CHICAGO — After Sunday’s Chicago street race, drivers had this to say:
Alex Bowman — Winner: “Blake (Harris) made the decision that he never thought the rain tires would work in dry conditions, so I’m really proud of this No. 48 Arai Chevrolet team. I made a big mistake earlier, ripping the whole front left of the car off and ruining someone else’s day. That was a mistake on my part that I can’t forgive. We’ve had a lot of mistakes lately, so I’m happy to come out here and win another trophy for the team. … I’m really proud of this team and it means a lot to win here and finally on a road course. It’s really special to accomplish something like this.”
Tyler Reddick — 2nd Place: “Yeah, it’s annoying. I was way ahead of Alex (Bowman). I don’t know. It’s confusing. I obviously messed it up. I was trying to stay in the dry groove and there was more than enough dry groove space. Yep, I cut the wheel a little too hard. I guess I wasn’t focused enough. I knew I was going to catch him and the sooner I got there the more options I had and coming out of Turn 8 I was off the line and the track got a little slippery. Yep, unfortunately I didn’t even get a chance to compete with him. It sucks. That’s not what the Jordan Brand Toyota Camry or this team is about. You just have to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Reddick: Late Chicago race mistake ‘inexplicable’
Tyler Reddick reacts with disappointment to his runner-up finish in the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course after a scratch in the wall late in the race cost him a chance to catch Alex Bowman.
Ty Gibbs — 3rd Place: “It was a really good weekend and I’m grateful for the two great race cars that the team brought to me. It’s a rare thing when you have two great cars that you can put speed on. I thought I was really fast in both races. It was really close both days. I mean, all I want is a win, but we’re right there. It’s been a lot of fun racing the Cup Series and I’m just thankful for what I get to do and I’m grateful for what I get to do.”
Joey Hand — Finished 4th: “It was a great day. Big smiles. It was a lot of fun. It’s fun when you have a car that’s going to go forward. RFK, this Stage 60 car and this group of guys and girls were awesome. We had a lot of fun together. We didn’t qualify well, but I told them we were much better than that. I lay in bed last night dreaming about running all the way to the top. It was a lot of fun. I love those situations where everyone has to find a different way and no one is sure what they’re going to do. I’ve won races like that so many times in my life. I thought I had a chance to win it again, and that’s a big thing. It was a lot of fun to start 38th and run fourth in this car.”
Michael McDowell — Finished 5th: “Yes, we just needed a few more laps. I’m proud of the effort. We had some trouble early on when we changed to wet tires and the rain didn’t come and we lost a lap, but we bounced back and turned the tide and restarted 32nd after the rain stop, so I’m happy to be back in the top five. I’m proud of the effort. Everyone in the No. 34 Ford Mustang is fighting hard. At the end, I made the call to get on slicks before everyone else and try to pass some guys and have a great race, and it worked out. The last 10 laps, our car came on the track when everyone else was struggling, and it was a lot of fun. But that’s not what we needed today. We needed a win and we didn’t get it. But we just have to keep fighting for the rest of the season.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — Finished 6th: “It was wild. I felt like the car was going really well in the beginning. I worked my way through the field and got up to about 15th and just stayed there. Then it started to rain and the No. 11 car missed his braking mark at (Turn) 6 and I thought it was over because I just couldn’t get my juices back. But once I got going again, I was able to improve my lap times a lot and the strategy worked out perfectly. I didn’t think I was ready to switch to dry tires so early. Of course, I was at the end, so my team made a good decision to stay on the wet tires and get the stage points. Afterwards, they told me, ‘Hey, you’re going to get caught with three or four laps to go, but that’s your best chance to have a good finish.’ So, overall, it was really cool to end Chicago this year with a good finish. It was fun because that’s what our car was capable of.”
Todd Gilliland — Finished 7th: “It’s really disappointing, actually. The caution at the end didn’t help us at all. I wasn’t planning on getting fourth. I went right under braking to get under him and ended up hitting him. That wasn’t what I wanted to do and it certainly didn’t help us at all. Overall, our car was really strong and I’m really proud of that. We’re bringing more speed to the race track, so it’s a lot of fun.”
Kyle Busch — Finished 9th: “Today we had a strong finish to the Chicago Street Race in our zone, the Chevrolet. Hopefully this is the start of a good run for the Richard Childress Racing team. I’m happy we got the result we deserved. Great job to Randall Burnett and everyone at RCR and ECR. As for how the race played out, I was able to put on the slicks at just the right time late in the race and was able to pass a lot of cars. For some reason, I really struggled with the wet tire setup. I felt like the car was on the ice so I’ll have to work on it to improve. Overall, it was definitely a good day.”
Ryan Blaney — Finished 10th: “It was a pretty crazy race. I was lucky to finish 10th on dry tyres. I gave up a few places at the end. I made a mistake in a corner and lost a few places, but overall it was a good start and finish. It was a pretty wild race. I’d love to get out here on dry tyres for the fans and for us.”
Daniel Suarez — 11th place: “It was a good recovery, but I wish I could have run the whole race because the No. 48 won the race and I was with him when I lost track position. I guess it was disappointing, but overall I was able to bounce back and that’s all that matters. The No. 99 Jockey x Folds of Honor Chevrolet team did a good job at the end of the day.”
Daniel Hemric — 12th place: “It was really tough. My crew chief Trent Owens once again showed us a great strategy by staying on the rain tires. If the race had finished two laps earlier I would have been guaranteed a top 10 finish, but in the end I was caught by a couple of guys on fresh tires. Overall, I made the most of the day and thanks to the Kaulig Racing team for their hard work.”
Noah Gragson — Finished 14th: “It was definitely a wild race, but I’m grateful to the Stewart-Haas guys for giving me this opportunity. I was just trying not to wreck myself in the race and keep the car intact. It’s easy to get thrown off the race. I’m really grateful. I’ll keep racing next week and try again.”
Austin Dillon — Finished 19th: “The Chicago street race this weekend was really good, especially the No. 3 Get Bio Ethanol Chevrolet on wet tires. It took them a few laps to pit, but once they did they were able to run anywhere they needed to on the track. We dealt with drive-off issues on the slicks. We knew this race was going to be tough with a lot of tight corners. On the last lap I got passed by another car and ended up in the wall, which slowed me down and caused me to lose a few positions. Realistically, I had a chance to finish in the top 10 today, so I’m proud of the effort everyone at RCR and ECR put into our road course program. It was fun racing on the streets of Chicago and introducing our sport to so many new fans. We’ll keep the momentum going next week at Pocono Raceway.”
Chris Buescher — Finished 20th: “I was having some pretty good speed at times, and even on the wet track I was able to drive pretty good and get ahead. Then I got caught by the lights on pit road and just didn’t make it in time. I didn’t see it, but I just didn’t make it in time. That put me behind at the very end and I didn’t have time to recover from that.”
Chase Briscoe — Finished 32nd: “The early part of the race was dry and I was able to move up from 22nd to fourth and honestly thought I was in a good position to win, but then it started raining and I kept locking up my tyres and hitting things.”
Ryan Preece — Finished 34th: “We crashed and the race was over.”
Josh Berry — Finished 36th: “We knew today would be a tough day and it lived up to that expectation. Normally it would be a challenge but with rain tires in the mix and then the rain delays it just made for a tough day. However, we learned a lot as a team and I continued to hone my racing skills on the road course. Of course we’re not happy with the result but we stay focused and will come back with a clean slate next week.”
AJ Allmendinger — Finished 38th: “I’m proud that we had a chance to have a really good day. We made great strides in practice and qualifying, but unfortunately the penalty (for pitting when pit road was closed) ended the day.”
Kyle Larson — Finished 39th: “I think I just locked it up. From the moment I hit the brakes the car didn’t slow down. I just tried to go as far as I could and sure enough the car was wrecked badly. It’s unfortunate. It’s disappointing. It caught me totally off guard. You get used to it and you push the braking zone a little bit further every lap but this time it surprised me.”
Shane van Gisbergen — Finished 40th: “I was looking pretty good and then somebody hit me. It’s really unfortunate. The No. 16 Wendy’s Saucy Knags Camaro was really good. I was leading most of the race. I started well in the rain, so it’s unfortunate. It was an unfortunate mistake by Chase Briscoe. I don’t think he did it on purpose, but there was nothing I could do when he hit me.”
