NXS Race Recap: The Loop 110

The NASCAR Xfinity Series was back in the beautiful city of Chicago for The Loop 110. Shane Van Gisbergen was the fastest in qualifying, so he started the race on the pole. Austin Hill joined him on the front row. Sam Mayer, Sheldon Creed, and Jack Perkins all started in the top five. The stage lengths were 15 laps for the first and second stages. The final stage was 20 laps.

Kiwi Out Front

SVG got a great launch to jump out in front. Creed got to the inside of Hill and made the pass for second out of turn one. Creed took a shot at the lead but could not make it stick. Connor Zilisch, who started the race in the back, began his drive through the field. He got into the back of Thomas Annunziata, trying to make the pass. They both were able to carry on.

The first caution came out when Jack Perkins hit the wall and turned around. He stopped his car in turn six. He may have had some help from Sammy Smith. Under the caution, William Sawalich stopped his car on the track as he experienced some mechanical issues. Under the caution, Brandon Jones was black flagged for radio issues.

SVG and Creed restarted the race on the front row. SVG snatched his lead back. Creed settled into second. Zilisch continued his drive through the field and raced his way into 11th before lap 10.

Connor Mosack had a tire go down and had to limp his car around the track to the pits.

Brad Perez got stranded in a tire barrier to bring out the second caution. SVG led them all to get the stage one win. Creed, Hill, Mayer, and Nick Sanchez finished the stage in the top five. SVG stayed out while most of the field pitted.

Debris to slow SVG

SVG and Jeb Burton restarted the race on the front row. SVG got the better launch and retook his lead. Jesse Love passed his way into second. The field spread out around the track, and SVG built his lead to over seven seconds over second place.

Creed passed Burton for the fourth spot. The third caution came after Matt DiBenedetto dropped some debris onto the track. Zilisch was able to get back into the top eight before the caution was thrown.

SVG was among the several drivers that pitted under the yellow. Most of them were from the rear of the field.

The caution was extended when Josh Bilicki parked his car on track and climbed out, asking for a fire extinguisher.

Love and Creed brought the green flag back out. Love was able to get out front to take the lead. Creed made the pass for the lead between turns three and four. Zilisch passed Josh Williams to get into the top five. Creed would lead the field to the green-white-checkered to win stage 2!

The Stage is Set

Creed and Love brought the field back to green. Creed got a great restart and took his lead back. Love fell after Zilisch made the pass for third. The caution came out again after Annunziata got sideways and hit the tire wall. Taylor Gray was hit into the stopped car. Annunziata left some debris behind.

Creed and Hill restarted the race on the front row. Creed got the better restart and retook the lead. Zilisch quickly jumped past Hill to move into second. He stayed aggressive and used a great run to slip past Creed to take the lead. Zilisch quickly built his lead to over a second and a half.

With ten to go in the race, Zilisch set the fastest lap. SVG used his bumper to get by Hill for third. SVG caught Creed and let him go with no fight. That put SVG in second with over four seconds to overcome Zilisch in the lead.

With eight to go, Justin Allgaier slowed with brake issues. He limped his car to the pits. SVG cut the lead to just over two seconds while setting the fastest lap.

The sixth caution came out when Andre Castro got turned around and into the tire barriers of turn six.

SVG vs CZ

The green flag came back out with two laps to go in the race. Zilisch and SVG restarted on the front row. Zilisch was able to stay ahead in turn one. SVG ran wide in the turn, shoving Zilisch into the wall. SVG and Zilisch pulled away from Creed in third. Zilisch closed the gap in turn seven, but did not have enough.

SVG used his road course expertise to win The Loop 110! Zilisch would finish in second with Creed, Hill, and Sanchez rounding out the top five.

Marvin’s Minute:

SVG and Connor Zilisch really are the class of the field when it comes to road course racing. They showed their muscle after Zilisch started in the rear of the field and passed everyone, while SVG did SVG things. They both know how to run the street courses better than anyone else. The series takes to the hill country of Sonoma next week!