The Loop 110
Chicago was the sight for The Loop 110 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Shane Van Gisbergen began the race on pole with Kyle Larson beside him. The first and second stages were 15 laps with the final stage being 20.
Justin Allgaier and Sage Karam had to go to a backup car. Meanwhile, John Hunter Nemechek, Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman, and Kyle Sieg began the race from the rear due to engine changes. Ryan Sieg, Daniel Suarez and Kyle Weatherman also began in the back due to unapproved adjustments.
Jab, Cross, Hook
Back and forth between SVG and Larson littered the first lap. SVG got the first punch and Larson responded, but SVG led the first lap around the Chicago street circuit. Larson took the lead again on lap three.
Gibbs, SVG, and Larson separated themselves from Connor Mosack in fourth. Larson locked up the right front allowing SVG to retake the lead. Then, Chandler Smith had an engine failure that ended his race. The first caution came out when debris laid on the track. At the same time, Sage Karam had a flat right front tire and Matt DiBenedetto got sideways.
The race got back underway with five to go in the stage. Larson made the pass for the lead but quickly lost it. He got it back, but SVG did not give up.
The chaos continued when Josh Bilicki got spun with some help from Josh Williams. Jeremy Clements got the bad end of it with massive damage to his car. Justin Allgaier got turned around driving onto the pit lane. Riley Herbst got turned by Sheldon Creed.
Back up front, Larson could not get away from SVG as the stage wound down. SVG got past Larson on the last lap to win stage 1! The first two did not pit, but Gibbs and Custer, behind them, did, and Gibbs faced trouble on pit road.
The Field Flipped
Larson snagged the lead from SVG as they restarted the second stage and AJ Allmendinger made his first appearance in the top three. SVG continued to throw punches on Larson’s lead with no avail. Allmendinger kept in arms distance of the front two. But then, with a rare mistake, Allmendinger brought out the third caution after going nose first into a tire barrier.
The front two cars pitted for tires and fuel, giving the lead to Austin Hill. SVG and Larson restarted 17th and 20th. Sammy Smith and Hill restarted on the front row where Hill took the lead on the restart.
Larson and SVG made quick work after the restart. They both moved into the top 10 before four laps were completed. SVG got past Larson as they drove through the field. Kligerman, while being aggressive, ended up with a tire rub, and Hill managed to build a gap and win stage two! Hill also dealt with radio issues that limited his communications.
The Winner from Down Under
The race restarted with Jesse Love and Hill on the front row where Love snagged the lead. Meanwhile, Gibbs moved into second.
The fifth caution came out for a stack up that shoved the hood of Parker Retzlaff’s car up into the windshield and Karam ended up with quite a bit of damage. They restarted with Love and Gibbs on the front row. Love took the lead into and out of turn one while Hill moved into second past Gibbs.
Allmendinger made no attempt to make the turn and spun Brandon Jones around. Preston Pardus brought out a caution when his car stopped in the middle of turn and could not get it fired back up.
Re-Rack ‘Em
The race restarted with eight to go with Love and Hill, again, on the front row. Love regained the lead with Gibbs in his rearview mirror. Sam Mayer moved Hill out of the way for the pass and SVG made a big dive on Creed to pass for third. SVG got loose on the front stretch. Leland Honeyman brought out the seventh caution after he got a flat right front tire and buried himself into the tire barrier in turn one.
A long cleanup left three laps to go in the race with Love and Gibbs on the front row. SVG restarted on the second row. SVG with a huge restart as he passed Gibbs for second. Sam Mayer got turned into turn one on the restart, but the race stayed green.
SVG passed Love with Gibbs pouncing on the slower Love. Larson passed Kligerman for the fourth and then Love for third. SVG pulled away from Gibbs as he took the white flag. He did not look back as he won The Loop 110! Gibbs and Larson followed him for second and third.
Marvin’s Moment:
The Chicago Street Course puts on a heck of a show. When SVG is racing, he will be the favorite. He is the best road course racer in the Xfinity Series. He has surpassed Allmendinger, and it is no longer close. His celebration of kicking the rugby ball into the crowd is awesome and more drivers need to do something similar.
While I do like this street course, I do not think we need to add more. Knowing NASCAR, they want to add as many as they can. I think the coolest part of the race is that there is only one. I think they should leave it that way.
