Kevin Harvick Bets on Ty Gibbs Over Shane Van Gisbergen to Win at Chicago

Ex-NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick has shared his thoughts on who might win this Sunday’s Chicago Street race.

Kevin Harvick Bets on Ty Gibbs Over Shane Van Gisbergen to Win at Chicago

Ty Gibbs, Kevin Harvick and Shane Van Gisbergen (Via IMAGO)

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The Cup and Xfinity garage is at Chicago City this weekend for the third edition of the NASCAR street race, and as it has been in the last two times Shane van Gisbergen is among the front runner to win it. He won the inaugural cup race in 2023 and won the Xfinity event last season. He also has momentum on his side with the Mexico City race win.

But 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick doesn’t think a second career Cup Street race win is on the table for Shane van Gisbergen. In the latest episode of the Happy Hour podcast, he and his co-host made the predictions for the event. The ex-SHR driver expects Ty Gibbs to thrive in potentially wet race. The JGR youngster is still searching for a maiden win, and Chicago might give him that moment.

I’m going to look at the weather forecast. I’m going to make this super technical. Let’s see. And I’m not going to tell you if it’s raining, because you’re not changing your pick. 10-day, 50% chance of rain on Sunday. Hmm. Yep. I’m going to go with Ty Gibbs.

Kevin Harvick said on Happy Hour podcast.

At the same time, the co-host of the podcast Kaitlyn Vincie is making the obvious choice. She expects SVG, the low-hanging fruit to secure the race win. She is expecting this victory to come despite the fact that the Kiwi got beaten by Alex Bowman in last season’s race and multiple drivers in the garage now has enough experience to pull of strong runs.

My pick for the winner in Chicago is (Shane van Gisbergen). Low-hanging f*cking fruit. I need help right now. I need help!

Kaitlyn Vincie said.

The third host of the podcast, Mamba Smith, who is known for making bold prediction decided to go with a proven road course racer. Though the No:45 team has been winless in 2025 so far, Smith expects the streak to end at Chicago and for 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick to bring Toyota back to the victory lane.

I’m really, honestly, I’m really up in the air about who I should pick on this one. And I think I’m going to go with Tyler Reddick. He’s had speed there before. I think he kind of gave one up there before. And they need to keep these good runs going. So, I’m going to go Tyler Reddick.

Mamba Smith said.

Ty Gibbs is going to Chicago with a revamped team to fight Shane van Gisbergen and others

Road courses have always been good tracks for Ty Gibbs, and if not for unlucky moments he would have secured his maiden Cup wins in one these events. At the moment he is having a tough time with disappointing finishes, while all three of his teammates have won races securing places in the playoffs.

Ty Gibbs
Ty Gibbs (Via IMAGO)

This has inspired Joe Gibbs Racing to make a big change ahead of the Chicago weekends. The team’s competition director and ex-crew chief of Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart is set to take over the special role of race strategist in order to help crew chief Tyler Allen, who has been struggling to get wins.

Let’s call it unorthodox for this garage. But the reality is that once [Joe Gibbs Racing] got three cars in the playoffs, when you look at it simply, we’ve got one left we’re trying to get in.

Chris Gabehart said.

This seems to be desperate move from JGR to ensure all four of their cars are in the playoffs. They have fast cars and at the moment, it seems the approach towards racing and driving style is what holding the No:54 team back. Having Gabehart in the pit-box is going to help the crew finally pull off solid result, with a big change of dynamic.

Also Read: Kevin Harvick Urges NASCAR to Replace Chicago Street Race with Forgotten Iconic Venue