The 2023 The Loop 121 was the 16th stock car race of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the inaugural iteration of the event. The race was scheduled to be held on Saturday, July 1, 2023, but after 25 laps, the race was postponed until Sunday, July 2, due to inclement weather. The race was held in Chicago, Illinois at the Chicago Street Course, a street course. The race was originally scheduled to be contested over 55 laps, but was decreased to 25 laps (2 laps short of the typical point where the race could be called official) due to downpouring rain and standing water. Cole Custer, driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, would lead all 25 laps of the race after starting from the pole, and earned his 12th career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his second of the season. To fill out the podium, John Hunter Nemechek, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Justin Allgaier, driving for JR Motorsports, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively. This was the first street race to be contested in the series.

Background The Chicago Street Course is a street circuit located in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. The track was initially a conceptual track on iRacing made for the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series in 2021.

The track for the actual race in 2023 ended up being the exact same layout as the version used in 2021 for the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. The start/finish line is located on South Columbus Drive in front of Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. The cars will go south and then turn left onto East Balbo Drive and then right onto South Lake Shore Drive (also part of U.S. Route 41), which is alongside Lake Michigan. The cars will then turn right onto East Roosevelt Road and then make another right, which gets them back onto South Columbus Drive where they are going north. They will then reach the intersection of South Columbus Drive and East Balbo Drive again and will make a left turn. When they are back on East Balbo Drive, they will cross a bridge over the Metra Electric District tracks. Next, the cars will turn right onto South Michigan Avenue and go north, go onto East Congress Plaza Drive and back onto South Michigan Ave. Lastly, they will make a right turn onto East Jackson Drive, go back across the Metra Electric tracks, and right back onto South Columbus Drive to the start/finish line.

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMake00Cole CusterStewart-Haas RacingFord1Sam MayerJR MotorsportsChevrolet02Blaine Perkins (R)Our MotorsportsChevrolet2Sheldon CreedRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Kyle WeathermanJD MotorsportsChevrolet6Brennan PooleJD MotorsportsChevrolet07Spencer PumpellySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet7Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet08Joey GaseSS-Green Light RacingFord8Josh BerryJR MotorsportsChevrolet9Brandon JonesJR MotorsportsChevrolet10Justin MarksKaulig RacingChevrolet11Daniel HemricKaulig RacingChevrolet16Chandler Smith (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet18Sammy Smith (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota19Connor Mosack (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota20John Hunter NemechekJoe Gibbs RacingToyota21Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet24Parker ChaseSam Hunt RacingToyota25Brett MoffittAM RacingFord26Kaz GralaSam Hunt RacingToyota27Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet28Brent ShermanRSS RacingFord31Parker Retzlaff (R)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet34Andre CastroJesse Iwuji MotorsportsChevrolet35Alex LabbéEmerling-Gase MotorsportsToyota36Alex GuenetteDGM RacingChevrolet38Joe Graf Jr.RSS RacingFord39Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord43Ryan EllisAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet44Sage KaramAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet45Jeffrey EarnhardtAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet48Parker KligermanBig Machine RacingChevrolet50Preston PardusPardus RacingChevrolet51Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet53Brad PerezEmerling-Gase MotorsportsChevrolet66Dexter StaceyMBM MotorsportsToyota74Dawson CramCHK RacingChevrolet78Anthony AlfredoB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet88Miguel PaludoJR MotorsportsChevrolet91Dexter BeanDGM RacingChevrolet92Josh WilliamsDGM RacingChevrolet98Riley HerbstStewart-Haas RacingFordOfficial entry list

Practice The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, July 1, at 10:00 AM CST, and would last for 50 minutes. Justin Marks, driving for Kaulig Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:32.138, and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed110Justin MarksKaulig RacingChevrolet1:32.13885.95822Sheldon CreedRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:32.15785.94031Sam MayerJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:32.25085.854Full practice results

Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday, July 1, at 11:00 AM CST. Since the Chicago Street Course is a street course, the qualifying system is a two group system, with two rounds. Drivers will be separated into two groups, Group A and Group B. Each driver will have multiple laps to set a time. The fastest 5 drivers from each group will advance to the final round. The fastest driver to set a time in that round will win the pole. Cole Custer, driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 1:30.421, and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTime ()Speed ()Time ()Speed ()100Cole CusterStewart-Haas RacingFord1:31.08786.9501:30.42187.59022Sheldon CreedRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:30.70287.3191:30.43987.573320John Hunter NemechekJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1:31.67586.3921:30.71387.308419Connor Mosack (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1:31.09086.9471:31.01887.016521Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:31.03587.0001:31.45886.59767Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:31.46186.5941:31.78186.292725Brett MoffittAM RacingFord1:31.54086.5201:31.79186.283818Sammy Smith (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1:31.58586.4771:31.83086.246911Daniel HemricKaulig RacingChevrolet1:31.74186.3301:32.06486.0271048Parker KligermanBig Machine RacingChevrolet1:31.79786.2771:33.60384.613Eliminated from Round 11144Sage KaramAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:31.71186.358——1210Justin MarksKaulig RacingChevrolet1:31.87286.207——1350Preston PardusPardus RacingChevrolet1:31.91586.167——141Sam MayerJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:32.32285.787——1598Riley HerbstStewart-Haas RacingFord1:32.36085.751——1616Chandler Smith (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet1:32.36685.746——1788Miguel PaludoJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:32.45685.662——1836Alex GuenetteDGM RacingChevrolet1:32.56485.562——1935Alex LabbéEmerling-Gase MotorsportsToyota1:32.64485.489——2043Ryan EllisAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:32.80285.343——2131Parker Retzlaff (R)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1:32.93485.222——2207Spencer PumpellySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1:32.93985.217——238Josh BerryJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:32.95485.203——2439Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord1:33.07985.089——2526Kaz GralaSam Hunt RacingToyota1:33.12585.047——2624Parker ChaseSam Hunt RacingToyota1:33.19284.986——2753Brad PerezEmerling-Gase MotorsportsChevrolet1:33.25184.932——2834Andre CastroJesse Iwuji MotorsportsChevrolet1:33.26584.919——2902Blaine Perkins (R)Our MotorsportsChevrolet1:33.31784.872——309Brandon JonesJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:33.45484.748——3127Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1:33.52784.681——324Kyle WeathermanJD MotorsportsChevrolet1:33.62184.596——336Brennan PooleJD MotorsportsChevrolet1:33.69784.528——Qualified by owner's points3478Anthony AlfredoB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet1:33.99784.258——3538Joe Graf Jr.RSS RacingFord1:34.57083.747——3692Josh WilliamsDGM RacingChevrolet1:35.06183.315——3751Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet1:35.30383.103——3828Brent ShermanRSS RacingFord1:36.77181.843——Failed to qualify3991Dexter BeanDGM RacingChevrolet1:34.02784.231——4045Jeffrey EarnhardtAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:34.42383.878——4108Joey GaseSS-Green Light RacingFord1:34.57683.742——4274Dawson CramCHK RacingChevrolet1:35.47282.956——4366Dexter StaceyMBM MotorsportsToyota1:38.23380.625——Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup

Race results Only 25 laps of the race were run, the entirety of stage 1 and the first 10 laps of stage 2. After several lightning delays on Saturday, NASCAR planned to postpone the rest of the race to Sunday, the morning before the Cup race. However, torrential rain on Sunday morning (including several flash flood warnings issued for the region) led to NASCAR issuing an unprecedented decision to call the race before the point the race could be called official.

Stage 1 Laps: 15 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts100Cole CusterStewart-Haas RacingFord10220John Hunter NemechekJoe Gibbs RacingToyota9321Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet847Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet7519Connor Mosack (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota6625Brett MoffittAM RacingFord5718Sammy Smith (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota4811Daniel HemricKaulig RacingChevrolet3948Parker KligermanBig Machine RacingChevrolet21016Chandler Smith (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet1 Stage 2 Laps: 10*

The drivers who finished in the top ten were given stage points (10-1)

Final Results Pos.St#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts1100Cole CusterStewart-Haas RacingFord2525Running602320John Hunter NemechekJoe Gibbs RacingToyota250Running53367Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet250Running494725Brett MoffittAM RacingFord250Running455521Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet250Running466818Sammy Smith (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota250Running407911Daniel HemricKaulig RacingChevrolet250Running3781616Chandler Smith (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet250Running3391048Parker KligermanBig Machine RacingChevrolet250Running32102526Kaz GralaSam Hunt RacingToyota250Running281122Sheldon CreedRichard Childress RacingChevrolet250Running26121350Preston PardusPardus RacingChevrolet250Running25131788Miguel PaludoJR MotorsportsChevrolet250Running2414324Kyle WeathermanJD MotorsportsChevrolet250Running23151836Alex GuenetteDGM RacingChevrolet250Running22162624Parker ChaseSam Hunt RacingToyota250Running21172902Blaine Perkins (R)Our MotorsportsChevrolet250Running2018141Sam MayerJR MotorsportsChevrolet250Running19193127Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet250Running18203751Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet250Running17211935Alex LabbéEmerling-Gase MotorsportsToyota250Running16221144Sage KaramAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet250Running1523238Josh BerryJR MotorsportsChevrolet250Running14241598Riley HerbstStewart-Haas RacingFord250Running13252439Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord250Running1226336Brennan PooleJD MotorsportsChevrolet250Running11273478Anthony AlfredoB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet250Running10282207Spencer PumpellySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet250Running9292131Parker Retzlaff (R)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet250Running830309Brandon JonesJR MotorsportsChevrolet250Running7312043Ryan EllisAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet250Running6322753Brad PerezEmerling-Gase MotorsportsChevrolet250Running5333538Joe Graf Jr.RSS RacingFord250Running4343828Brent ShermanRSS RacingFord250Running335419Connor Mosack (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota250Running8363692Josh WilliamsDGM RacingChevrolet220Running1372834Andre CastroJesse Iwuji MotorsportsChevrolet160Accident1381210Justin MarksKaulig RacingChevrolet30Engine1Official race results

Notes

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 John Hunter Nemechek 638 2 Austin Hill 622 (-16) 1 3 Cole Custer 594 (–44) 1 4 Justin Allgaier 593 (–45) 1 5 Chandler Smith 498 (–140) 1 6 Josh Berry 484 (–154) 1 7 Sam Mayer 448 (–190) 1 8 Sheldon Creed 445 (–193) 1 9 Daniel Hemric 436 (–202) 1 10 Sammy Smith 435 (–203) 2 11 Riley Herbst 429 (–209) 12 Parker Kligerman 403 (–235)Official driver's standings

Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.

References