NASCAR Chicago winners, losers: Bubba Wallace throws points away with Alex Bowman spat, late spin
SVG passed Chase Briscoe for the lead with 12 laps to go, then held off Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger on two final restarts to earn his second win of the Cup Series season.
SVG led only 26 of 75 laps, but that was due to pit strategy in the first two stages. It was an otherwise dominating performance in the second half of the race for the driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.
SVG's dominance was only thwarted early by Michael McDowell, who led the first 31 laps before having to go to the garage with a throttle issue.
Here are the winners and losers from the NASCAR Chicago street race on July 6:
OUCH: Carson Hocevar crash forces early pileup in NASCAR Chicago street race, collects Brad Keselowski
NASCAR Chicago winners and losers: SVG dominates again in the Chicago streets
Winner: The SVG Cup Series experience
Not enough credit has been given to Trackhouse for getting Shane van Gisbergen in a Cup car at this course two years ago, and moreso for progressing SVG from that Chicago win in 2023 to a full-time Cup driver with multiple wins in 2025.
SVG will have every opportunity to make it out of the round of 16 in the playoffs with the amount of playoff points he has already earned, and with two more road courses left in the regular season. It's not inconceivable that SVG goes into the playoffs with the most (or tied for the most) wins from the regular season.
In the era of playoff points and win-and-in, SVG has more value than any other driver outside the top 10 in the points standings. And looking ahead to the playoffs, the Charlotte Roval is at the end of the Round of 12. So if SVG advances from the first round of the playoffs, watch out.
Winner: The playoff bubble
SVG's victory was a reprieve for Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman after challenging weekends through the streets of Chicago.
Bowman, the defending race champion, had to start at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments, and twice had to drive into the top 10 on a differing pit strategy. After a tangle with Bubba Wallace late in the race, Bowman finished eighth and held onto a playoff spot just ahead of the cutline, 39 points to the good.
Buescher started in the top five, had a power issue, lost a lap while repairing the issue, got back on the lead lap and finished 18th.
Both drivers would have appreciated a stronger results day on Sunday, but sometimes it's the better results from bad circumstances that help on the playoff bubble. SVG holding off bubble busters Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger for the win helped too.
Loser: Bubba Wallace
Wallace's challenging weekend nearly had a positive ending — until he got the worst end of a late-race duel with Alex Bowman.
Wallace spun with six laps to go across the bumper of Bowman, ruining what had been quite the recovery for the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota.
The veteran driver started at the rear of the field after unapproved adjustments, worked up into the top 20 by the middle of Stage 2, spun to put him back outside the top 30, then drove into the top 10 with the help of pit strategy on the final run.
But as Bowman and Wallace wrestled for position in the top 10 (with contact being made multiple times), Wallace's spin had a direct impact on his race result.
Wallace had to settle for a 28th-place finish, a blow to his standing near the playoff cutoff line. Wallace now sits two points ahead of Ryan Preece for the final playoff spot heading into Sonoma next weekend.
Loser: Spire Motorsports
Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar were the two big stories of the first 30 laps of the race, and neither driver had a satisfying ending to the day.
Hocevar's day ended quickly, pinballing off of two separate walls before spinning across the field in Lap 3, collecting six other cars. Hocevar finished 35th, again finding the bad result out of a fast car after starting inside top 10.
McDowell led the first 31 laps of the race (including a Stage 1 victory) before having to go behind the wall with a throttle issue. McDowell finished in 32nd, but he had the car to stay ahead of SVG through the first 40% of the race.
My bet, presuming neither McDowell nor Hocevar win to get into the playoffs: One of the two Spire drivers will win a race during the playoffs without the pressure of a playoff berth looming over them. Spire Motorsports is fast enough to win. But can their equipment make it to the end of one of these races, and can their drivers get their cars there?
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Chicago winners, losers: Bubba Wallace throws points away
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