PREVIEW: Chicago sees several drivers make their season debut
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Will Brown, @will_brown87
Saturday, July 5, 2025 (Green Flag 4:40 P.M. ET, CW)
XFINITY Race 18 of 33
The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Course
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Chandler Smith
ENTRY LIST
There are 40 drivers entered for 38 spots, meaning two drivers will fail to qualify.
RETURNING: #9-JR Motorsports
Back in action for the first time since Daniel Suarez’ come-from-behind victory at Mexico City is JRM’s part-time #9 entry, which this week goes to inaugural Chicago Street Course winner Shane van Gisbergen. WeatherTech and Red Bull remain as sponsors as Van Gisbergen looks to defend his third and most recent XFINITY Series victory from last season.
DRIVER CHANGE: #14-SS-Green Light Racing
Connor Mosack makes his first XFINITY Series start of the season and first in the series since last fall on the Charlotte “Roval,” where he finished 18th for JRM. This time, he drives in place of Garrett Smithley, who took 23rd last week in Atlanta, as driver of Bobby Dotter’s #14 Chevrolet. Invision Capital is the sponsor for Mosack, who finished 6th in this race last year.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
Making his series debut this weekend in the JGR “all-star” entry is another star of the Australian SuperCar Series in Jack Perkins, who will also run this car in Portland next month. Shaw and Partners Financial Services will sponsor Perkins, who was a late call to drive the car this weekend. Perkins takes the place of Aric Almirola, who finished 7th in Atlanta.
DRIVER CHANGE: #24-Sam Hunt Racing
This weekend also marks the season debut for Kaz Grala, who has always been one to watch on the road courses. Last year, Grala failed to qualify for his only series attempt at COTA while driving for RSS Racing, and he’s not started a XFINITY race since his 10th-place finish at the conclusion of his full-time 2023 campaign for Sam Hunt Racing. Grala again drives for SHR this weekend, this time in the part-time #24 in place of Patrick Staropoli, whose early crash in Atlanta left him 35th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
Austin Green enjoyed a solid 7th-place finish in his most recent XFINITY Series start at Mexico City, and this weekend carries his COTA sponsor Volpi on the part-time Jordan Anderson Racing #32 entry. Green finished 10th in this race last year. He takes the place of Katherine Legge, who finished 34th in Atlanta, as Legge focuses on her Cup effort this week (see below).
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
The preliminary entry list had no drivers listed for either of the Joey Gase cars, but both will see returning road race aces this week. Taking the #35 in place of 18th-place Atlanta finisher Gase is Andre Castro, still another driver making his first series attempt of 2025. Castro has qualified for each of the two previous XFINITY races at Chicago, finishing 37th and 35th, but began with an impressive 28th-place qualifying run for the struggling Jesse Iwuji Motorsports. Teamed with him in the #53, replacing 27th-place Atlanta finisher Mason Maggio, is Sage Karam, who makes his third series start of 2025 and looks to bounce back from a 34th-place run in COTA and 33rd in Mexico.
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing
Brad Perez rejoins the Alpha Prime effort for the first time since his 26th-place showing in Mexico City as he replaces 20th-place Atlanta finisher Mason Massey in the #45. Perez last ran this race in 2023, when he ran 32nd for Joey Gase before rain cut the race short. IT company Nerds Xpress is the listed sponsor.
RETURNING: #50-Pardus Racing
Another driver to watch in Chicago is perennial road course contender Preston Pardus and his family’s #50 team, which are back in action for the first time since COTA< where rear end trouble left them a disappointing 36th. This will be Pardus’ 30th series start and will come at a track where he finished 32nd last season with electrical issues, then 12th in the rain-shortened inaugural. Both times he qualified no worse than 17th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing x JIM
Josh Bilicki remains as busy as ever with another double-duty effort – one that begins with Mario Gosselin’s team for his first start since a 23rd-place showing in Pocono. Bilicki rejoins the #91 team in place of C.J. McLaughlin, who qualified an impressive 8th at Atlanta before a pre-race penalty and in-race incident left him 28th at the finish. Lifeway Kefir is the listed sponsor.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Alex Labbe comes off a disappointing last-place finish in his first career Truck Series start and seeks a rebound in the XFINITY Series garage, again teamed with Bobby Dotter in the #07. Labbe takes the place of 24th-place Atlanta finisher Nick Leitz and carries sponsorship from Priority Tire. Labbe has competed in both XFINITY races here, finishing 21st in 2023 and 29th last year, both times coming home under power after qualifying in the Top 20.
CUP INVADERS: #9-Shane van Gisbergen
Sunday, July 6, 2025 (Green Flag 2:25 P.M. ET, TNT)
CUP Race 19 of 36
Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Shane Van Gisbergen
ENTRY LIST
There are 41 drivers entered for 40 spots, meaning one will fail to qualify. This marks only the fourth field of at least 40 starters in 2025, and just the second time this year that there have been more Cup Series entrants than available spots. The last time a Cup race other than the Daytona 500 had at least one DNQ was November 4, 2018, when 41 drivers attempted the race in Texas.
RETURNING: #13-Kaulig Racing
The international component to this weekend’s action extends into the Cup Series as SuperCar star Will Brown makes his return to the Cup Series for the first time since his 31st-place debut at Sears Point last summer. Mobile X is again his listed sponsor, this time on Kaulig Racing’s returning part-time entry, the #13, which hasn’t raced since last fall on the Charlotte “Roval,” when Shane van Gisbergen finished 7th.
RETURNING: #33-Richard Childress Racing
After a frustrating weekend in Atlanta where mechanical issues kept him from contending at his best track, Austin Hill will attempt to pull double-duty for just the second time in 2025, his first since a 31st-place showing in Darlington this past spring. United Rentals continues as sponsor of his #33, the part-time entry fielded by RCR. Hill started this race last year and finished 31st, though on the lead lap.
MISSING: #44-NY Racing Team
After conflicting reports that J.J. Yeley would enter last week’s race in Atlanta, the #44 team didn’t arrive, and is likewise not entered this week.
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Garage 66
Josh Bilicki completes his double-duty effort by rejoining Carl Long’s Garage 66 program for a third time this year, his first since a 33rd-palce showing in the Coca-Cola 600. This will be Bilicki’s first Cup Series road race attempt of the year, but he’s raced in both Cup races at Chicago, taking 23rd two years ago for Live Fast Motorsports and 28th for Long last year. Both times he finished under power and on the lead lap. Pure Kick Hydration, which sponsored Bilicki last year, rejoins the team to promote its new Blood Orange flavor. Bilicki takes the place of David Starr, who survived the night’s biggest wreck only to fall out late, taking 29th.
RETURNING: #67-23XI Racing
Fresh off a near-perfect dominance of the Truck Series race at Lime Rock Park, Corey Heim sets his sights on another Cup start for 23XI with returning sponsor Robinhood. This will be Heim’s third Cup start of the year, his first since a mid-race crash left him 37th in Nashville, but also in a year where he ran 13th in his season debut in Kansas.
DRIVER CHANGE: #78-Live Fast Motorsports
The aforementioned Katherine Legge rejoins the Cup garage this weekend, back for the first time since her uneventful 32nd-place finish in Mexico City. There as here, she drives for B.J. McLeod, who had a fast car last week in Atlanta and brought it home an impressive 16th. This will be Legge’s first attempt at the Chicago Street Course.
MISSING: #87-Trackhouse Racing
Conspicuously absent from the Cup entry list is Connor Zilisch, who will instead focus on his XFINITY effort for Saturday in the #88. Zilisch earned a solid 11th-place finish in last Saturday’s Cup race in Atlanta.
MISSING: #01-Rick Ware Racing
Also not entered is Corey LaJoie, who was swept up in the Atlanta race’s biggest accident and finished 39th.
Friday, July 25, 2025
TRUCKS Race 16 of 25
TSport 200 at IRP
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Mason Massey
The Truck Series returns in three weeks at IRP.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (July 4, 1993): Mike Garvey picked up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Busch Series career in the Havoline 250 at the Milwaukee Mile when his #91 Auto Palace Pontiac had transmission issues after 2 laps. The finish occurred in Garvey’s series debut.
