2024 NASCAR Chicago Street Race: Live updates as race weekend wraps up in Grant Park

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Last updated: Tuesday, July 9, 2024 5:50PM GMT
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CHICAGO (WLS) -- The NASCAR Chicago Street Race for 2024 is being held in and around Grant Park on July 6 and 7. Along with two banner races, the event features a family-friendly festival with with live music, including performances by The Black Keys, The Chainsmokers and Keith Urban.

Extensive street closures and re-routes are now in place as the city constructs the winding race course, and fans are flocking to the city over the long Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Chicago, start your engines...

Jul 07, 2024, 1:13 AM GMT

The Chainsmokers perform in Grant Park a year after rained-out NASCAR weekend

The Chainsmokers are performing in Grant Park Saturday night as the headliner for the first day of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race weekend.

The music act was unable to perform a concert last year due to severe weather and heavy rain that flooded the race track and the surrounding areas by the stage in Grant Park.

The concert is happening at the DraftKings main stage.

The Black Keys and Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy performed earlier in the day Saturday.

Lauren Alaina and Keith Urban are set to perform on the main stage on Sunday ahead of the main event, the NASCAR Cup Series Chicago street race.

A full guide to the weekend's concert lineup can be found here.

ByJay Cohen, AP Sports Writer AP logo
Jul 06, 2024, 11:48 PM GMT

Kyle Larson wins the pole in qualifying round for NASCAR Cup Series street race in Chicago

Kyle Larson has won the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series street race in downtown Chicago, beating Ty Gibbs by a hundredth of a second.

Larson posted a fast lap of 1 minute, 27.836 seconds in the second round of qualifying on the 12-turn, 2.2-mile course Saturday, recording a top speed of 90.168 mph. Gibbs was next at 1:27.846 seconds and 90.158 mph.

Larson is going for his fourth win of the season in his 350th career Cup Series start. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has five poles this year and 21 for his career.

"This year qualifying, I mean racing, too, has been a strong suit, but qualifying, we've been able to execute and get five poles to this point," said Larson, who leads the Cup Series driver standings going into Sunday's Grant Park 165. "That's special. So yeah, hopefully, we can keep that up and keep our speed up in the races as well."

Michael McDowell (90.141 mph) qualified third, followed by Tyler Reddick (89.923) in fourth. Shane van Gisbergen (89.813) rounded out the top five after he won the race last year.

"We're in for a battle tomorrow," McDowell said, "and we've got a fast car and a good opportunity to try to execute and put ourselves in position to win."

Larson also had the fastest car in practice. He finished fourth in the inaugural race a year ago.

Larson prepared for the Cup Series start on the tricky, unfamiliar course with a third-place finish in the Xfinity Series race on Saturday. Van Gisbergen got the win, and Ty Gibbs was second.

Larson and van Gisbergen dueled throughout the first stage of the Xfinity Series race in a possible preview for Sunday.

"My Cup car feels much more, I think, like competitively equal, I would say, to be able to battle him in more corners or hopefully hold him off better," Larson said after the Xfinity Series race. "But like I said, it's not just him. There's going to be a lot of other guys that are really good tomorrow."

ByJay Cohen, AP Sports Writer AP logo
Jul 06, 2024, 10:22 PM GMT

Shane van Gisbergen makes comeback victory in The Loop 110 NASCAR XFinity Series race

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.

The festivities will continue in downtown Chicago Saturday after the XFinity Series race.

Jul 06, 2024, 9:08 PM GMT

Van Gisbergen falls out of top 3 in final stage of XFinity Series; Adam Hill, Jesse Love move ahead

Shane van Gisbergen started to trail behind the pack in The Loop 110 XFinity Series race Saturday after a hot start earlier in race.

The New Zealand driver seemed to dominate the race in stage one.

With 16 laps left in the third and final stage of the race, the reigning Chicago Cup Series champion van Gisbergen, Kyle Larson and other challengers will continue battle for the top spot in stage three.

Van Gisbergen started the final pit lap in 8th place, but he had 11 points on the day so far, only trailing behind Adam Hill and Jesse Love, who had 13 and 12 points respectively.