NASCAR Chicago Street Race: Qualifying results, starting lineup and how to watch

Every year when Chicago returns to the street course, Shane van Gisbergen humbles his coworkers.

During the Chicago Street Race qualifiers, van Gisbergen comfortably put No. 88 Trackhouse Chevy on pole, with Michael McDowell alongside on the front row.

Let's take a look at what else took place during the NASCAR Chicago Street Race qualifiers, and what the starting lineup looks like for Sunday afternoon's race.

Denny Hamlin, others do damage before qualifying even starts

Before qualifying even got underway, practice was a war of attrition for many teams. With the street course's tight walls, a few drivers got into the wall too hard and prevented themselves from getting a qualifying attempt on the board.

In the opening seconds of practice, Denny Hamlin's car went around and was stranded. Hamlin emerged from the cockpit without his helmet on as he tried to inspect what happened. Ultimately, it was a blown engine.

And then on a weekend where everyone is chasing Shane van Gisbergen, the closest competitor in practice was William Byron. But minutes after posting his most competitive time, Byron smacked the wall and did significant damage. The same issue happened for teammate Chase Elliott, which prevented both of them from posting a qualifying time.

Chicago's tight walls claim more victims

There were multiple racers who took damage in the qualifiers on Saturday.

Noah Gragson, who was among the faster drivers in practice, did not perform well in qualifying and bookended it with big damage by smacking a wall. He then had to limp it home.

Katherine Legge, among the drivers who was not guaranteed a spot in the field, smacked the wall as she tried to chase Corey Heim for the final spot. But she only hit the wall lightly, and on the very next lap, she punched her ticket to race on Sunday, thanks in part to Heim taking his own damage.

Bubba Wallace had a brutal qualifying session. First, he nearly did a 360-degree spin and almost took out two other cars as he tried to right the ship. Then in the closing moments, he backed his car into the tire barrier.

Brad Keselowski bounced off the turn 7 tire barrier, but escaped without killing the car.

Chase Briscoe goes head-to-head with SVG

Shane van Gisbergen rocked the NASCAR world when he won the inaugural Chicago race, his first-ever NASCAR attempt. He also was probably fastest last year, but a crash that wasn't his fault ended his chances of going back-to-back.

van Gisbergen was tops on the timetable in the early going, but in a shocker, Chase Briscoe knocked him off. Oh by the way, Briscoe was the guy who crashed into van Gisbergen last season.

That lasted a good few minutes before van Gisbergen came back out and put six tenths on Briscoe. The former Supercars champ is basically toying with the others out there, and no one else could touch him for the rest of the session.

Corey Heim goes home in qualifiers

Outside of the Daytona 500, it's rare for NASCAR to have qualifying sessions these days where a driver could miss the race. But 41 drivers entered for the 40-car race, meaning, of course, that one driver would miss out.

The 36 chartered cars are guaranteed a spot in the field, but five open cars raced for the other four spots: Legge for Live Fast Motorsports (No. 78), 23XI's Corey Heim (No. 67), 2024 Supercars champion Will Brown driving for Kaulig (No. 13), RCR Xfinity driver Austin Hill (No. 33), and Josh Bilicki (No. 66).

In the end, in a massive upset, the DNQ (did not qualify) designation went to Heim. Heim, the Truck Series points leader, spent most of his qualifying session limping around a damaged car that did not have a lot of pace in it. Legge was able to post a lap in the second qualifying session to send him home (brutally, on his birthday).

How to watch the Chicago Street Race (Grant Park 165)

The third (and possibly final) Chicago Street Race goes green for the Cup Series on Sunday at around 2:00 p.m. ET. The event will air on TNT in the United States.

We've got how and when to watch the massively entertaining race all in one place if you click here.

Official starting lineup for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 in Chicago

Did Not Qualify: Corey Heim

UPDATE: Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson will start at the back due to repairs.