Best of the Rest: Chicago Street Race Weekend

With the trucks off for a weekend, the Xfinity and Cup Series teams had their chance on the road, as both series spent the weekend in the city of Chicago for the annual street race event.

With a yet again dominant Shane Van Gisbergen participating in both races (he won both events Saturday and Sunday), the rest of the field was left to fight amongst themselves.

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Xfinity Series | The Loop 110

#00 Sheldon Creed: Creed’s first year behind the wheel of the new Haas Factory Team’s #00 Ford has been interesting. While performance has been there, the results (and streak of bad luck) has dampened an otherwise impressive first year. Chicago may have been the stroke of luck Creed needed with a 4th place start, and finishing 3rd after leading nine laps early on.

#32 Austin Green: Green, who runs mostly road courses with Jordan Anderson Racing and their #32 Chevrolet had yet another strong showing in Chicago. Starting 17th, Green survived the occasional chaos and scored yet another road course top ten, finishing 9th.

Green also finished 7th in Mexico City, and 26th at The Circuit of the Americas in Texas.

#44 Brennan Poole: Perhaps one of the biggest surprises to come out of Chicago is Poole and his #44 Alpha Prime Racing team. While Poole has had consistent season, the neon green Chevrolet ran towards the front most of the event, with Poole finishing 10th after starting 22nd.

Poole and his Alpha Prime crew have also earned a pair of 4th place finishes this season, coming at Martinsville and Rockingham.

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Cup Series | Grant Park 165

#33 Austin Hill: One of the more surprising results of the Cup race through Chicago’s streets was RCR Xfinity regular Austin Hill. A standout performer in Xfinity, Hill had one of his best results of his limited Cup experience yet. The Richard Childress Racing driver qualified his Chevrolet in 30th, survived the late race chaos, and collected his first career Cup Series top ten, finishing 9th.

Hill also ran the Cup race in Darlington in RCR’s #33 entry, finishing 31st.

#35 Riley Herbst: Herbst’s rookie season in the Cup Series with 23XI Racing has not had much to write home about. Herbst delivered in Chicago however, bringing his Toyota home in 17th after starting 21st. The bad luck may very well be turning around as Herbst continues to adapt to his new Cup role.

Herbst’s previous best this season was a 14th in Texas, as well as three straight 17th place runs in the season’s first three races.

#78 Katherine Legge: Legge, who is an accomplished racer in other forms of motorsports embarked on a NASCAR career this season. While the Guilford, England-native struggled in her first starts in 2025, Legge showed up the boys in Chicago a bit. Qualifying B.J. McLeod’s #78 Chevrolet in 33rd, Legge also survived the late race drama and brought her car home 19th.

Legge has two prior Cup starts in 2025, finishing 30th in Phoenix and 32nd (Mexico City).