Shane van Gisbergen questions having competitive pit stops in the rain during Chicago Street Race

With the end of Stage 1 at the Chicago Street Race, Shane van Gisbergen was questioning NASCAR for having live pit stops. Rain came down late in the stage and soaked pit road, with drivers on slicks, SVG thought it was a bad idea.

The Kiwi drove his way to the front of the field early. He is clearly the most talented driver in NASCAR when it comes to these street races. Chicago is like a second home to him.

Shane van Gisbergen was told to pit for wet tires with the rain moving into the area. Then he commented on the pit stop situation.

“Probably a silly thing to do,” he said over the radio, via Steven Taranto of CBS Sports.

Shane van Gisbergen is going to pit for wets. "It's just gonna get worse for a little while."

NASCAR has ruled, for now, that these will be competitive pit stops despite the rain. "Probably a silly thing to do," says SVG. #NASCARChicago

— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) July 7, 2024

Shane van Gisbergen is looking to defend his 2023 Chicago Street Race win. This is where he was propelled onto the NASCAR stage and introduced to the American audience.

Shane van Gisbergen wrecked out of Chicago Street Race

Well… there will not be a defense of 2023. Early on in Stage 2, SVG found himself taking a bump from Chase Briscoe and slamming into the outside wall coming out of Turn 6. After winning the first stage convincingly, the defending winner is done.

van Gisbergen, the race favorite, was involved in the Lap 25 caution after Chase Briscoe came sliding into the tire barriers. Briscoe clipped the back of van Gisbergen’s No. 16 Chevrolet, who then made hard contact with the wall.

So, what does this mean for the rest of the day? It means drivers like Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and Christopher Bell have a great opportunity. While taking down SVG was going to be a tough task, this race is wide open now.

While we won’t see van Gisbergen defend his win, it isn’t all bad. Despite the disappointing end to the day, there is more racing to be had. Yesterday’s Xfinity battle between SVG and Larson had us wanting more today, but we’ll settle for a different kind of battle.

Shane van Gisbergen is out, but that doesn’t mean the racing is over. These drivers are about to put it all out on the track over the last half of this race. The rain and wet weather have made this a true challenge for the drivers in the field today.

Currently under a weather delay for visibility, NASCAR hopes to get going again. This race has until 8:20 PM CST, 9:20 PM EST to get finished. At that point, the white flag will be thrown and it will be a one-lap dash to the end.