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Shane van Gisbergen
Chicago Fantasy Outlook – At Chicago Street in the Grant Park 165, Shane van Gisbergen will be the driver to beat. SVG’s been impressive in both previous Chicago races and there’s no reason to think he’ll be a letdown after just smoking the field at Mexico en route to a +15 second margin of victory. SVG also never lacks for speed on this track type and in 2025, SVG has the best Track Type Total Speed Ranking with a 1.5-Average Speed Ranking. Going back to last year on this track type, he also ranks #1 in that speed analytic over the combined races.
Chicago Track History – Shane van Gisbergen, the inaugural Chicago winner has been a beast in the Windy City. At Chicago, SVG has the best Next Gen Speed Ranking, being 2 for 2 at fielding the fastest car in both races. Also between the combined races, SVG has the 2nd best Driver Rating which is especially impressive considering he literally finish last in 2024. Last year en route to his 40th, SVG looked stout and was a contender to win. In the race, SVG started 5th, won Stage #1, led 9 laps but then early in Stage #2 on lap 25, Chase Briscoe had a major out of control moment and had contact with SVG which had the #16 slapping the wall, marking the end of his race. In 2023, van Gisbergen was a standout performer and raced his way to victory lane, racing his way to the front and coming up clutch at the end. In the race, SVG started 3rd, had the best average running position (4.9), earned the best Driver Rating and led 11 laps. In terms of speed analytics, SVG ranked #1 for Total Speed Rankings and #1 for Green Flag Speed.

Christopher Bell
Chicago Fantasy Outlook – At Chicago Street, look for Christopher Bell to be tough to beat. Bell’s a 3-time road course winner, he’s been good enough to win both previous Chicago races and he’s a super-elite performer on this track type. This year  at road courses, Bell won at COTA, finished 2nd at Mexico and in terms of Track Type Total Speed Rankings for the season, he ranks 2nd. Going back to last year at road courses, Bell has the 2nd best Track Type Total Speed Ranking and minus Chicago 2024 where he was arguably the best but had problems his average finish is 4.3 and he’s 4 for 6 at finishing in the top 2.
Chicago Track History – Christopher Bell has been a standout performer at Chicago Street. Bell’s average finish between the combined races is a dismal 27.5 but in terms of “Performance”, I would say him and SVG are neck and neck in terms of who’s been the best. Between the combined races, Bell has the 2nd best Next Gen Speed Ranking, the 2nd best Average Running Position and has the 4th best Driver Rating. That stats line is pretty impressive especially when you take into account, neither race has been incident free for Bell. Last year, Bell was arguably the best but finished 37th. In the race, Bell started 7th, led the 2nd most laps (14), had the 3rd best average running position (6.5) and was the leader on lap 40 before major field flipping took place which dropped him back to the teens. On lap 55 while he was bouncing back and driving up thru the field with authority, Bell was up to 6th but then he got into the wall hard, dooming himself to his 37th. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bell ranked 2nd. In 2023, Bell was the class of the field but finished an asterisk mark 18th. In the race, Bell started 4th, led the most laps (37), won Stage #1, won Stage #2 but then when the field got flipped following the caution on lap 49, Bell went from leading back to 14th. Then on lap 55 shortly after that, Bell got into a tire barrier and spun which dropped him back to the 30’s. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bell ranked 6th but take note his speed over the segments were 2nd, 1st, 29th and then 12th. Additionally, Bell earned the 2nd best Driver Rating.

Chase Elliott
Chicago Fantasy Outlook – 7-time road course winner, Chase Elliott should be high on your radar at Chicago. Elliott’s yet to win in the Next Gen at road courses but he’s flirted with victory lane on several occasions and been robbed of a win or two. This year at road courses, Elliott has a 3.5 average finish, he’s swept the top 4 and his Track Type Total Speed Ranking ranks 6th. Going back to 2024 at road courses, Elliott’s Track Type Total Speed Ranking ranks 3rd. On Sunday, look for Elliott to be a top five contender.
Chicago Track History – Last year in the rain at Chicago, Chase Elliott was not so great and finished 21st. Additionally, Elliott had a 15.1 average running position, earned the 15th best Driver Rating and ranked 25th in terms of Total Speed Rankings. Over the segments to high-light his speed, Elliott had rankings of 11th, 26th, 33rd and then 23rd. It just was not a great race for him but given the extreme elements, I’m not going to hold it against him. In 2023, Elliott had a strong showing and finished 3rd. It wasn’t an easy third though and you can also kind of get out an asterisk mark for it since he did use pit strategy. In the race, Elliott started in the rear of the field in a backup car, got into a tire barrier on lap 26 after racing his way up to about 13th, was around the mid 20’s around lap 44 but then shortly after that, Elliott used pit strategy which jumped him up to third and from that point on, Elliott consistently ran near the front and was a top five mainstay.

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