Yesterday saw another NASCAR race in the streets of Chicago shortened by rain. This now marks back to back seasons of the Chicago street race not being able to reach the originally scheduled amount of laps due to weather. Even though NASCAR had rain tires with them, the Grant Park 165 was shortened on time for 8:20pm CT after a red flag for heavy rain and the track having too many puddles stopped them for 1 hour and 43 minutes. This now begs the question: after two failed attempts at the Chicago Street Race, should NASCAR return for another shot in 2025?
The race began with Kyle Larson on the pole. Ty Gibbs was able to jump to the lead in the opening lap, but after 13 laps betting favorite and 2023 winner of the Chicago Street Race Shane Van Gisbergen took the lead. SVG ended up winning the 20 lap stage 1 under caution due to Corey Lajoie hitting the wall.
On lap 25, SVG hit the wall hard ending the favorite’s day. NASCAR then brought the cars down pit road as the red flag waved on lap 26 of the scheduled 75 due to heavy rain on the track. NASCAR saw the extended rain and made an announcement that the race would be called official at 8:20 local time (9:20 ET). Once time expired on the clock, the leader would cross the start/finish line and then the next time around would be the white flag and then the checkered flag. If a caution came out after time expired, the race would be called official, no overtime.
After the rain delay, the green flag flew at lap 30 and the race seemed likely to end sooner due to the time restriction. Christopher Bell took the lead on the first lap, but a caution for Kyle Larson running into the tire barrier in turn 6 ended his day.
During the caution, the leaders came to pit road to put on slick tires while others gambled and stayed out on the wet weather tires. Joey Hand then was able to hold off a hard charging Alex Bowman to become the unlikely winner of stage 2, capturing what was his first career stage win. Bowman then took the lead in the final stage on lap 51.
Once he took the lead, he never looked back and won the race after a hard charging Tyler Reddick hit the wall trying his best to catch Bowman. This ended an 80 race winless streak and punched Bowman’s ticket to the NASCAR Playoffs. This was an emotional Bowman who suffered multiple injuries since his last win including a broken back and a concussion that sidelined him for multiple races during that stretch.
The NASCAR Street Race will always bring the fans to the city because it’s something different that the sport never does. Although after two attempts where the race never reached the allotted laps due to weather, is it time for NASCAR to move on and try something different or go back to a different track? The views are great and it brings a lot of tourism to the city of Chicago, but it costs a lot of money to build the track and the road closures are not ideal for Chicago residents. So only time will tell if NASCAR decides to give it another go but hey, third times the charm am I right?
