Chicago Street Course Grant Park 165 Front Runner Rankings

Kyle Busch
Chicago Street Fantasy Outlook – 2024 has been a rough year for Kyle Busch, and Chicago might be another one of those tough weekends, but I wouldn’t overlook him. Since 2023 at road courses, Busch has the 8th best Track Type Total Speed Ranking and minus Indy RC his average finish is 6.7. This year at road courses, Busch has been top ten good in both races (9th at COTA this spring, top 5 contender at Sonoma until getting spun/running out of gas and finished 12th) and his 2024 Total Speed Ranking ranks 9th. If Kyle Busch can drive a clean smart race, I think he’s a top ten contender but that’s of course a big if right now.
Chicago Street Track History – Kyle Busch raced his way to a 5th place finish last year at Chicago, despite bringing out caution #1 on lap 3 when he got stuck in a tire barrier. Overall, it wasn’t a pretty race for Busch, and he logged a lot of laps near the back. On lap 44, Busch was in 30th but then during a caution not long after that on lap 51 when he used pit strategy it jumped him up to 5th and from that point on, Busch consistently ran near the front. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Busch ranked 22nd but take note over the final quarter of the race he ranked 6th in terms of speed.

Alex Bowman
Chicago Street Fantasy Outlook – Alex Bowman had a tough race last year at Chicago but “Performance Wise”, he was a borderline top ten contender. This year at road courses, Bowman finished 4th at COTA, 15th at Sonoma and between the combined races his Track Type Total Speed Ranking ranks 10th. Going back a little further to 2023, Bowman has the 12th best Road Course Track Type Total Speed Ranking. On Sunday, I would look for Bowman to potentially be a top ten contender.
Chicago Street Track History – Alex Bowman looked solid last year at Chicago until his afternoon unraveled which led to his last place finish. In the race, Bowman started 13th, finished about 14th in Stage #1 but then in Stage #2 on lap 41 while running in 11th, Bowman spun which brought out the caution. This then led to a long pit stop since his engine went into protection mode for some reason and then when he returned to the track on lap 44, he was stopped on the track and his race was now over. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bowman ranked 8th.

Todd Gilliland
Chicago Street Fantasy Outlook – Todd Gilliland is a top ten dark horse every week now and at Chicago Street, I think we should absolutely view him as one again. He’s driving with a lot of confidence, and he’s shown potential on this track type from time to time. At Sonoma the most recent road course visited, Gilliland just finished 10th. For the season between the two road courses visited, Gilliland ranks 15th in terms of Total Speed Rankings.
Chicago Street Track History – Last year at Chicago Street, Todd Gilliland had a pretty pedestrian day. In the race, Gilliland finished 19th, had a 22.8 average running position and ranked 25th in terms of Total Speed Rankings.

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