Shane van Gisbergen overcomes late Zilisch surge for Xfinity win in Chicago
Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images
CHICAGO, Ill.—In a dream matchup between the veteran road-course king and the 18-year-old pretender to the throne on the streets of the “Windy City,” Shane van Gisbergen schooled his young JR Motorsports teammate in winning Saturday’s The Loop 110.
With his cool suit malfunctioning on a hot day on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn Chicago Street Course, van Gisbergen out-braked runner-up Connor Zilisch and ran him wide into Turn 1 with two laps left in the marquee event.
With Zilisch in determined but futile pursuit, van Gisbergen crossed the finish line 0.823 seconds ahead of his fellow Red Bull athlete to post his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in his only start this season, his second straight win in Chicago and the fourth of his career.
Van Gisbergen, the pole winner, had to overcome not only the heat but also a balky carburetor and questionable strategy that kept him on the track before the end of Stage 1, while the vast majority of cars behind him came to pit road for tires and fuel.
“The strategy went wrong, but it worked out well,” said van Gisbergen, who also will start on the pole in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. “The car was a rocket. (Zilisch) is a great young driver, and that was the first time I’ve really raced him. I knew that was my opportunity, and I took it. Awesome 1-2 for the team.”
The 36-year-old New Zealander, a three-time Australian Supercars champion, is the sixth different driver to win for JR Motorsports this year, the most in series history for an organization in a single season. Due to the heat and malfunctioned cool suit, SVG visited the infield care center and was later treated and released.
Zilisch acknowledged he was surprised at the aggressiveness of van Gisbergen’s attack in Turn 1, though he insisted it wasn’t a dirty move.
“I was clear there, just barely, on the front straight, and I just let him get to my inside, and he took advantage of it,” said Zilisch, who started 35th after hitting a tire barrier during practice earlier in the day. “I should have been a little more aggressive there. I just thought he was going to race me a little cleaner.
“I’ve just got to be better and not let that stuff happen. I’ll learn from it and move on.”
Third-place Sheldon Creed was the best of the rest, finishing 3.141 seconds behind the race winner. Creed led the field to green for a restart with 13 laps left but lost the top spot to Zilisch before he got back to the start/finish line.
“I’ve got to get better at road-course racing,” Creed said. “Those guys are really good, and when SVG got to me, I just let him go because he had way more pace. Maybe I could get them racing and give me a shot.”
Clearly, that didn’t happen.
By staying on the track late in the 15-lap first stage, van Gisbergen was mired mid-pack when he eventually pitted on Lap 26. He restarted 19th on Lap 29 after an inopportune debris caution and quickly worked his way forward.
By Lap 36, he was seventh and began a determined pursuit of Zilisch, who led Laps 38 to 48. On Lap 44, with Zilisch saving fuel, van Gisbergen ran the fastest lap of the race (90.947 seconds) and cut Zilisch’s lead from 3.5 seconds to 2.3 seconds before Andre Castro planted his car in the Turn 6 tire barrier to cause the sixth and final caution and set up the two-lap shootout.
On fresher tires, the one benefit of the later pit stop, van Gisbergen prevailed. Van Gisbergen led 27 laps to Zilisch’s 11 and Creed’s nine.
Austin Hill ran fourth and Atlanta winner Nick Sanchez finished fifth. Jesse Love, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, Austin Green and Brennan Poole completed the top 10.
Justin Allgaier, who finished 23rd after suffering brake issues late in the race, leads second-place Hill by 49 points in the series standings.
The Xfinity Series heads west for its annual trip to Sonoma Raceway next Saturday (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NOTE: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming SVG as the race winner.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 18
Race Results for the The Loop 110 - Saturday, July 5, 2025
Chicago Street Race - Chicago, IL - 2.2 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 50 Laps - 110. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 7/5/2025 @ 06:56 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 9 Shane Van Gisbergen(i) WeatherTech/Red Bull Chevrolet 50 1 0 Running 2 27
2 35 88 Connor Zilisch # Red Bull/WeatherTech Chevrolet 50 8 4 45 Running 1 11
3 4 00 Sheldon Creed Road Ranger Ford 50 2 1 53 Running 1 9 1
4 2 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 50 3 3 49 Running
5 8 48 Nick Sanchez # Pickers Vodka Chevrolet 50 5 38 Running
6 9 2 Jesse Love WAT Chevrolet 50 2 40 Running 1 3
7 10 8 Sammy Smith Allstate Peterbilt Group Chevrolet 50 7 5 40 Running
8 3 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Ford 50 4 36 Running
9 17 32 Austin Green Volpi Chevrolet 50 28 Running
10 22 44 Brennan Poole Toxic Waste Chevrolet 50 27 Running
11 27 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 50 7 30 Running
12 14 07 Alex Labbe Priority Tire Chevrolet 50 10 26 Running
13 15 25 Harrison Burton Dead On Tools Ford 50 24 Running
14 33 26 Dean Thompson # Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 50 23 Running
15 38 16 Christian Eckes # Benesch Law Chevrolet 50 22 Running
16 13 1 Carson Kvapil # Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet 50 9 23 Running
17 20 70 Thomas Annunziata Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet 50 10 21 Running
18 23 31 Blaine Perkins GFL Chevrolet 50 19 Running
19 21 10 Daniel Dye # Bettenhausenauto.com Chevrolet 50 18 Running
20 34 28 Kyle Sieg Storm Science Ford 50 17 Running
21 11 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Nibco Toyota 50 9 18 Running
22 30 24 Kaz Grala(i) Overplay Games Toyota 50 0 Running
23 6 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 50 6 8 22 Running
24 24 4 Parker Retzlaff FUNKAWAY Beads Chevrolet 50 13 Running
25 32 71 Ryan Ellis Sweetwater Construction Chevrolet 50 12 Running
26 16 14 Connor Mosack(i) Invision Capital Chevrolet 50 0 Running
27 31 27 Jeb Burton Onder Law Injury Attorneys Chevrolet 50 6 15 Running
28 18 99 Matt DiBenedetto Royal Oak Leprechauns Chevrolet 50 9 Running
29 12 50 Preston Pardus Chinchor Electric Inc Chevrolet 50 8 Running
30 26 45 Brad Perez Nerds Xpress Chevrolet 50 7 Running
31 19 51 Jeremy Clements Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet 50 6 Running
32 5 19 Jack Perkins Shaw and Partners Toyota 46 5 Running
33 29 35 Andre Castro Chevrolet 43 4 Accident
34 36 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 38 3 DVP
35 25 91 Josh Bilicki Lifeway Kefir Chevrolet 26 2 Electrical
36 28 42 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 26 1 Engine
37 7 18 William Sawalich # Starkey Toyota 7 1 Electrical
38 37 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 5 1 Accident
Fastest Lap Bonus: # lap 44 / 90.947
9
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 51 Mins, 52 Secs. Average Speed: 58.999 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.823 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 9, 00, 21, 41, 48, 7, 8, 88, 1, 07
Stage 2 Top 10: 00, 2, 21, 88, 8, 27, 11, 7, 20, 70
Race Comments: Shane Van Gisbergen won The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Race, his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: Nos. 16, 54 (backup car), Nos. 39, 42, 70, 88, 99 (unapproved adjustments)
Failed to Qualify: (2) 5 Kris Wright, 53 Sage Karam.
Caution Flags: 6 for 18 laps; Laps: 6-8 (#19 incident turn 6 [39]); 15-18 (#45 incident turn 4 / Stage 1 Conclusion [14]); 26-28 (Debris turn 7 [42]); 32-34 (Stage 2 Conclusion [99]); 36-37 (Debris turn 2 [99]); 46-48 (#35 incident turn 6 [99]).
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 1-25; J. Love 26-28; S. Creed 29-37; C. Zilisch # 38-48; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 49-50.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: July 12, 2025 - Sonoma Raceway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
NASCAR Xfinity Series Points Report
Chicago Street Race
The Loop 110
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 7/5/2025 @ 07:38 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Justin Allgaier 7 18 0 646 0 0 3 6 21
2. Austin Hill 21 18 -1 597 -49 49 3 6 21
3. Sam Mayer 41 18 1 597 -49 0 0 1 1
4. Jesse Love 2 18 0 581 -65 16 1 1 6
5. Connor Zilisch # 88 17 0 571 -75 10 2 3 13
6. Carson Kvapil # 1 18 0 511 -135 60 0 1 1
7. Brandon Jones 20 18 0 484 -162 27 1 2 7
8. Sheldon Creed 00 18 -3 478 -168 6 0 1 1
9. Nick Sanchez # 48 18 -1 474 -172 4 1 1 6
10. Jeb Burton 27 18 1 460 -186 14 0 0 0
11. Sammy Smith 8 18 -3 459 -187 1 1 2 7
12. Taylor Gray # 54 18 4 456 -190 3 0 1 1
13. Harrison Burton 25 18 0 448 -198 8 0 2 2
14. Ryan Sieg 39 18 2 426 -220 22 0 0 0
15. Christian Eckes # 16 18 0 396 -250 30 0 0 0
16. Dean Thompson # 26 18 -1 395 -251 1 0 1 1
17. Daniel Dye # 10 18 1 391 -255 4 0 0 0
18. Brennan Poole 44 18 0 353 -293 38 0 0 0
19. Josh Williams 11 18 -1 329 -317 24 0 0 0
20. Jeremy Clements 51 18 1 326 -320 3 0 0 0
21. Anthony Alfredo 42 18 0 282 -364 44 0 0 0
22. Matt DiBenedetto 99 18 -1 277 -369 5 0 0 -5
23. Aric Almirola 7 1 268 -378 9 1 1 0
24. Kyle Sieg 28 18 -1 250 -396 18 0 0 0
25. William Sawalich # 18 18 1 249 -397 1 0 0 0
26. Parker Retzlaff 4 17 0 243 -403 6 0 0 0
27. Blaine Perkins 31 18 0 242 -404 1 0 0 0
28. Ryan Ellis 71 18 0 231 -415 11 0 0 0
29. Kris Wright 17 0 169 -477 62 0 0 0
30. Josh Bilicki 91 11 -1 140 -506 29 0 0 0
31. Leland Honeyman 10 1 138 -508 2 0 0 0
32. Garrett Smithley 13 0 136 -510 2 0 0 0
33. Mason Massey 9 0 108 -538 28 0 0 0
34. Joey Gase 8 0 106 -540 2 0 0 0
35. Alex Labbe 07 4 -5 80 -566 26 0 0 0
36. Thomas Annunziata 70 7 -2 80 -566 0 0 0 0
37. Nick Leitz 7 2 73 -573 7 0 0 0
38. Corey Day 3 2 66 -580 7 0 0 0
39. Mason Maggio 8 2 66 -580 0 0 0 0
40. Austin Green 32 5 -6 58 -588 8 0 0 -5
41. Justin Bonsignore 5 2 55 -591 3 0 0 0
42. Brad Perez 45 5 1 44 -602 11 0 0 0
43. Cj Mclaughlin 4 1 33 -613 11 0 0 0
44. Greg Van Alst 8 1 33 -613 0 0 0 0
45. Caesar Bacarella 2 1 31 -615 2 0 0 0
46. Jordan Anderson 1 1 30 -616 1 0 0 0
47. Myatt Snider 3 0 26 -620 4 0 0 0
48. Logan Bearden 2 0 24 -622 2 0 0 0
49. Kasey Kahne 1 0 23 -623 1 0 0 0
50. Patrick Staropoli 2 0 23 -623 0 0 0 0
51. Jeffrey Earnhardt 2 0 23 -623 0 0 0 0
52. Ryan Truex 1 0 20 -626 3 0 0 0
53. Jesse Iwuji 1 0 17 -629 3 0 0 0
54. Carson Ware 3 0 15 -631 2 0 0 0
55. Sage Karam 2 0 14 -632 1 0 0 0
56. Vicente Salas 1 0 13 -633 1 0 0 0
57. David Starr 1 0 11 -635 2 0 0 0
58. Dawson Cram 3 0 11 -635 0 0 0 0
59. Jj Yeley 1 0 9 -637 2 0 0 0
60. Preston Pardus 50 2 0 9 -637 0 0 0 0
61. Jack Perkins 19 1 61 5 -641 4 0 0 0
62. Andre Castro 35 1 62 4 -642 1 0 0 0
63. Baltazar Leguizam?n 1 2 1 -645 3 0 0 0
64. Ruben Rovelo 1 2 1 -645 0 0 0 0
65. Kyle Larson(i) 3 2 0 -646 1 2 2 0
66. William Byron(i) 2 2 0 -646 0 1 3 0
67. Shane Van Gisbergen(i) 9 1 67 0 -646 0 1 1 0
68. Alex Bowman(i) 1 3 0 -646 0 0 1 0
69. Chase Elliott(i) 2 3 0 -646 0 0 0 0
70. Riley Herbst(i) 2 3 0 -646 0 0 0 0
71. Ross Chastain(i) 3 3 0 -646 0 0 0 0
72. Corey Heim(i) 3 3 0 -646 0 0 0 0
73. Patrick Emerling(i) 6 3 0 -646 0 0 0 0
74. Austin Dillon(i) 1 3 0 -646 0 0 0 0
75. Ty Gibbs(i) 1 9 0 -646 0 0 0 0
76. Kaz Grala(i) 24 1 75 0 -646 0 0 0 0
77. Chase Briscoe(i) 1 3 0 -646 0 0 0 0
78. Christopher Bell(i) 2 3 0 -646 0 0 0 0
79. Connor Mosack(i) 14 1 78 0 -646 0 0 0 0
80. Andres Perez De Lara(i) 1 7 0 -646 0 0 0 0
81. Katherine Legge(i) 5 3 0 -646 0 0 0 0
82. Carson Hocevar(i) 1 3 0 -646 0 0 0 0
83. Tyler Tomassi 0 5 0 -646 0 0 0 0
84. Glen Reen 0 5 0 -646 0 0 0 0
85. Jake Garcia(i) 0 6 0 -646 0 0 0 0
86. Daniel Su?rez(i) 1 4 0 -646 0 0 0 0
-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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