Shane van Gisbergen comes from behind to take an impressive win

Van Gisbergen, who was involved in a wild back-and-forth battle with Kyle Larson for the lead at the start of the race, had to find his way back to the front of the pack in the final stage while using a different pit strategy.

He moved up to third with seven of 50 laps remaining and was still third when a caution for a stalled car on the track set the stage for a restart with three laps remaining.

He quickly overtook second-placed Ty Gibbs on the restart and just before completing the first lap, he overtook leader Jesse Love. The three-time Supercars champion led Gibbs by 1.287 seconds as he crossed the line.

This is van Gisbergen’s third win of the 2024 season and his career in the series, and all of them have come on street or road courses. After a wild celebration, the New Zealander kicked an American football into the grandstands on the main straight.

“It was a fantastic race. It was amazing,” van Gisbergen said. “It was a fantastic race with Kyle. He was very good on the restarts. It was fun to be in it. We had a fantastic race with everyone.”

Asked if he “owns this city now,” van Gisbergen laughed and said, “No. It’s a privilege to race here. It’s amazing what NASCAR has done here.”

Van Gisbergen has yet to lose on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn circuit that runs through the Grant Park area of ​​downtown Chicago. Last year, he became the first driver in more than 60 years to win in his Cup Series debut with a victory in the inaugural Cup race.

Larson was third, Parker Kligerman fourth and Love finished fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Connor Mosack, Austin Hill, Joey Logano (who replaced Hailie Deegan this weekend), Justin Allgaier and Austin Green.

Level 1

Van Gisbergen got the better of Larson at Turn 6 on the final lap and held on to a 0.789-second lead to take the win in the opening stage, which was a back-and-forth duel between the two drivers. Gibbs was third, Mosack fourth and Cole Custer fifth.

Stage 2

Hill took the lead on a restart with five laps remaining and comfortably won the second stage by 1.418 seconds over Sammy Smith. Love was third, Allgaier fourth and Sheldon Creed fifth.

On Lap 23, AJ Allmendinger, who had worked his way up to third, crashed hard into the tire barriers in Turn 6, bringing out a caution. Allmendinger’s No. 16 Chevrolet sustained heavy damage in the incident.

Stage 3

During the break between Stages 2 and 3, a handful of cars on the lead lap decided to pit, but Hill remained on the track and in the lead when the race resumed with 16 laps remaining. Love quickly overtook his teammate and took the lead on the restart.

An accordion-like multi-car pileup occurred as the field went through Turn 11 on Lap 36, in which several drivers sustained serious damage, including Parker Retzlaff, Andre Castro and Sage Karam.

After an extensive cleanup of fluid on the track, Love remained in the lead over Gibbs with 11 laps remaining.

Preston Pardus stopped on the track in Turn 11, putting the race back under caution and setting up another restart with eight laps remaining and Love still out front.

With seven laps remaining, van Gisbergen moved into third place behind Love and Gibbs.

Leland Honeyman hit the tire barrier in Turn 1 and put the race back under caution on Lap 46. Love led Gibbs and van Gisbergen when the race resumed with three laps remaining.