CHICAGO — Here is what drivers had to say after Sunday’s Chicago Street Race:
Alex Bowman — Winner: “Oh gosh, Blake’s (Harris) call, I never would have thought rain tires in the dry like that would have worked. So, just so proud of this No. 48 Ally Chevy team. I mean I made a big mistake earlier and tore the whole left-front off the car and ruined other people’s day. Just unacceptable and a mistake on my end. I have had a lot of screw ups lately and just happy to be here and get another trophy for these guys. … I am just really proud of this team, and it means a lot to win here and finally get a win at a road course. To do something like this is really special.”
Tyler Reddick — Finished 2nd: “Yeah, I’m upset. I was catching Alex (Bowman) by a large margin there. I don’t know. That puzzles me. I clearly just screwed up. Trying to stay in the dry groove and I had more than enough room of dry groove. Yeah, I cut the wheel a little too hard — just not focused enough, I guess. I knew I was going to get to him and the earlier I could get to him the more options I would have, and it was going to get a little bit more slick off line beyond turn 8. Yeah, just didn’t even give ourselves a shot to race him unfortunately. I hate it. Not what this Jordan Brand Toyota Camry is about and what this team is about. Just got to start capitalizing on these ones.”
Ty Gibbs — Finished 3rd: “We had a really good weekend and I’m thankful to have two great race cars that my team brought me. It’s kind of rare, right, to have two great cars to make speed off of. You know, I feel like we were really fast in both races. We’re just so close, super close both days. I mean, all I can ask for is a win, but we’re right there. It’s been really fun running the Cup Series. Just appreciative of what I get to do and thankful for what I get to do.”
Joey Hand — Finished 4th: “It was a great day. I am all grins. That was a lot of fun. It is fun when you have a car that is going forward. RFK, this Stage 60 car and this group of guys and gals was awesome. We had such a good time together. We didn’t qualifying well, but I told them that we were way better than that. I laid in bed last night and dreamt about driving to the front. It was a lot of fun. I love those conditions where everyone has to find a different way and it isn’t set in stone what you are going to do. I have won a lot of races like that in my life. I thought there was a chance was going to win another one which was going to be huge. To run fourth, starting 38th, with this car, it was a ton of fun.”
Michael McDowell — Finished 5th: “Yeah, we needed a few more laps. I am just proud of the effort. Early on, when we went to wets and it didn’t rain we were in trouble and lost a lap. We rebounded and got the wave around and after that rain delay we restarted 32nd, so I am happy to get back up into the top five. I am proud of the effort. Everybody fights hard on our 34 Ford Mustang. We called a great race at the end to get us on the slicks before everybody so that we could try to leapfrog some guys and that worked out. Those last 10 laps our car was coming in as everyone else was struggling and it was a lot of fun. But it isn’t what we needed today. We needed a win and we didn’t get it but we will just keep fighting the rest of the season.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — Finished 6th: “It was wild. I felt like our car was really good early on. We drove through the field; got to 15th or so and we kind of stayed there. Then when the rain came, the 11 missed his braking mark there into (turn) six, and I kind of thought we were done because I couldn’t get fired back up. But once we got it back going, we could run a lot better lap times and the strategy just worked out perfect there. I didn’t think it was quite ready to go to dry tires that early. Obviously it was there at the end, so my guys made a good call to keep us out on the wets and get stage points. Then they told me, ‘Hey, those guys are going to catch you with three or four laps to go, but that is the best shot at having a good finish.’ So, all-in-all, it was really cool to come out of Chicago this year with a good finish. That is what our car was capable of, so that was fun.”
Todd Gilliland — Finished 7th: “It is really disappointing actually. I didn’t help us any with that last caution. I didn’t mean to get into the 4. I was trying to go to the right and get under him under braking, and I pounded him. That is not what I wanted to do whatsoever and it definitely didn’t help us at all. Overall, our car was really strong. I am really proud of that. We have been bringing a lot more speed to the race track so that is a lot of fun.”
Kyle Busch — Finished 9th: “We had a solid finish today at the Chicago Street Race in our zone Chevrolet. Hopefully, this is the start of some positive momentum for our Richard Childress Racing team. It’s cool to get the finish that we deserve. Great job by Randall Burnett and everyone at RCR and ECR. The way the race played out we were able to get on slicks at just the right time late in the race and we passed a ton of cars. For some reason, we really struggled on the wet tire setup. The car felt like it was on ice, so we have work to do to make that better. All in all, it was a good day for sure.”
Ryan Blaney — Finished 10th: “Pretty crazy race. We put dries on and luckily ended up 10th. I kind of gave a few spots away at the end. I kind of missed the corner and gave some up but overall just a good finish from where it started. Pretty wild race. I would like to run here one time like dry the whole time for the fans’ sake and our sake.”
Daniel Suarez — Finished 11th: “It was a good recovery, but I just wish we were going to run the whole race because the 48 won the race and I was right there with him when we lost all the track position. I feel like it was a shame for what it could have been, but all-in-all, we were able to rebound and that is all that matters. The No. 99 Jockey x Folds of Honor Chevy team did a good job at the end of the day.”
Daniel Hemric — Finished 12th: “What a challenge. Incredible strategy once again by my crew chief, Trent Owens, to continue to run on rain tires. If the race ended about two laps earlier, we would have had a solid top 10, but we finally fell back to a couple guys with new tires. All in all, we maximized our day, and I appreciate the fight from our Kaulig Racing team.”
Noah Gragson — Finished 14th: “Definitely a wild one, but thankful to the guys at Stewart-Haas for the opportunity. I was just trying not to wreck myself out there and keep the car in one piece. You can take yourself out pretty easily. Definitely grateful. We’ll go on to next week and try again.”
Austin Dillon — Finished 19th: “We had a really good No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet at the Chicago Street Race this weekend, especially on wet tires. It would take a few laps for them to come in and when they did, we could drive anywhere we needed to on the track. We fought some drive-off issues on the slick tires. We knew this race was going to be rough with all of the tight corners. On the last lap, we got turned by another car and made some contact with the wall, which slowed our run and cost us a few positions. Realistically, we had a shot at a top-10 today so I’m proud of the effort everyone at RCR and ECR have put into our road course program. It was fun to race on the streets of Chicago and to introduce our sport to so many new fans. We will carry on the momentum to Pocono Raceway next week.”
Chris Buescher — Finished 20th: “Had some pretty good speed at times and was able to work pretty decent on the damp track and roll forward, just ultimately got caught by the pit road light and didn’t make it. Can’t see it but didn’t make it. That just put us behind there at the very end and we didn’t have time to come back from it.”
Chase Briscoe — Finished 32nd: “In the dry there at the beginning of the race, we were able to go from 22nd to fourth, and I thought I was in a really good position, honestly, to be there in the hunt. Then the rain came and I just kept locking up tires and hitting stuff.”
Ryan Preece — Finished 34th: “We got wrecked and then the race was over.”
Josh Berry — Finished 36th: “We knew today was going to be tough and it lived up to that expectation. Under normal circumstances, that was going to be a challenge, but then the rain tires getting mixed in and the rain delays on top of that, it was just a hard day. But we learned a lot as a team and I continued to sharpen my race craft on road courses. Obviously I’m not happy with the result, but we’ll stay focused and come back next week with a clean slate.”
AJ Allmendinger — Finished 38th: “Proud we had a chance at a really good day. We made a lot of gains from practice and qualifying, but unfortunately, the penalty (for pitting when pit road was closed) ended our day.”
Kyle Larson — Finished 39th: “I assume I just locked it up. As soon as I hit the brakes, it was not slowing down. I was just going to try and end up wherever I ended up. But yeah, it smashed the car up pretty good. It’s just unfortunate. I’m bummed. It just caught me off guard. You push the brake zones a little bit more each lap as you’re getting more comfortable, but it just surprised me.”
Shane van Gisbergen — Finished 40th: “It looked pretty good and then just got smacked by someone. It’s gutting. The No. 16 Wendy’s Saucy Nuggs Camaro was really good. We were in the lead for a lot of that race. I felt good taking off in the rain, so that sucks. It’s an unfortunate mistake by (Chase Briscoe). I’m sure he didn’t mean it. But yeah, when he just clipped me, there wasn’t anything I could do.”
