In a dream matchup between the veteran road course king and the 18-year-old pretender to the throne on the streets of the Windy City, Shane van Gisbergen schooled his young JR Motorsports teammate in winning Saturday’s The Loop 110.
With his cool suit malfunctioning on a hot day on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn Chicago Street Course, van Gisbergen out-braked runner-up Conor Zilisch and ran him wide into Turn 1 with two laps left in the marquee event.
With Zilisch in determined but futile pursuit, van Gisbergen crossed the finish line 0.823s ahead of his fellow Red Bull athlete to post his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in his only start this season, his second straight win in Chicago and the fourth of his career.
Van Gisbergen, the pole winner, had to overcome not only the heat but also a balky carburetor and questionable strategy that kept him on the track before the end of Stage 1, while the vast majority of cars behind him came to pit road for tires and fuel.
“The strategy went wrong, but it worked out well,” said van Gisbergen, who also will start on the pole in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. “The car was a rocket. [Zilisch] is a great young driver, and that was the first time I’ve really raced him. I knew that was my opportunity, and I took it. Awesome 1-2 for the team.”
The 36-year-old New Zealander, a three-time Australian Supercars champion, is the sixth different driver to win for JR Motorsports this year, the most in series history for an organization in a s ingle season.