While Alex Bowman claimed victory in the 2024 NASCAR Chicago Street Race, the event wasn't without rain delays, soggy conditions and even some drama.
During Sunday’s race, Bowman clipped Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 car on the 25th lap, causing it to spin out and collide with the wall. Wallace ended up finishing in 13th place, while Bowman snapped an 80-race winless drought with his triumph.
As the cars approached Turn 12 on the circuit during the cooldown lap and were preparing to turn onto Columbus Drive, Wallace pulled up alongside Bowman’s vehicle and hit the door of the car with his front-left tire, a maneuver known as “door slamming.”
Bowman addressed the situation in victory lane, apologizing to Wallace’s team for the earlier incident.
“I have to apologize again to the 23 guys,” he said during the postrace interview with NBC. “I just messed up and was trying to get my windshield wiper on and missed a corner and ruined their whole day. I hate that and I’m still embarrassed by that.”
Racers navigated some wet conditions at the start, with the rainy weather posing an interesting challenge for drivers and crews as they were forced to decide which tires to use for the race. Rain initially only began in some parts of the course while other portions remained dry, but as the race went on, the wet weather worsened.
One driver described the conditions as "sudsy" while puddles were visible along the course.
With numerous crashes reported, a red flag was waved during Lap 26 as crews worked to remove puddles from the course. But just after 7 p.m., cars began moving onto the track once again -- this time on a countdown.
Van Gisbergen, Larson, Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs held the leads for much of the race, but crashes and pit stops paved the way for a new group of racers to take the lead.
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With minutes left to spare, Alex Bowman, Joey Hand and Brad Keslowski were the front runners. But in the final laps, it was Bowman and Tyler Reddick in a race to the finish.
You can find full coverage of the 2024 NASCAR Chicago Street Race here.
