For the third year, the NASCAR Cup Series takes to the streets of Chicago for the rant Park 165.  The previous two races were marred by weather issues but fans and drivers are hoping for some sunny Chicago skies on Sunday afternoon.

Forty-one teams have brought cars to Chicago for 40 starting spots including Truck Series driver Corey Heim and Australian SuperCars driver Will Brown.

The Wood Brothers 21 car driven by Josh Berry and the Legacy Motor Club number 42 car driven by John Hunter Nemchek both failed the inspection process multiple times.  As a result, both teams will lose a crew member (usually the car chief) and will not be allowed to select their own pit stalls – NASCAR official will assign the spots.

The drivers have been divided into two groups for a 25 minute practice session.  Those same two groups will make group qualifying runs in a 20 minute session to set the field.

Denny Hamlin brought out the red flag with some mechanical issues, dropping fluid on the racing surface.  Reports are the issue the result of an engine issue and the engine will have to be replaced.  Hamlin said that he had no warning of any engine trouble in the car.

Unlike a typical race track, the teams do not have immediate access to the garage area which is outside of the actual racing area.

NASCAR has added 10 minutes to the clock for Group 1 practice service after an extended time for track cleanup.

Corey Heim is celebrating his 23rd birthday in a race car driving for 23XI.

Will Brown, Austin Hill, Josh Bilicki, Corey Heim, and Katherine Legge all must qualify on time to make it in the race with one of them going home.

William Byron gets into the wall at the end of practice.  Byron did top the leaderboard in practice with a 91 second lap; Australian SuperCars drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Will Brown are second and third; Noah Gragson and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

The drivers are using the same tire package as the one used at COTA and Mexico City.  Goodyear has also brought some wet weather tires in case they are needed.

The entire course is lined with tire barriers and million of pounds of concrete.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr gets off the course, but gets going again and the track stays green.

Katherine Legge side swipes the tire barrier but the track stays green.

Alex Bowman reported that he may have some tow link damage after getting into the wall somewhere on the course.

Chase Elliott gets into the wall at turn four.

Bubba Wallace tops the leaderboard in Group 2 practice with a sub 90 second lap.

There is substantial suspension damage to William Byron’s car.  The crew plans to repair the car and avoid a backup.  Byron will not make a qualifying run.

Chase Elliott will not make a qualifying run as the crew takes his car to the garage for repairs.

Corey Heim gets into the wall during his qualifying run.  Heim must qualify on time to make it into the race…and one driver will go home.  He has some damage to the car but will keep trying to make the time in a damaged car.

Shane van Gisbergen is the first and only driver to make a qualifying run with a sub 90 second time in Group 1.

Noah Gragson gets into the wall and has some damage to the rear of his car.

Katherine Legge edged out Corey Heim on her qualifying run and will make the race.  Corey Heim will not run in the race on Sunday.

Brad Keselowski gets into the wall but gets moving again.

After topping the leaderboard in practice, Bubba Wallace spins out and gets into the wall twice making a qualifying run.

Shane van Gisbergen sweeps the poles by taking the pole in both races.  Michael McDowell will start the Cup Series race alongside van Gisbergen on the front row.

The starting lineup for the Grant Park 165;
Shane van Gisbergen
Michael McDowell
Carson Hocevar
Tyler Reddick
Chase Briscoe
Kyle Busch
Ryan Preece
Chris Buescher
Ty Gibbs
Austin Dillon
Alex Bowman
Joey Logano
Christopher Bell
Kyle Larson
Brad Keselowski
AJ Allmendinger
Ryan Blaney
Daniel Suarez
Will Brown
Todd Gilliland
Riley Herbst
Ross Chastain
Cole Custer
Noah Gragson
John Hunter Nemechek
Zane Smith
Austin Cindric
Justin Haley
Josh Berry
Austin Hill
Josh Bilicki
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Katherine Legge
Erik Jones
Cody Ware
Ty Dillon
Bubba Wallace
William Byron
Chase Elliott
Denny Hamlin

Stage one is 20 laps, stage two is 25 laps, and stage three is 30 laps for a total of 75 laps around 2.2 mile street course.

Shane van Gisbergen brings the field down for the green flag start of the race on a hot Sunday Chicago afternoon with Michael McDowell alongside.  McDowell gets out in front in turn one.

William Byron reports his clutch is slipping.

Lap two, the top five are Michael McDowell, Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, and Chris Buescher.

Lap three, Michael McDowell has a one second lead on Shane van Gisbergen.

William Byron is slowed on the track and takes his car down pit road.

The first caution flag of the race comes out on lap four for a multicar wreck.  Carson Hocevar hits the wall and spins out and several drivers get caught up in the wreck.  Brad Keselowski, Will Brown, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Todd Gilliland, and Riley Herbst were all involved.

NASCAR has red flagged the race to get the track cleaned up and make repairs to the wall.

The concrete barriers lining the course weigh 10,000 pounds each!

One of the straps holding the car with the tow truck came loose while transporting Carson Hocevar’s car.

Chris Buescher reports that his car lost power but then it came back before the red flag.

After a red flag condition of 14 minutes 42 seconds, NASCAR has displayed the yellow flag and the drivers are moving again as some of the drivers assess their cars for damage or other issues.

Chris Buescher comes down pit road for repairs.

Michael McDowell brings the field down for the green flag restart with Shane van Gisbergen alongside on lap six.  McDowell holds on to the lead with van Gisbergen in second.

Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski, Carson Hocevar, and Will Brown are out of the race.

Lap eight, Michael McDowell leads the race with Shane van Gisbergen in second; Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.

Bubba Wallace has moved up 19 spots since the start of the race.

Austin Cindric hits the wall, but the track stays green.

Lap 12, Michael McDowell has a third of a second lead on Shane van Gisbergen; Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.

Alex Bowman and Austin Cindric make contact but the track stays green.  The duo has been beating and banging Bowman went spinning in a solo incident.  The track stays green.

Lap 15, Michael McDowell has a near one second lead on Shane van Gisbergen.

Chris Buescher is back on the track one lap down but the crew says the engine issue is internal and cannot be fixed.  He is around two seconds off the pace.

Lap 16, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson come down pit road for service as drivers begin to short pit the end of stage one.

Lap 17, more drivers come down pit road before it closes before the end of the stage including Shane van Gisbergen.

Christopher Bell was caught speeding on pit road.

Michael McDowell wins stage one.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Michael McDowell
Kyle Busch
Tyler Reddick
Chase Briscoe
Ryan Preece
Ross Chastain
John Hunter Nemechek
Zane Smith
Austin Hill
Shane van Gisbergen

Chris Buescher is the “lucky dog”.

Crews are out on the course working on the wall.

Riley Herbst was charged with having too many crew over the wall.

Michael McDowell stayed out on the track and brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 24 with Kyle Busch alongside.  McDowell edges out in front for the lead.

Drivers spread out.  Michael McDowell has pulled out to a one second lead on Kyle Busch.

The top five are Michael McDowell, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, and Ryan Preece.

Bubba Wallace gets turned around after some contact with Kyle Larson, he gets moving again after the field passes and the track stays green.

Shane van Gisbergen has moved up to eighth place.

Lap 26, Shane van Gisbergen passes AJ Allmendinger for seventh.  He is four second behind the leader Michael McDowell.

Tyler Reddick passes Kyle Busch for second.

Lap 27, Michael McDowell has a second and a half lead on Tyler Reddick; Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, and Shane van Gisbergen round out the top five.

Lap 28, Shane van Gisbergen passes Ryan Preece for fourth.

The caution flag comes out on lap 30 when Josh Berry gets turned around, hitting the wall, and is stopped on the course.

Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe come down pit road just before the caution flag comes out.

With the pit stops before the caution, Shane van Gisbergen is now in second place behind leader Michael McDowell…and is on fresher tires.

Leader Michael McDowell comes down pit road for service.  He reports that the throttle is stuck.  Shane van Gisbergen is the new leader.

Shane van Gisbergen brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 33 with AJ Allmendinger alongside.  SVG gets out in front for the lead.

Michael McDowell reports that the throttle issue may not be repaired and comes back down pit road.

Lap 34, the top five are Shane van Gisbergen, AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Preece, Ty Gibbs, and Ross Chastain.

Kyle Busch spins out but gets the car moving again.  He was in sixth place when he spun out.  Busch is on old tires.

Lap 35, Shane van Gisbergen has a half second lead on AJ Allmendinger; Ryan Preece, Ty Gibbs, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.

There may be some bad weather on the way.

Josh Berry is out of the race.

Michael McDowell’s takes the car to the garage for some mechanical repairs – throttle pedal cable.

With nine laps remaining in stage two, Shane van Gisbergen has a one second lead on AJ Allmendinger.

Lap 37, Ross Chastain makes his pit stop.  More drivers come down it road for their one stop. 

Shane van Gisbergen has pulled out to a lead of over a second and a half on AJ Allmendinger.

Lap 39, Katherine Legge is stopped on the course after spinning out and hitting the wall.  She gets the car moving again and the track stays green.

Lap 40, Shane van Gisbergen has pulled out to a lead of over two seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano round out the top five.

Kyle Busch was charged with going through too many pit boxes and will have to serve a pass through penalty.

Erik Jones gets into the wall, but the track stays green.

 Lap 41, Shane van Gisbergen has pulled out to a lead of over three seconds on AJ Allmendinger.

Kyle Larson brings his car down pit road for service; short pitting the end of the stage.

Lap 42, leader Shane van Gisbergen comes down pit road; short pitting the end of stage two.  AJ Allmendinger is the new leader.  He reports a bit of brake lock.

More drivers make pit stops before the end of stage two.

AJ Allmendinger makes his pit stop; giving the lead over to Ryan Blaney.  Allmendinger has a slow pit stop.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr gets into the tire barrier but the track stays green.

Ryan Blaney wins stage two.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ryan Blaney
Chase Briscoe
Tyler Reddick
Alex Bowman
Bubba Wallace
Erik Jones
Denny Hamlin
Chase Elliott
John Hunter Nemechek
Christopher Bell

Shane van Gisbergen ends stage two in 12th place.

Drivers come down pit road for service.

Erik Jones was charged with pitting while pit road was closed.

Chase Elliott is on pit road with the hood up.

Chase Briscoe brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Tyler Reddick alongside on lap 49.  Briscoe takes the lead.

Lap 50, the top five are Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin, and Shane van Gisbergen.

Denny Hamlin passes Bubba Wallace for third.

Shane van Gisbergen and Ty Gibbs pass Bubba Wallace.

Lap 51, Chase Briscoe has a half second lead on Tyler Reddick; Denny Hamlin, Shane van Gisbergen, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.  Less than four seconds separate the top four drivers.

Ty Dillon makes an unscheduled trip down pit road with a flat tire.

Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric make contact but the track stays green.

Shane van Gisbergen passes Denny Hamlin for third and is now less than three seconds behind the leader.

Twenty to go, Chase Briscoe leads the race with Tyler Reddick in second; Shane van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Michael McDowell returns to the race 22 laps down.

Alex Bowman reports some power issues.

Noah Gragson was charged with having too many crew members overs the wall and will have to serve a  passthrough penalty.

The gap from leader Chase Brisco and third place driver Shane van Gisbergen is just one second.

Lap 57, Shane van Gisbergen passes Tyler Reddick for second; leader Chase Briscoe is just over a half second ahead.

There are 28 cars on the lead lap.

With 17 laps remaining in the race, Shane van Gisbergen begins to challenge leader Chase Briscoe.

Shane van Gisbergen passes Chase Briscoe for the lead

The caution flag comes out on lap 59 for a spectator in the infield in need of medical attention.

Tyler Reddick and  Kyle Busch were among the few drivers who came down pit road for fuel.

Reports are that fog and lightening may becoming an issue.  Temperatures have dropped as inclement weather is imminent.

Shane van Gisbergen brings the field down for the green flag restart with Chase Briscoe alongside on lap 62. SVG takes the lead with Ty Gibbs in second.  Ross Chastain hits the tire barrier.  Joey Logano gets into the tires but is moving again, Ricky Stenhouse Jr gets turned around and has to wait for traffic to clear before he can get moving and takes the car off the course.

The top five are Shane van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe.

The caution flag comes out on lap 63 when Austin Cindric is stopped on the track with a broken toe link.

Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Bubba Wallace are very low on fuel.

Shane van Gisbergen brings the field down for the green falg restart with nine laps remaining in the race with Ty Gibbs alongside.  SVG jumps out in front for the lead with Ty Gibbs in second; AJ Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin, and Chse Briscoe round out the top five.

Eight to go, Shane van Gisbergen has a one second lead on Ty Gibbs.

Chase Briscoe has a flat tire and will have to run the course before he can get to pit road.

There are 26 cars on the lead lap.

Seven to go, Shane van Gisbergen has a second and a half lead on Ty Gibbs; Denny Hamlin, AJ Allmendinger, and Ryan Preece round out the top five.

Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick battle for sixth.

Reddick takes sixth; Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman battle , making contact.

Bubba Wallace gets spun around; the track stays green.

NASCAR officials tell the 48 and 23 spotters to speak to their drivers and make sure they make it to the end of the race.

Five to go, Shane van Gisbergen holds a lead of over a second on Ty Gibbs; Denny Hamlin, AJ Allmendinger, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.

Christopher Bell gets turned around.

Four to go, Tyler Reddick is running the fastest laps on the track…including leader Shane van Gisbergen.

Three to go, Shane van Gisbergen has a second and a half lead on Ty Gibbs; Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, and AJ Allmendinger round out the top five.

Tyler Reddick passes Denny Hamlin for third.

Shane van Gisbergen has increased his lead to two seconds on Ty Gibbs.

Kyle Busch passes AJ Allmendinger for fifth.

Shane van Gisbergen takes the white flag.

The caution flag comes out on lap 74 for Cody Ware getting into the tire barrier.

Sweeping the weekend poles and races, Shane van Gisbergen wins the race.  SVG  noted that he was very lucky to win the race.

The unofficial results of the Grant Park 165:
Shane van Gisbergen
Ty Gibbs
Tyler Reddick
Denny Hamlin
Kyle Busch
AJ Allmendinger
Ryan Preece
Alex Bowman
Austin Hill
Ross Chastain
Joey Logano
Ryabn Blaney
Kyle Larson
Zane Smith
Josh Hunter Nemechek
Chase Elliott
Riley Herbst
Chris Buescher
Katherine Legge
Ty Dillon
Josh Bilicki
Justin Haley
Chase Briscoe
Christopher Bell
Erik Jones
Cody Ware
Austin Cindric
Bubba Wallace
Daniel Suarez
Noah Gragson
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Michael McDowell
Cole Custer
Josh Berry
Carson Hocevar
Austin Dillon
Brad Keselowski
Todd Gilliland
Will Brown
William Byron