Following Chase Elliott's last-lap pass around Brad Keselowski at EchoPark Speedway to pick up his first win of the season at his home track, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the streets of Chicago on Sunday for the running of the Grant Park 165 (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
This will be the 19th race of the season and will serve as the second race of the In-Season Challenge. The 32 drivers were cut in half following a chaotic race in Atlanta in which four of the 40 drivers were not involved in an incident. That led to several upsets, notably top overall seed Denny Hamlin bowing out of the tournament to the No. 32 seed Ty Dillon. While Hamlin's 31st-place finish left plenty to be desired, there were some other drivers below him that did not have a productive night in the Peach State.
As drivers prepare for the third installment of the Chicago Street Race after back-to-back years of weather-impacted runs, some drivers approach the weekend more in search of a rebound performance more than others following the Quaker State 400.
Ryan Blaney, No. 12 (Team Penske Ford)
Blaney has had one of the most up-and-down seasons of any driver in the field in 2025. He has a win at Nashville and eight top-10 finishes coupled with five DNFs. One of those five DNFs came at EchoPark Speedway, when he was caught up in the first multi-car incident of the night on Lap 57. A head-on impact with the outside wall in Turn 4 ended his night before the conclusion of Stage 1.
That last-place finish is definitely one that Blaney will look to put behind him going to Chicago this weekend. He was 10th on the streets of Chicago last season and owns one road-course win at the Charlotte Roval in 2018. He only has two top-10s in his last five starts turning left and right, but he had decent pace in Mexico City before finishing 14th and should have a shot at a solid run on Sunday at the least.
William Byron, No. 24 (Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
The consistency that Byron has showed throughout 2025 has taken a back seat the last two weeks with finishes of 27th at Pocono and 37th at EchoPark Speedway. To make matters worse, he had the fastest car in practice at Pocono before crashing in qualifying and was running at the front of the pack during Stage 1 in Atlanta before he was wiped out in the Big One that damaged over half the field.
Although Elliott cut into his points lead, Byron should have a good shot at bouncing back in the Windy City. He has finishes of 13th (2023) and eighth (2024) there and has three straight top-10s on road courses. Not to mention, he also has a pair of road-course wins, so expect him to be near the front on Sunday and respond from the recent adversity.
Joey Logano, No. 22 (Team Penske Ford)
The Quaker State 400 was not kind to Team Penske and Logano was no exception. Despite winning the pole and coming away with a third-place finish in the opening stage, Logano was one of several drivers that were caught up in the Big One and came away with a 36th-place finish. That was Logano's fourth straight finish outside the top 10 as his inconsistent 2025 season continues.
Logano was a solid eighth in the first Chicago Street Race in 2023, but came home a disappointing 23rd in 2024. He does have a previous road-course win at Watkins Glen in 2015, but has finished outside the top 20 in both road races this season and only has one top-10 in his last seven starts. Don't count on a rebound from the three-time champion this weekend.