Driver Alex Bowman is introduced before a NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway, Sunday, June 9, 2024, earlier this month in Sonoma, Calif.
AP photo
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CHICAGO — Alex Bowman sees a Chicago street course full of possibilities. He also sees a major potential problem.
“All the winners behind us in points make my life harder for sure,” Bowman said Saturday. “So just trying to do the best we can to get in victory lane to avoid those issues.”
That’s the situation for a group of NASCAR Cup Series contenders fighting for five remaining spots in the playoffs after Joey Logano became this season’s 11th different winner last weekend in Tennessee.
Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher and Bowman occupy the last five playoff spots on points at the moment. Truex is in a strong position with seven races left in the regular season, but a win for a driver below Bowman in the standings could shake up the playoff field once again.
Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe and two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch are among seven drivers below the cutline who previously participated in the Cup Series playoffs.
“It’d be nice to have a win. I feel like we should have a win,” said the 44-year-old Truex, who plans to retire from full-time racing at the end of the season. “We’ve had a few heartbreakers, so just keep digging and take it week by week.”
Buescher feels Truex’s pain. Buescher lost to Kyle Larson at Kansas in May in the closest finish in Cup Series history. Then he was wrecked by Tyler Reddick at Darlington, taking him out of contention.
“I feel like we’re very, very close to where we need to be to not have to have a points conversation whatsoever,” Buescher said.
The second edition of the downtown Chicago street race on Sunday offers another possibility for 18 winless Cup Series drivers who are eligible for the playoffs. But there is risk everywhere.
The 12-turn, 2.2-mile course is bumpy in spots, and there is little room for error. A crash could open the door for a driver in the right spot at the right time, but it also could collect multiple cars and hurt positioning when it comes to accumulating points.
“I’m not worried about Chicago. … Everybody here knows that I’m not the best at road course racing,” Wallace said, “so Chicago is just one of those, let’s survive, move on.”
van Gisbergen wins again in Xfinity Series race in downtown Chicago
CHICAGO — Shane van Gisbergen raced to his third Xfinity Series victory of the season Saturday, making a successful return to the NASCAR street course in downtown Chicago.
Van Gisbergen started on the pole before dropping back after a pit stop. He then made his way through the field before pulling away for the victory.
“What a great race,” he said. “It was pretty wild there at the end.”
The 35-year-old New Zealand native got his first two Xfinity wins for Kaulig Racing on road courses at Portland and Sonoma on consecutive weekends last month. Just like he did after those victories, he celebrated by autographing a rugby ball and kicking it into the stands in Chicago.
Ty Gibbs was second, followed by Kyle Larson, Parker Kligerman and Jesse Love. Larson is on the pole for the Cup Series race Sunday.
A three-time champion in Australia’s Supercars, van Gisbergen was a largely unknown commodity in the U.S. before he won last summer in NASCAR’s rainy inaugural weekend on the downtown Chicago course. He became the first driver to win his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in the second qualifying race at Daytona in 1963.