Van Gisbergen won his Cup Series debut in downtown Chicago, surpassing Justin Haley and Chase Elliott in a memorable finish to the series' first street race. The three-time Australian Supercars champion outclassed everyone over the last laps of the race. After passing Elliott, Van Gisbergen dragged with Haley in the final laps before he went ahead of him. Haley finished second while Elliott was third. "The racing, the battles were really fun," Van Gisbergen said. "But everyone was respectful and clean. It was really cool." The 34-year-old New Zealand native became the first driver to win his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in the second qualifying race at Daytona in 1963. He drove the No. 91 Chevrolet in Chicago as part of Trackhouse Racing's Project 91. Trackhouse is owned by Marks, and the goal of the Project 91 program is to give international drivers a chance at NASCAR. "This was a shower idea," Marks said. "I mean it was me thinking I'm a huge fan of all different kinds of motorsports and I've raced in all different kinds of motorsports. I wanted to bring my love global motorsport to NASCAR." Project 91 got its first lap led in three starts when Van Gisbergen led Lap 25. His victory also made him the sixth driver born outside of the United States to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, joining the likes of Marcos Ambrose, Mario Andretti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Earl Ross, and Daniel Suárez. Van Gisbergen’s street course prowess was on full display over the final 20 laps of the race. He has 79 Supercars victories and is the fourth most successful driver in series history. He also won the Australian Supercars championship in 2016, 2021, and 2022. Van Gisbergen is one of three drivers who have won the Bathurst 1000, Bathurst 6 Hour, and Bathurst 12 Hour. His victory is the fifth in the history of Trackhouse Racing and the second for the team this season, after Ross Chastain's win a week ago at Nashville. The NASCAR race was delayed by rainfall. The Chicago area had a record amount of rainfall on Sunday, July 2 and the temporary street circuit in Grant Park had standing water in many areas. NASCAR decided to start the race when the rain tapered off at about 5 p.m. CT. The race track did not fully dry over the course of the race. The delay saw the 100-lap race shortened by 25 laps to ensure it finished before sunset. It, however, ended after 78 laps. Race results 1. Shane van Gisbergen 2. Justin Haley 3. Chase Elliott 4. Kyle Larson 5. Kyle Busch 6. Austin Cindric 7. Michael McDowell 8. Joey Logano 9. Ty Gibbs 10. Chris Buescher 11. Denny Hamlin 12. Aric Almirola 13. William Byron 14. Corey LaJoie 15. Ryan Preece 16. Erik Jones 17. AJ Allmendinger 18. Christopher Bell 19. Todd Gilliland 20. Chase Briscoe 21. Jenson Button 22. Ross Chastain 23. Josh Bilicki 24. Brad Keselowski 25. Noah Gragson 26. Andy Lally 27. Daniel Suarez 28. Tyler Reddick 30. Harrison Burton 31. Bubba Wallace 32. Martin Truex Jr. 33. Ryan Blaney 34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 35. Ty Dillon 36. Austin Dillon 37. Alex Bowman