In the nation's Second City this weekend, standout road racer Shane van Gisbergen will be seeking his own second — another NASCAR Cup Series win. When the Grant Park 165 takes the green flag Sunday for the second running of the Chicago Street Race, all eyes will be on the New Zealander's return engagement in the Windy City. van Gisbergen, 35, is the +200 favorite to do so at BetMGM, where he has been backed by the most total bets (13.8%) and money (27.5%) to win since opening at +550. That makes him the book's biggest liability this week despite his short odds as the favorite. The Trackhouse Motorsports driver shocked the NASCAR world one year ago when he won the inaugural Chicago race, locking down the victory as street lamps came to life and darkness descended on the city by the lake. Nicknamed SVG for brevity's sake, the Project 91 Chevrolet road-racing specialist worked his way past Justin Haley to win the race, which was shortened by 25 laps due to impending darkness. The Auckland, New Zealand, native became the first driver to win his debut in NASCAR's top series in 60 years. Johnny Rutherford won in 1963 at Daytona in a qualifying race, then considered a points event. van Gisbergen is only driving a handful of Cup races this season, but he already has left an indelible mark on the Xfinity Series, where he races the No. 97 Chevrolet full time for Kaulig Racing alongside teammate AJ Allmendinger. In the first Xfinity Series race of June at Portland Raceway, he beat Justin Allgaier on a restart with four laps to go. The three-time Australian Supercars champion then repeated the following weekend at Sonoma Raceway with another victory, leading 32 of 79 circuits and beating Sheldon Creed for his second career series triumph. Kaulig team president Chris Rice has been impressed with van Gisbergen and said his style is different from that of Allmendinger, a road-racing ringer. "It's a different special," Rice said. "AJ came into our place and has been one of the best road course racers ever in this sport. His driving style and SVG's driving style is so different that SVG is going to be the best racer from Australia and the way they do it and he's got to learn these cars." After van Gisbergen won the Xfinity pole, Kyle Larson went out and topped the chart for Sunday's Cup Series race around the 2.2-mile temporary circuit by turning a lap in 127.836 seconds. His speed of 90.168 mph barely nipped Ty Gibbs' of 90.158. Michael McDowell and Tyler Reddick will occupy Row 2, while SVG and Bubba Wallace will line up behind them. "SVG is a special driver," Rice added. "He has more talent than we've seen in a long time come from anywhere else. He's going to do very well, but when you get to the Cup side, it's way harder than showing up in Xfinity. "He has so much car control, it's unbelievable." LARSON'S ON POLE Kyle Larson has also seen his odds shorten since charging to the pole during Saturday's qualifying. After opening at +600, Larson's odds had shifted to +310 by Sunday morning. He has also been backed by the second most total bets (9.4%) and money (12.0%). "It wasn't perfect," said Larson, who ran a track-record 90.496 mph (87.518 seconds) in the opening round. "It was better than my first lap (in the final round), but I think I had better grip potential on the first lap, so I wish I could have had a couple corners back there. "Judging by the reaction from my spotter, it had to be pretty close on lap time, so really awesome to get a pole here in Chicago … (We've) checked the first box and, hopefully, we can keep it going." It's Larson's series-best fifth pole of the season and the 21st of his career. LONGSHOT PICK Joey Logano (+10000): The two-time Cup Series champion is languishing at 14th in this season's standings with a lone win and three top-5 finishes. However, that win came last week in five overtimes in Nashville after Logano started 26ths. Logano, who has three top-6 finishes in his past five races, is also the book's third-biggest liability this week, having drawn 2.9 percent of all money wagered on the race winner with his longshot odds. –Field Level Media Relatedsportsbooks onlinebrand new online betting sitesonline betting apptop live betting siteslive betting linesin-game cash out
Related Posts
Best Odds: 4/6
Bookmaker:
In a battle between the now-former and current Serie A champions, Juventus will welcome Inter Milan to Turin on Saturday evening in what is another mouthwatering affair.
Juventus
Starting with the hosts, managing to avoid what was a scare away at Sassuolo earlier in the week, Juventus still find themselves in an uphill battle to clinch a Champions League spot for next season. Eventually leaving the Città del Tricolore with a 3-1 win on Wednesday night, The Old Lady are still a single point adrift from finding a route back into the top-four. With time really starting to tick away and just a pair of Serie A matchups remaining this year, Head Coach Andrea Pirlo knows that he is also fighting a battle to keep hold of his role in the Allia…
Carlo Ancelotti has claimed it is not mission impossible for Everton to end their miserable record against Merseyside rivals Liverpool.
Everton s dire run in derbies continued earlier in December, with a 5-2 defeat at Anfield marking the end of Marco Silva s tenure.
The Toffees have not beaten Liverpool, who currently lead the Premier League by 10 points, in any competition since 2010.
Ancelotti, however, defeated Jurgen Klopp s full-strength team this season, with Napoli beating the Reds 2-0 in their opening Champions League fixture.
Everton visit Anfield again in the FA Cup on January 5 and Ancelotti is relishing going up against the European champions.
The Evertonians know my record against Liverpool, they will be happy with this, the Italian,…
The Saudi sovereign wealth fund which owns Newcastle has taken majority stakes in four of the Middle Eastern country’s biggest clubs, including Cristiano Ronaldo’s team Al Nassr.
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is taking 75 per cent stakes in Al Nassr, Asian Champions League finalists Al Hilal, Al Ahli and Al Ittihad, who are understood to be interested in signing Karim Benzema after his intention to leave Real Madrid at the end of the season was confirmed.
The PIF also own an 80 per cent stake in Newcastle following the completion of a protracted and controversial takeover in October 2021.
As part of today’s announcement of the Sports Clubs Investment and Privatization Project, four Saudi clubs – Al Ittihad, Al Ahli, Al Nassr, and Al Hilal – have been…
A 12-year-old boy has been charged and reported in relation to the alleged racist abuse of a Rangers player during the Old Firm derby in December.
The incident allegedly took place during Rangers 2-1 victory over Premiership champions Celtic on December 29.
The boy cannot be named for legal reasons, Police Scotland confirmed on Monday.
Superintendent Mark Sutherland of Greater Glasgow Division said: Abuse of any form is completely unacceptable and Police Scotland will continue to rigorously investigate any reports of abuse we receive and bring those responsible before the relevant authorities.
We d remind the public that, as the person charged is below the age of 18, he cannot be named or identified for legal reasons as per the Criminal Procedure (Scotl…
Christian Pulisic will have no issues adapting to life in the Premier League and will thrive at Chelsea, according to Borussia Dortmund s sporting director Michael Zorc.
Chelsea confirmed the signing of 20-year-old Pulisic on January 2 for a fee of €64million, with the winger remaining at Dortmund on loan until the end of 2018-19 as they aim to secure their first Bundesliga title since 2012.
Pulisic has enjoyed a stellar rise to prominence at Dortmund since joining the club in 2015, and Zorc has no doubts over the youngster s ability to take the Premier League by storm.
He s a lad who comes with that typically American self-confidence, Zorc told ESPN at Dortmund s training camp in Marbella.
Many of his characteristics will help him in England where ev…
Polish full-back Mateusz Zukowski has left Rangers to join Slask Wroclaw.
The 21-year-old moved to Ibrox on a three-and-a-half-year contract from Lechia Gdansk in January 2022.
However, the Poland Under-21 international made only one first-team appearance, in a Scottish Cup win away to Annan just weeks after his arrival.
Zukowski has been allowed to leave Rangers and return to his homeland for an undisclosed fee.
“Everyone at the club wishes Mateusz Zukowski the very best of luck for the future,” Rangers tweeted as they confirmed his departure.
Meanwhile, Rangers appear to be close to finalising a fifth new signing of the summer, with Brighton forward Abdallah Sima reportedly undergoing a medical on Wednesday ahead of a proposed season-long lo…
Luka Modric has revealed he held talks with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich in 2011 over a possible transfer from Tottenham.
The Croatia international starred for Tottenham in the 2010-11 campaign their first in the Champions League and was strongly linked with a move away.
He admitted at the time he was interested in a switch to London rivals Chelsea but Spurs were said to have knocked back a £22million offer at the time.
Modric was fully aware of Chelsea s attempts to sign him and, nearly a decade on, he has opened up on the conversation he held with Abramovich on the billionaire s yacht.
With the 2010-11 Premier League season over, I was ready for my summer vacation, he wrote in Luka Modric: My Autobiography, which is being serialised by The Guardian…
Hansi Flick has reiterated his stance regarding the future at Bayern Munich, determined only to concern himself with the finish line against Borussia Dortmund.
Flick has taken over at Bayern in a caretaker capacity since Niko Kovac s sacking, having previously served as assistant coach.
The 54-year-old s first game in charge saw the Bundesliga champions defeat Olympiacos in the Champions League in midweek, but he faces a mammoth fixture this weekend.
Bayern, fourth in the Bundesliga and four points off the top, host second-placed Dortmund on Saturday.
As Flick explained following Bayern s European win, the upcoming match can be his only concern despite the continued wait for the appointment of a new coach potentially impacting his role at the club.
…
Stevenage boss Steve Evans has been charged by the Football Association for failing to comply with a touchline ban.
Evans has until Thursday to respond to an allegation that he breached the terms of an existing punishment – social media users suggested he was too close to the pitch – during his side’s 3-1 League One defeat at Peterborough on March 13.
An FA spokesperson said on the governing body’s official X – formerly Twitter – account: “Stevenage’s Steve Evans has been charged for allegedly failing to comply with the terms of an automatic touchline suspension.
— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson)
“The manager allegedly breached the terms of his suspension at their EFL League One game against Peterborough United on Wednesday…
Milan s unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt after 11 games as Yusuf Yazici s hat-trick secured an emphatic 3-0 victory for Lille in the Europa League.
Inspired by the form of Zlatan Ibrahimovic – who already has eight goals to his name – Stefano Pioli s side have made a wonderful start to 2020-21.
But Ibrahimovic, who was subbed off in the 62nd minute, failed to lift the Rossoneri in a dismal showing at San Siro, with Yazici running the show.
The 23-year-old Turkey international opened the scoring from the spot 21 minutes in, before becoming the first player to score a hat-trick against Milan in all competitions since Rivaldo in October 2000 with quickfire strikes early in the second half to move Lille one point clear at the top of Group H.
3 Yusuf…