{"id":105880,"date":"2025-08-02T10:35:47","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T15:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=105880"},"modified":"2026-01-01T16:04:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T22:04:51","slug":"shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Shane van Gisbergen takes 2 titles in 2025 Chicago Street Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Evie Mason<\/b>
\n<\/span>Medill Reports<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

At what could potentially be the last NASCAR street race in Chicago, Shane van Gisbergen swept the weekend \u2014 winning both the Xfinity and Grant Park Cup Series races.<\/span><\/p>\n

Driving <\/span>the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, van Gisbergen won both competitions <\/span>from the pole position \u2014 the first position on the starting grid. This marks the first time any NASCAR driver has won races on the same weekend in the top two divisions from the pole.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now a two-time winner of the Grant Park 165, he credits his success to his prior experience in street racing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly helps,\u201d said van Gisbergen, who won the inaugural NASCAR Chicago Cup Series in 2023. \u201cThat\u2019s what I grew up doing, racing in Australia. When I moved there, most of the races were street tracks \u2014 half of them at least.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Van Gisbergen, 36, also referred to by his initials SVG in racing circles, made his V8 Supercars debut in Australia in 2007 at the age of 17. He captured his first supercar victory in 2013 in Adelaide and has since solidified his reputation as a Supercars legend and a street-racing specialist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a little more comfortable with the walls on both sides of the car, and just being accurate and knowing where to take risks or not,\u201d van Gisbergen said. \u201cIt seems to still be my strength here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During the Xfinity Loop 110 on July 5<\/span>, van Gisbergen<\/span> almost blew his strategy by not taking a pit stop early in the race.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, van Gisbergen was still able to stay in course for the remainder of the 50-lap race, and <\/span>he <\/span>regained the lead with only four laps to go before crossing the finish line in first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trailing in second place behind Michael McDowell into the second stage of the 75-lap Grant Park 165 Cup on July 6, van Gisbergen\u2019s strategy once again proved to work in his favor. Once McDowell began having issues with his throttle with 13 laps to go in Stage 2 and fell behind, and after a little bit more back-and-forth, van Gisbergen secured the first-place spot come Lap 60.<\/span><\/p>\n

A couple of accidents threw a wrench in van Gisbergen\u2019s game plan \u2014 including an eight-car crash ensuing from Carson Hocevar\u2019s collision into the wall on Turn 10, and Cody Ware\u2019s crash <\/span>into the Turn 6 tire barrier as van Gisbergen was approaching Turn 12. <\/span>However, that didn\u2019t deter van Gisbergen from relying on his street skills.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI came out of the last corner and just saw a heap of smoke straight ahead of Turn 6, and I just held my breath until I crossed the line,,\u201d van Gisbergen said. <\/span>Americans Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick finished in second and third position, respectively.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Will Brown, the only other driver with extensive experience racing in Australia, said the Chicago street course bears several similarities, and that he and several other drivers have aspired to follow in van Gisbergen’s footsteps into NASCAR stardom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of us supercar drivers, after watching Shane in 2023, loved the look of Chicago and the event,\u201d Brown said. \u201cA lot of us wanted to come over and try this event.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown, who was unable to continue following Lap 3 of the Grant Park 165 after colliding into a massive pile-up on Michigan Avenue, explained the advantages that come with experience racing Down Under.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very similar to our street courses,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt\u2019s just really like a concrete jungle at the end of the day \u2014 you don\u2019t want to make a mistake. We\u2019ve got places like Gold Coast \u2014 the Gold Coast 600 (is) a very similar circuit, extremely tight, and also Adelaide. (Chicago) is probably a bit rough in places, so it\u2019s just making sure to limit mistakes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While NASCAR works on striking the right deal with both the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois so the action can continue in 2027, the Chicago Street Race will not return in 2026. Wherever van Gisbergen ends up, he said he looks forward to more street racing opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the most exciting weeks,\u201d van Gisbergen said. \u201cIt\u2019s cool \u2014 everyone\u2019s in the hotel, and you walk to the track with all the fans and everything. I love street circuit racing. I enjoy this weekend, and if it\u2019s the last one, I hope next year we go somewhere cool as well and make another good street race. But this is a place that is pretty special to me, so it\u2019s cool to always race here.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Evie Mason is a graduate journalism student in the sports media specialization at Medill.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0Find her on X at <\/span><\/i>@<\/span><\/i><\/a>eviesmason.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Evie Mason Medill Reports At what could potentially be the last NASCAR street race in Chicago, Shane van Gisbergen swept the weekend \u2014 winning both the Xfinity and Grant Park Cup Series races. Driving the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, van Gisbergen won both competitions from the pole position \u2014 the first position on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1013,"featured_media":105897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5251,5542,5521],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chicago","category-msj25","category-summer-2025"],"yoast_head":"\nShane van Gisbergen takes 2 titles in 2025 Chicago Street Race - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shane van Gisbergen takes 2 titles in 2025 Chicago Street Race - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Evie Mason Medill Reports At what could potentially be the last NASCAR street race in Chicago, Shane van Gisbergen swept the weekend \u2014 winning both the Xfinity and Grant Park Cup Series races. Driving the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, van Gisbergen won both competitions from the pole position \u2014 the first position on […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-02T15:35:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-01T22:04:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/IMG_9213.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"828\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"462\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"eviemason2025\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"eviemason2025\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/\",\"name\":\"Shane van Gisbergen takes 2 titles in 2025 Chicago Street Race - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/IMG_9213.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-02T15:35:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-01T22:04:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/fa8dd154115f98d26b66a5af89fcf61e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/IMG_9213.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/IMG_9213.jpg\",\"width\":828,\"height\":462,\"caption\":\"Shane van Gisbergen races in the Grant Park 165. (Amanda Pirkowski\/MEDILL)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shane van Gisbergen takes 2 titles in 2025 Chicago Street Race\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/fa8dd154115f98d26b66a5af89fcf61e\",\"name\":\"eviemason2025\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc824211f88616e6f1035e5753d17d70163e34e7434269f3cf5b34b57afa1795?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc824211f88616e6f1035e5753d17d70163e34e7434269f3cf5b34b57afa1795?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"eviemason2025\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/eviemason2025\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Shane van Gisbergen takes 2 titles in 2025 Chicago Street Race - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Shane van Gisbergen takes 2 titles in 2025 Chicago Street Race - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Evie Mason Medill Reports At what could potentially be the last NASCAR street race in Chicago, Shane van Gisbergen swept the weekend \u2014 winning both the Xfinity and Grant Park Cup Series races. Driving the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, van Gisbergen won both competitions from the pole position \u2014 the first position on […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2025-08-02T15:35:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-01T22:04:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":828,"height":462,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/IMG_9213.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"eviemason2025","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"eviemason2025","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/","name":"Shane van Gisbergen takes 2 titles in 2025 Chicago Street Race - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/IMG_9213.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-02T15:35:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-01T22:04:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/fa8dd154115f98d26b66a5af89fcf61e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/IMG_9213.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/IMG_9213.jpg","width":828,"height":462,"caption":"Shane van Gisbergen races in the Grant Park 165. (Amanda Pirkowski\/MEDILL)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-2-titles-in-2025-chicago-street-race\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shane van Gisbergen takes 2 titles in 2025 Chicago Street Race"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/fa8dd154115f98d26b66a5af89fcf61e","name":"eviemason2025","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc824211f88616e6f1035e5753d17d70163e34e7434269f3cf5b34b57afa1795?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc824211f88616e6f1035e5753d17d70163e34e7434269f3cf5b34b57afa1795?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"eviemason2025"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/eviemason2025\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1013"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105880"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105898,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105880\/revisions\/105898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}