Final Thoughts - Chicago Street Race

​The Chicago Street Race is one of those events that, as a NASCAR fan, I would be okay with if there was a race or two like this on the circuit. It's unique and not the type of racing I would go out of my way to watch, so it's nice to step away from NASCAR's typical oval racing. NASCAR cars are just not made for making tight turns like those 90-degree turns on this course, which is why many cars end up running into the wall on road courses (and now street races). ​

A few other unique events I would like to see on the NASCAR schedule are a road course around Washington D.C., a race on North Carolina mountain roads, and a race around I-485 around Charlotte, North Carolina. These are all hypothetical, but if they can pull off a race in downtown Chicago, who knows what else NASCAR can pull off? 

As for my favorite driver, Ricky Stenhouse, he did not have a good weekend at all. During practice, Stenhouse clipped the driver-side rear of his car and had to swap to his backup car. As a result of his accident during practice, he could not qualify, thus starting at the back of the pack. This course made it difficult for drivers to find space to pass because of the narrowness of the course and constant slowing down and speeding up. 

Towards the end of the race, Bubba Wallace's car got loose in turn one and found its way into the side of Ricky Stenhouse. This incident put Stenhouse toward the back of the pack again after spending the entire day trying to crack the top 20. Stenhouse started in 36th and finished 34th in front of Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, and Ty Dillon. 

I genuinely appreciated the outcome of the race for several reasons. It has been since 1963 when Johnny Rutherfordton won in Daytona, that the Cup Series had a driver win the first race they participated in. He is one of only seven drivers in NASCAR's history to win their debut race. The Chicago Street Race was also NASCAR's first street race, and it was the first race in downtown Chicago. To add to the uniqueness of the outcome, Shane van Gisbergen is from New Zealand, the first NASCAR driver from the Australian continent to win a race in the series (someone fact-check me on this). 

Now that the Chicago Street Race is over, we can look toward the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway! The storyline I will be paying attention to is, can Trackhouse win their third race in a row? For the first 18 races of the season, Trackhouse could not find themselves in Victory Lane, but this second half of the season has belonged to Trackhouse after Chastain's win in Nashville and van Gisbergen's win in Chicago. 

Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse's driver of the #99 car, has struggled this season, finishing in the top 10 only twice since the race at Las Vegas. It may be his time to find some success. One thing he can keep his head up on is the fact that he is now #16 in the season points standings, and if the season ended today, he would be in the playoffs. 

There are eight races left in the season, and the competition will heat up as drivers that have yet to win a race try to get themselves a win to earn their bid into the playoffs. In this category, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman, and Ty Gibbs are drivers to watch out for.