From the massive pile-up involving more than half of the drivers on a NASCAR Chicago street track to the spectacular tire crash, wet roads and tight turns made for a bump-packed race at the historic downtown race.
Experts predicted tough conditions even before floods and torrential rain added to the challenges faced by drivers competing in a first-of-its-kind event.
The 2.2-mile course took drivers past famous city landmarks and down major roads, full of 90-degree turns – left and right – with virtually no room for error.
The race was originally scheduled to be 100 laps, but it was shortened to 75 laps due to a rain delay which resulted in the drivers racing to overtake each other and the sun going down.
None of that stopped Shane Van Gisbergen from making Cup Series history in Chicago.
Here’s a look at some of the many accidents spotted during the inaugural Chicago street race:
Extra caution
Dillon wall
Traffic jam on Michigan Avenue
With just over 50 laps completed, a huge pileup took out more drivers than any other crash in the race.
As the cars turned from Michigan Avenue into Jackson Drive in turn 11, William Byron spun off and made contact with the barrier.
Then Kevin Harvick and Corey LaJoie both attempted to avoid his car, causing the cars to start backing up. Byron then attempted to return to the track, blocking the only escape route coming out of the turn.
Kevin Harvick and Corey LaJoie cause a massive pileup in the NASCAR lap, bringing out the sixth caution of the race
Bowman and Hameln rotate
Noah Gragson’s nightmare on the sixth floor
the sandwich
Tire disaster
It only took three laps for the first caution flag to fly thanks to Kyle Busch.
Busch, who started the race at 18y Spot, was coming down Columbus Drive when he lost control of his car heading into Turn 6, and hit the tire barrier at the intersection of Columbus and Balbo Drive:
The No. 8 Kyle Busch caused the first caution in the NASCAR Chicago Street Race when he crashed in turn six
“Student. Incurable problem solver. Amateur baconaholic. Introvert. Infuriatingly humble music fanatic.”