CHICAGO, Ill. (WAND) - Thousands of fans flocked to Grant Park in Chicago for the second-ever street race on the Nascar calendar.
 
Practice and qualifying sessions started early in the day, but for Riverton native and driver Justin Allgaier, his session was abruptly cut short. Allgaier locked up his tires headed into turn four at the end of Lake Shore Drive, and ran into the tire barriers. As other drivers passed his stationary car while he attempted to re-fire the engine, Alon Day took the turn wide and collided with the back of Allgaier's car. The damage was so severe, Allgaier did not post a qualifying time, to allow time for repairs.
 
In order to race, he and his team made use of a backup car but faced the penalty of starting at the rear of the field for the afternoon's The Loop 110. Slowly but surely, Allgaier worked his way up the pack. Making use of a strategically timed pit stop and several yellow flags, the #7 car finished ninth - a result that Allgaier and his team will be satisfied with considering the circumstances.
 
Last year's winner in the inaugural street Cup Series race, New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, took the checkered flag to win the XFinity Series race.
 
Mt. Zion native Drew Blickensderfer is the Crew Chief for the Cup Series #10 of Noah Gragson. Their team will start from the 28th slot for Sunday's race.
 
The green flag drops shortly after 3:30pm.
 
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