Weekend Wrap-up: Chicagoland Speedway

After a string of second place finishes, Alex Bowman won his first
cup series race at Chicagoland (Google Images)

It was an eventful triple-header weekend for NASCAR at Chicagoland Speedway. Not only were all three of the sport's top touring series in action in the Windy City, the weekend also featured some severe weather, a disqualification, and a first-time Monster Energy Cup Series winner.

Bowman Finally Breaks Through

After a mediocre start to 2019 for Hendrick Motorsports, the organization seemed to begin righting their four-car ship once the calendar turned to April. Chase Elliott secured a playoff spot with a win at Talladega, barely beating teammate Alex Bowman. But while many assumed that seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson or sophomore sensation William Byron would be next to take the checkered flag, it would be Bowman who would go on a hot streak, culminating in his first cup series win this past weekend at Chicagoland.

Bowman and his crew pose with their new hardware
(Google Images)

The 26-year-old journeyman driver had finished second three times in a row at Talladega, Dover, and Kansas. Many argued that this last event was one he probably should have won, had Brad Keselowski not overtaken him in the closing laps.

It looked as if Sunday's Camping World 400 would be a repeat of that Kansas heartbreaker. As Bowman grabbed the lead with 41 laps to go, Kyle Larson, last year's Chicago runner-up, was getting bigger and bigger in the rearview mirror of the No. 88 Camaro. The two battled through lapped traffic, trading lanes back and forth, until Larson powered his No. 42 Chevy past Bowman's, in what seemed to be the race-winning move.

That is, until the Arizona native got his car back underneath Larson's off turn two with six laps to go, almost willing his car back to the top spot. Bowman got back by Larson, pulled away, and grabbed the first win of his cup career. Coincidentally, he also led 88 total laps en route to the win.

In a race that was stopped after 11 laps for a 3 hour, 18 minute red flag for rain, Bowman's gutsy performance no doubt made fans happy they stuck it out till the end.

“I was just tired of running second,” Bowman said. “I don’t want to do that anymore. I feel like this is the last box, aside from going and chasing a championship, that I needed personally for myself to validate my career.”

Finishing behind Larson was defending champ Joey Logano in third, Johnson in fourth, and Keselowski rounding out the top five. Sixth place went to Ryan Blaney, seventh to Erik Jones, Byron finished eighth, Martin Truex Jr. finished ninth, and Austin Dillon crossed the line in tenth. Denny Hamlin won the first stage of the race, while Kevin Harvick won the second.

Custer Scores Fourth Win of 2019

Last year saw the "big three" drivers, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., and Kyle Busch, dominate the Monster Energy Cup Series season. This season, however, it appears that the "big three" has migrated down to the Xfinity Series, as Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, and Cole Custer have won 10 of the season's first 15 races. Michael Annett has been the only other Xfinity Series regular to win a race, claiming the season opener at Daytona. Cup series interloper Kyle Busch won the other four.

Cole Custer celebrates his fourth win of 2019 
(Google Images)

This weekend, Custer was the dominant driver, claiming the victory in the Camping World 300. Leading 151 of the race's 200 laps, there was little doubt that the Stewart-Haas Racing driver would be the one to beat on Saturday.

“I think we’re going to hit it this summer, we have some awesome cars,’’ Custer exclaimed to the fans on the frontstrech. “I don’t know how to get the car any better, I’m just lucky to drive it.’’

Cup star Joey Logano started on the pole, but Custer quickly overtook the Penske Racing driver to win the race's first stage. Logano would come back to win Stage 2, but Custer's machine proved too much for the rest of the field. He passed Annett on a restart with 22 laps to go and never looked back.

Logano would go on to finish second, while Bell crossed the line in third, Annett fourth, and Brandon Jones fifth. Austin Cindric was sixth, Noah Gragson seventh, Justin Hayley eight, ninth place went to Ross Chastain, and Reddick was tenth.

However, following post race inspection, Bell's No. 20 Toyota was found to be too low on both the left and right front corners, as well as too high on the right rear. Similar to Chastain's penalty in the truck race at Iowa a few weeks ago, this bumped Bell from third to last place in the 38-car field. He was awarded one point. Joe Gibbs Racing will not appeal the penalty.

“When we put the (height) sticks on, the car failed both front heights and the right rear,” said Wayne Auton, Managing Director for the Xfinity Series. “The front was extremely low. The right rear was a little high, which is normally what you see when a car on the front sort of tilts toward the front. It’s going to come up, it has to go somewhere.”

The biggest beneficiary of this penalty wound up being Bell's teammate, Riley Herbst, who was moved up to tenth place in the finishing order.

Moffitt Scores Second Win of the Year

Two weeks after netting his first win of the year in unconventional fashion, Ross Chastain's disqualification at Iowa Speedway, Brett Moffitt took the checkered flag at Chicagoland Speedway in the Camping World 250.

Brett Moffitt celebrates with his team in Chicagoland
victory lane (Google Images)

This time, Moffitt dominated. The defending truck series champion led twice for 72 laps and won by a margin of just under four seconds in front of second place finisher Brandon Jones. After the race, Moffitt said this celebration was a lot more fun, as the victory at Iowa seemed to ring hollow.

“It was a heck of a lot more fun, and it’s fun for not only me but for the whole pit crew,’’ he said after the race.


While he failed to win a stage in this race, Jones and 16th-place finisher Grant Enfinger won Stages 1 and 2 respectively, Moffitt was certain that his GMS Racing team had a truck to win if circumstance played out like he hoped.

“We’ll go home and celebrate,’’ he said. “I felt confident, it was just a matter of a caution coming out or not. I’m sure (Baxter) was nervous, I was nervous, we were just praying for no caution to come out.’’

While Jones, who has already made one start for the Kyle Busch Motorsports this season, was disappointed he couldn't win, he was very optimistic about being able to pick up a victory before the season comes to an end.

“We put ourselves in position to learn a bit and that’s the most fun I’ve ever had in a truck race,’’ he said. “We’ve got two more with these guys.”

Stewart Friesen finished behind Moffitt and Jones in third place, while Harrison Burton and Austin Hill rounded out the top-five. Todd Gilliland finished sixth, Chastain came home seventh, veteran Matt Crafton was eighth, truck series rookie Anthony Alfredo was a respectable ninth, and Dylan Lupton finished tenth.

The Gander Outdoors Truck Series is off this weekend, but the Xfinity and Monster Energy Cup drivers will take to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway one final time to celebrate Independence Day weekend. The Xfinity Series Circle K Firecracker 250 will go green at 7:35 pm ET on Friday on NBCSN, while the Monster Energy Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 will begin at 7:48 pm ET on Saturday on NBC. Both races will also be covered on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.