time Briscoe delivered the coup de grace to the No. 16 Chevy, Gibbs had wrested the lead from Zane Smith, who stayed out on older wet tires, and Bell, who was first off pit road during the stage break.

The field didn’t complete lap 25 before NASCAR called the second caution of the race for heavy rain. After a red-flag period of 1h43m, the race resumed and went green on lap 31, with Bell retaking the lead from Gibbs before completion of that circuit.

On lap 34, pole winner Kyle Larson, in pursuit of Gibbs, hydroplaned into the Turn 6 tire barrier, damaging his No. 5 Chevrolet beyond repair.

In a race where late strategic calls scrambled the field, Gibbs led a race-high 17 laps and came home third, followed by Hand and Michael McDowell. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Todd Gilliland, William Byron, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10.

Bell led 14 circuits, but he, Gibbs and Reddick pitted for slick tires on lap 43 and couldn’t get back to the front.

For the second straight year, rain shortened the NASCAR Cup race at the Chicago Street Race, but the wet weather did little to diminish the festival atmosphere that captivated the Windy City throughout the weekend.

“I’ve raced about every street course in the country and a lot around the world, and you won’t find a backdrop like this,” said Hand, who led seven laps on wet tires before Bowman led the final eight.

RESULTS

Contact ends van Gisbergen’s rainy Chicago victory defense

Shane van Gisbergen described being taken out of Sunday’s race in Chicago early in the second stage as “gutting.” The defending winner on the Chicago street course was a collected victim of Chase Briscoe spinning into Turn 6 on lap 25. The contact …

Shane van Gisbergen described being taken out of Sunday’s race in Chicago early in the second stage as “gutting.”

The defending winner on the Chicago street course was a collected victim of Chase Briscoe spinning into Turn 6 on lap 25. The contact sent van Gisbergen through the corner and into the outside wall, damaging the right side of his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet.

“I just kind of turned in, looked pretty good, and then just got smashed by someone,” van Gisbergen said. “Gutting. Wendy’s Saucy Nuggs Camaro was really good; we were in the lead for a lot of that race, and it felt good taking off in the rain. So that sucks.

“It’s an unfortunate mistake by him. I’m sure he didn’t mean it, but when he just clipped me, [there was] nothing I could do.”

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Kaulig’s road course master led nine laps and won the first stage. He took the lead for the first time on lap 12 and swapped the top spot with Ty Gibbs over the following few laps.

The race went green in the second stage on lap 25. When the incident occurred, van Gisbergen was running fifth. Briscoe, who was running seventh, lost control in the braking zone coming to Turn 6 and clipped van Gisbergen as he slid toward the corner and began to spin.

“Of course, I’m disappointed,” van Gisbergen said. “We had a really amazing Camaro there. Kaulig Racing and Trackhouse — they gave us a great car, and we were able to lead and I felt like I was driving well within myself. It’s a shame to be out so early and a shame we couldn’t have a proper crack at it at the end.”

Unfortunatelt for van Gisbergen, he was the first driver knocked out of the race and will finish 40th.

Road course ace van Gisbergen chalks up another Xfinity win in Chicago

Shane van Gisbergen put on a master class Saturday afternoon, winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Race. The New Zealander led early and, again, led late to claim his third consecutive series road course win and …

Shane van Gisbergen put on a master class Saturday afternoon, winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Race. The New Zealander led early and, again, led late to claim his third consecutive series road course win and second race win on the 2.2-mile downtown Chicago streets.

Fans who experienced monsoon-like rains at last year’s inaugural NASCAR visit to the Windy City could not have asked for a more ideal summer afternoon on Saturday. People in the packed grandstands – nearly half taking in their first NASCAR event according to Chicago Street Race President Julie Guise — enjoyed blue skies, a comfortable breeze and temperatures in the mid-70s.

And they enjoyed a highly competitive spirited race, with van Gisbergen and Californian Kyle Larson dicing it up, door-to-door, front-fender to back bumper from the drop of the green flag and then van Gisbergen charging through the field to claim the lead again in the final laps.

 

In the end, the 35-year old van Gisbergen got his No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet around Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs with two laps remaining and charged off to his series best third win of the year by a healthy 1.287s over Gibbs and Larson.

“That’s awesome, what a great race,’’ said a grinning van Gisbergen after kicking a rugby ball into the cheering crowd as is his established NASCAR victory celebration.

“It was pretty wild there at the end, but I can’t thank the Kaulig Racing guys enough. It was great racing to start with Kyle [Larson]. 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.’’

Van Gisbergen who also claimed road course wins at Portland and Sonoma, led 14 laps, as did Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love – most on the afternoon. Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman finished fourth, his best result of the season, and Love was fifth.

The two champion drivers – Larson and van Gisbergen — set the tone immediately, exchanging the lead sometimes three and four times in a single lap from the drop of the green flag. Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, led the first six laps and van Gisbergen, a three-time Australian Supercars Series champion who won last year’s inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race in Chicago, led the next nine laps to claim the Stage 1 win in the process.

 

“It was cool we were waving at each other, thumbs up,’’ Van Gisbergen said of racing Larson early. “Really respectful but big moves. He was amazing on the brakes and on the bumps. Really cool. I learned a lot and he probably learned a lot off me. Hope to race him again for the win tomorrow.’’

Larson, who will start from pole position in Sunday’s Grant Park 165 NASCAR Cup Series race, had been looking forward to the chance to race up front with van Gisbergen.

“I was having a blast,’’ Larson said. “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. That was an objective of mine and the first opportunity I got, I wanted to get racing because I just didn’t know if I’d have another opportunity to race with him.

“My car seemed to be a little better than his for a lap or two which helped me get by him and was able to protect and stuff but he was so much better than me.’’

Varying pit stop strategies adjusted the field mid-race. Many – such as Love – pitted during the first stage break at lap 15. Van Gisbergen, Gibbs and Larson pit during a caution period later on lap 24. That shuffled the field putting those three early frontrunners playing catch-up in the closing laps.

With six laps to go and van Gisbergen making his way forward, his Chevy was hit from behind by Sam Mayer’s Chevy in the Turn 12 corner forcing van Gisbergen’s to scrape the wall. He fell off the bumper of then race leaders, Gibbs and Love, but stayed in the third position.

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He got around the two with three laps remaining. Gibbs said looking back, he probably should have raced van Gisbergen a little more aggressively in the final laps

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

Connor Mosack, Austin Hill, NASCAR Cup Series regular Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier and Austin Green rounded out the top 10. It was the first Xfinity Series start for Logano since 2019. It was the third top 10 in four career series starts for the 23-year old Green – all coming on road courses.

Last year’s Chicago race winner, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, finished 18th after dealing with various issues throughout the afternoon, including a pit stop penalty. He now holds a 38-point lead over JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier in the standings. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith dropped to third place in the championship after finishing last – 38th – with an engine problem suffered only five laps into the race.

Van Gisbergen’s effort now gives him a series best 17 Playoff points and his three wins are most in the series this year.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series travels back east to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway for next Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hill is the defending race winner.

RESULTS

Wallace ‘tired’ of fighting with points and not wins for playoffs

Bubba Wallace is in an all too familiar position as the NASCAR Cup Series postseason approaches. “I’ll be honest with you, I’m quite tired of having to do it on points, you know?” Wallace said Saturday. “We always seem to find ourselves right around …

Bubba Wallace is in an all too familiar position as the NASCAR Cup Series postseason approaches.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m quite tired of having to do it on points, you know?” Wallace said Saturday. “We always seem to find ourselves right around the bubble and it gets stressful. Every race that goes by and you don’t win, it gets more and more stressful.”

Wallace is 51 points out of a playoff spot after Joey Logano won last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. Before that happened, Wallace and Logano had been jostling for the final spot, each taking turns as the driver sitting above or below the cutline. There are seven races left in the regular season, including Sunday’s event in Chicago, and five spots left on the playoff grid.

A year ago, he pointed his way into the postseason. It came down to the regular season finale in Daytona, and it was the first time Wallace qualified for the postseason in his career.

“Knowing that we can do it on points…we did it last year,” he said. “But [expletive], it would be nice just to win. Then you can start doing crazy stuff to try something in the regular season, but right now, we have to play the game and hopefully we’re in the right spot at the right time to win it.

“I know we’re all hyper-focused on that, but we can lose sight of [needing] to go out and do the best we can do and run well. I believe 100 percent in this team; it’s just a matter of doing it.”

Wallace has not won since the fall of 2022 at Kansas Speedway. Both of his Cup Series victories have come late in the year.

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It’s not mathematically impossible for Wallace to point his way into the postseason. Although the gap looks large, he noted that his teammate, Tyler Reddick, earned 51 points in one race — last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway when Reddick finished third.

A driver can earn a maximum of 60 points in a race (excluding the Coca-Cola 600, where there is an extra stage). Knowing that, Wallace doesn’t believe his 23XI Racing team has reached the must-win scenario for the postseason.

“Not yet,” he said. “There are seven [races] left, so just get after it.”

Currently he’s the first driver below the cutline. Alex Bowman is on the bubble going into Sunday’s race (4:30 p.m. ET, NBC) in Chicago.

A win comes through opportunity, and Wallace knows his team needs to be in position for one. So far, he has just two top-10 finishes in the last 10 races with seven laps led.

“You can’t count anybody out, so hopefully, we’re one of those cars that you can’t count out,” he said of the fight on the bubble. “We haven’t had the best stretch of races in a while; it was a nice finish and rebound last Sunday in Nashville, but not how we wanted our race to play out. We definitely wanted to be better in the middle portion, but we’ve just got to keep after it.

“We’re all still hungry. We all know what we’re capable of doing. [Reddick] is showing speed week in and week out, so we just have to have a big…moment of figuring out what we need to do and get us back on track.

“So, here — it’s Chicago. We’ve got to do the best that we can executing and getting as many points as we can. It’ll be fine.”

Wallace qualified sixth for the Grant Park 165.

Larson, Gibbs split front row between Chicago’s tight walls

Kyle Larson completed the Saturday sweep of NASCAR Cup Series activity by winning the pole for the second edition of the Chicago street race after pacing practice earlier in the afternoon. Larson went to the top of the board as the final round of …

Kyle Larson completed the Saturday sweep of NASCAR Cup Series activity by winning the pole for the second edition of the Chicago street race after pacing practice earlier in the afternoon.

Larson went to the top of the board as the final round of qualifying ended, putting up a lap of 90.168mph (87.836s). It’s his fifth pole of the season and the 21st of his career.

Ty Gibbs will start second (90.158mph) after being knocked off the pole by the No. 5.

Michael McDowell qualified third (90.141mph), Tyler Reddick, fourth (89.923mph), Shane van Gisbergen, fifth (89.813mph), Bubba Wallace, sixth (89.674mph), Christopher Bell, seventh (89.627mph), Alex Bowman, eighth (89.230mph), Daniel Suarez, ninth (89.115mph) and Brad Keselowski, tenth (75.517mph).

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Keselowski spun and hit the wall in Turn 11 on his qualifying lap, but he wasn’t the only driver who encountered issues.

Corey LaJoie spun in the same corner, but earlier in the session. LaJoie damaged the left rear of his Chevrolet.

Chris Buescher broke the toe link on the left rear of his Ford Mustang after hitting the wall. Josh Berry also made wall contact and damaged the left rear of his Mustang. Harrison Burton became stuck in the Turn 6 tire barriers after he locked up the brakes and spun into the corner.

William Byron also had a power steering issue, but his Hendrick Motorsports team could not fix it and he’ll have to start at the rear of the field on Sunday.

All the incidents occurred in the first round of qualifying.

Denny Hamlin didn’t advance to the final round and qualified 11th. Ryan Blaney qualified 17th; Chase Elliott, 18th; Kyle Busch, 19th; Martin Truex Jr., 24th; Joey Logano, 32nd and Joey Hand, 38th.

RESULTS

Larson paces Cup Series practice on streets of Chicago

Kyle Larson topped defending winner Shane van Gisbergen in NASCAR Cup Series practice on the streets of Chicago. Larson led the way at 89.549mph (88.443s). The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who is doing double duty this weekend by competing in the …

Kyle Larson topped defending winner Shane van Gisbergen in NASCAR Cup Series practice on the streets of Chicago.

Larson led the way at 89.549mph (88.443s). The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who is doing double duty this weekend by competing in the Xfinity Series race, set the fastest time on his ninth lap in practice. He ran 10 laps in total.

Kaulig Racing’s van Gisbergen was second fastest at 89.435mph. After winning the inaugural Chicago race last year with Trackhouse, the Kiwi is back to defend his feat.

Ty Gibbs was third fastest at 89.405mph, Daniel Suarez, fourth at 88.881mph and Alex Bowman completed the top five at 88.874mph.

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Bubba Wallace was sixth fastest (88.845mph), Chase Elliott, seventh (88.843mph) and Tyler Reddick, eighth (88.771 mph). Reddick bounced the left rear off the wall at the exit of Turn 12 but seemed to escape without significant damage.

Michael McDowell was ninth (88.737mph) with Denny Hamlin completing the top 10 (88.697mph).

Christopher Bell was 13th (88.544mph). Ryan Blaney ran 16th (88.366mph), William Byron, 18th (88.338mph) and Martin Truex Jr., 19th (88.304mph). AJ Allmendinger was 23rd (88.165mph), Kyle Busch, 27th (87.961mph) and Joey Logano, 32nd (87.463 mph).

Joey Hand was 37th (87.279mph) in a third entry for RFK Racing.

There are 40 drivers entered in Chicago.