Alex Bowman wins chaotic, daylight-shortened Chicago Street Race
In a wild, wet, and once again, daylight-shortened event, Alex Bowman came out P1 in the Chicago Street Race. It is his first NASCAR Cup Series victory since 2022.
This race was not ideal. It felt like a repeat of last year’s rainy event. Although the rain didn’t flood the track, it did enough to delay it for almost two hours at one point.
Alex Bowman is the 12th individual winner in the Cup Series this season. He locks himself into the NASCAR Playoffs with the win. He stayed out on wet weather tires and it ended up paying off for him.
A little burnout fail for Bowman to cap it off.
Stage 1 showed what NASCAR in Chicago can be
Even with the rain right before the green flag, this race started off with fantastic action. Shane van Gisbergen moved up quickly from his starting position. Then it was a fight to keep up with him.
We even got to see the field drive through lapped traffic. Some drivers were on wet weather tires, hoping to find speed on the damp track, or waiting for the rain to fall during the race.
The Chicago Street Race has now been interrupted by rain two years in a row. It is unfortunate, but seeing this race in the first stage made it all worth it in my mind. Let’s not act like the Xfinity Series didn’t put on an instant classic on Saturday, either.
SVG won the opening stage, Christopher Bell hung around. Then, things got nasty.
Rain pours, SVG gets wrecked out
With the rain coming down harder with each turn, NASCAR put these drivers in a tough position. There was a mistake coming off of pit road to start Stage 2. It wasn’t the last mishap, either.
Soon after the green flag came out, Bubba Wallace was booted to the side. He got a little loose and then Alex Bowman shipped him to the wall. Shortly after, Shane van Gisbergen was bumped by Chase Briscoe who was out of control.
SVG hit the outside wall exiting Turn 6. His car was killed at that point and he climbed out to finish as a DNF. From winner to last place, all within a year.
Soon after, NASCAR threw the red flag and put an end to the mess. It was starting to get embarrassing. The one-hour and forty-three-minute wait under the red flag was bad enough. Just when we thought we would see the full potential of this event.
Before the end of Stage 2, Kyle Larson found himself in the Turn 6 tire barrier. A DNF for Larson to join SVG in the garage. Tough day for those two great racers.
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