Shane van Gisbergen gave the possible start to a new era of NASCAR when he won at the Chicago Street Course in 2023 as a Cup Series rookie. A year later, he is now a full-time driver in the Xfinity Series who is set to run double duty this weekend at the same course. Joining him in razing down the streets of Chicago on both days of the weekend are eight other drivers.
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van Gisbergen has already won two races in the second tier this season. This, undeniably, puts him forward as a strong favorite to win on at least one of the days, if not both. Joining him in the double duty is his Kaulig Racing teammate A.J. Allmendinger.
Allmendinger will be driving his team’s Open entry #13 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on Sunday. From outside the rings of Kaulig Racing, Ty Gibbs will be racing for the Xfinity arm of Joe Gibbs Racing in the #19 Toyota GR Supra. John Hunter Nemechek will join him in the #20 JGR car after having won last Sunday’s Xfinity race at the Nashville Superspeedway.
Austin Hill, currently fourth in the Xfinity standings with two victory lane visits, will pilot the #33 Open entry for Richard Childress Racing on Sunday. Another driver who will be on double duty is Josh Bilicki, a part-time driver in the Xfinity Series. He will run the #92 DGM Racing Chevrolet Camaro on Saturday and slip behind MBM Motorsports’ #66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse on Sunday.
Cup Series winners who are set for double duty at Chicago
Right in the spotlight of the entry list is Team Penske superstar Joey Logano. The 2X Cup Series champion won at Nashville last Sunday and will be replacing Hailie Deegan behind AM Racing’s #15 Ford in Chicago. He expects to use the additional track time to polish his skills for the Cup Series race the next day. Alongside him in Hendrick Motorsports’ #17 Chevrolet will be Kyle Larson.
The 2021 Cup Series champion has already won three races in the premier tier this year and stands atop the points table. Joining these two and others to round up the nine-driver list is Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez. The fresh green card holder won at Atlanta earlier this year and will be getting into DGM Racing’s #36 Chevrolet Camaro this Saturday.
