Practice report
NASCAR Cup Chicago Street Course
Van Gisbergen leads Hamlin and Button in Chicago Cup practice
NASCAR newcomer Shane Van Gisbergen was the surprise leader in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup practice at the inaugural Chicago Street Course.
Jim Utter
Edited: Jul 1, 2023, 9:18 PM
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Van Gisbergen, the three-time Australian Supercars champion making his Cup debut this weekend in the No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, set a blistering pace throughout the 50-minute session.
The Kiwi remained at the top of the speed charts for most of the practice and set his best average lap speed of 88.571 mph in the final minutes.
Cup veteran Denny Hamlin ended up second-fastest (88.262 mph) and former Formula 1 World champion Jenson Button was third (88.260 mph) driving the No. 15 Ford fielded by Rick Ware Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing.
Martin Truex Jr. was fourth and Christopher Bell fifth as Toyotas claimed three of the top-five spots.
Completing the top-10 were Kyle Larson, Corey LaJoie, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski.
Saturday’s practice was the first for the Cup series on a street course, a 2.2-mile, 12-turn course erected in the Grant Park area of downtown Chicago.
Almost 18 minutes into the practice, William Byron hit the wall in Turn 4 with the left-rear of his No. 24 Chevrolet and limped his way back to pit road.
About 30 minutes into the session, NASCAR displayed a caution when Austin Cindric spun and tagged the wall and dropped debris on the track. Ross Chastain went into the run-off area in Turn 4 but had no other problems.
Minutes after the practice restarted, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. slammed into the Turn 8 wall in his No. 47 Chevrolet but was able to make it back to pit road for repairs.
“I felt pretty good on the first half of the track, went to (Turns) 7 and 8 and back to (Turn) 12 is where I was losing a little bit of speed and I was just trying to push it a little bit in those areas,” Stenhouse said.
“I turned in a little too early in Turn 8, clipped the inside wall and then got the outside wall there. A little suspension damage – not sure how much yet.”
Minutes later, Justin Haley slid into the tire barriers in Turn 4 but was able to continue on without the need of a caution.
Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph 1 91 
Shane van Gisbergen Chevrolet 21 1'29.419 88.572 2 11 
Denny Hamlin Toyota 24 1'29.732 0.313 0.313 88.263 3 15 
Jenson Button Ford 21 1'29.734 0.315 0.002 88.261 4 19 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 19 1'29.845 0.426 0.111 88.152 5 20 Christopher Bell Toyota 20 1'30.067 0.648 0.222 87.935 6 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 18 1'30.181 0.762 0.114 87.823 7 7 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 21 1'30.457 1.038 0.276 87.555 8 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota 24 1'30.548 1.129 0.091 87.467 9 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota 15 1'30.563 1.144 0.015 87.453 10 6 Brad Keselowski Ford 18 1'30.682 1.263 0.119 87.338 11 99 
Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 19 1'30.726 1.307 0.044 87.296 12 42 Noah Gragson Chevrolet 11 1'30.746 1.327 0.020 87.277 13 16 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 18 1'30.838 1.419 0.092 87.188 14 24 William Byron Chevrolet 18 1'30.864 1.445 0.026 87.163 15 34 Michael McDowell Ford 19 1'30.866 1.447 0.002 87.161 16 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 20 1'30.884 1.465 0.018 87.144 17 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 22 1'30.944 1.525 0.060 87.087 18 17 Chris Buescher Ford 23 1'30.984 1.565 0.040 87.048 19 8 Kyle Busch Chevrolet 21 1'31.074 1.655 0.090 86.962 20 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 19 1'31.102 1.683 0.028 86.936 21 38 Todd Gilliland Ford 14 1'31.148 1.729 0.046 86.892 22 14 Chase Briscoe Ford 20 1'31.169 1.750 0.021 86.872 23 22 Joey Logano Ford 24 1'31.174 1.755 0.005 86.867 24 41 Ryan Preece Ford 20 1'31.224 1.805 0.050 86.819 25 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota 22 1'31.258 1.839 0.034 86.787 26 31 Justin Haley Chevrolet 19 1'31.416 1.997 0.158 86.637 27 48 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 23 1'31.416 1.997 0.000 86.637 28 43 Erik Jones Chevrolet 15 1'31.617 2.198 0.201 86.447 29 10 Aric Almirola Ford 21 1'31.740 2.321 0.123 86.331 30 1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 19 1'31.784 2.365 0.044 86.290 31 2 Austin Cindric Ford 11 1'31.910 2.491 0.126 86.171 32 51 Andy Lally Ford 22 1'31.915 2.496 0.005 86.167 33 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 23 1'32.011 2.592 0.096 86.077 34 77 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 24 1'32.047 2.628 0.036 86.043 35 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet 10 1'32.163 2.744 0.116 85.935 36 78 Josh Bilicki Chevrolet 19 1'32.235 2.816 0.072 85.868 37 21 Harrison Burton Ford 20 1'32.254 2.835 0.019 85.850
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