Is it too much to ask for a weekend of NASCAR not impacted by the weather? The Grant Park 165 was a fan favorite in 2024 just as it was in 2023. We saw great racing through the pack, the fans were into it. Unfortunately, this race was cut just under 30 laps short. They also raced sunset at 8:20 PM local time rather than the final lap. This had the potential to be a classic race, but NASCAR runs whenever it rains. Or rain runs wherever there’s NASCAR: either way, another weekend of fun racing is in the books. The battle between slick tires and wet weather tires. Wrecks and cautions, battles up and down the track. We won’t soon forget the second Chicago Street Race.
As usual, there are six drivers to go over. Three of whom impressed and ran extremely well in the streets of Chicago. The other three are disappointed and are in a bad position moving forward. Let’s get into that, and recap the action from Chicago. This is NASCAR “Three Up, Three Down” after the Grant Park 165!
Three Up
#8 Kyle Busch
Embed from Getty ImagesKyle Busch is back up front. After finishing P9, he snags his first top-ten since Kansas on May 5th. His best finish between then was a road course at Sonoma with a P12. This puts him back within seeing distance of the playoff standings just -98 of Chris Buescher. He’ll unlikely point his way in, but you can at least view the playoffs from here. Busch will look towards Pocono and the Brickyard to score a win before the Olympic break. Tracks where he’s posted wins in the past. But this is a great turnaround for Rowdy and RCR.
#48 Alex Bowman
Embed from Getty ImagesThere are few things better than watching your favorite driver hit victory lane. It’s even sweeter when it’s your first time as a fan. Getting into the sport in 2023, I picked a bad year to become a fan of Alex Bowman and the #48. But those struggles made this win all that much sweeter. But enough of the fan service. Bowman needed this win. The pressure was on x100. He wasn’t running as fast as his teammates. He had cooled off from his T-10 streak. He’d fallen to P16 in the points standings. This win secures a spot for him in the playoffs and launches him to P9 in the standings.
It’s been a hell of a year but we never stopped grinding. Couldn’t do it without this 48 team @allyracing and @TeamHendrick… Let’s go get a few more! pic.twitter.com/SaAMrHUjox
— Alex Bowman (@Alex_Bowman) July 8, 2024
Are there questions about this win? Sure. The third stage was cut drastically short. He was on wet tires, while Tyler Reddick on slicks was catching up fast. He’d have gotten there by the end and made Bowman’s life a hell of a lot harder in doing so. But he was one of the fastest cars all weekend. In practice, in qualifying, and in having race speed. He scored stage points with a P6 and a P2 before collecting the race win. Alex Bowman would be in the picture if this race was weather-free and uninterrupted. He earned the win, crew chief Blake Harris made the right call. What more is there to say? With this, all four Hendrick Motorsports cars are back in the playoffs via wins, just as I predicted. Let’s see if we can knock some more of those off the list.
#54 Ty Gibbs
Embed from Getty ImagesSpeaking of my predictions, I’m still waiting for this car to hit victory lane. But P3 is a good start. Ty Gibbs is an excellent road course racer, and it was on display all weekend in the streets of Chicago. Gibbs locks up his fifth top-five of the season here, and his first top-ten since Charlotte back on Memorial Day. Gibbs sits in a good spot on points at P14 and +31 above the #1 car of Ross Chastain. Here’s top hoping the second-year driver has found some speed and maintains it to the end of the regular season.
Three Down
#1 Ross Chastain
Embed from Getty ImagesRoss Chastain is usually a quality road course racer, but the #1 car wasn’t spectacular in Chicago this weekend. He collected no stage points and finished P22. He’s P15 in the playoffs and in a dogfight with Chris Buescher for the last two spots in the playoffs. If there’s a new winner between Pocono and Daytona, that could very well be the battle at the end. This wasn’t great news for him, and a new winner in Alex Bowman limits his ceiling without a win. If Trackhouse wants to send both cars to the playoffs, Ross Chastain will likely have to turn it up and secure a win.
#4 Josh Berry
Embed from Getty ImagesLast year, it was rookie Noah Gragson in the #42 car that couldn’t stay out of the wall. Now, it was his new and soon-to-be elsewhere Stewart-Haas teammates who couldn’t get out of the wall. I picked Josh Berry though because he was pushing momentum and building speed in recent weeks. He now leaves the streets of Chicago the last car who finished the race, and a little worse for wear. I think this is unquestionably the best car of the SHR camp week to week, and the most likely to sneak into the postseason. But this was a rough outing for them and certainly not what they wanted to see. Especially with one less spot to steal with Alex Bowman locking himself in the playoffs.
#17 Chris Buescher
Embed from Getty ImagesLuckily for Ross, and luckily for Buescher ultimately, they both had bad days. While both being good road course racers. This #17 car has had multiple chances to hit victory lane this year and just hasn’t squeezed in. Tyler Reddick ended his day at Darlington, he lost to Kyle Larson by .001 seconds at Kansas. And he just hasn’t quite had the race-winning speed in a little while. He leaves the NASCAR Chicago Street Race with a P20 and no stage points collected, and -8 below Ross Chastain at P16. He can rest assured little ground was gained on the cutline. The #23 of Bubba Wallace is -45 below him. But the battle between #1 and #17 will have my attention the rest of the way.
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