Shane van Gisbergen of New Zealand was unable to retain his title after crashing out of the NASCAR Chicago street race despite leading early on.
Van Gisbergen became the first driver in Modern NASCAR history to win on their debut last year at Chicago.
However, Van Gisbergen’s day ended when he was clipped by Chase Briscoe in the same wet conditions that rendered him unstoppable last year.
As a deluge fell on the 12-turn track, the New Zealander maintained the lead at the 20-lap mark and won his first career stage.
Van Gisbergen, who won the Xfinity Series race on Sunday, was the race favourite, but two separate incidents occurred on lap 25 due to heavy rain.
In the second incident, Briscoe lost control and collided with the tire barrier, clipping van Gisbergen.
The small collision forced van Gisbergen to miss his corner and collide with the wall, sending him out on the 40th lap.
“I turned in, and it looked pretty good, and then it just got smashed by someone,” van Gisbergen told CNN. “It’s gutting… we were in the lead for most of the race, and it felt good to take up in the rain.”
“That sucks; it’s an unfortunate mistake by him,” van Gisbergen continued. “I’m sure he didn’t mean it, but he clipped me, and there was nothing that I could do.”
The New Zealand-born driver exited the vehicle; his race and chance to go back-to-back in Chicago had ended.
Alex Bowman held off Tyler Reddick’s last-lap charge to win the rain-shortened Grant Park 165 during the second Chicago Street Race.
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