Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch are set to battle during an in-house competition on the streets of Chicago.
According to a Wednesday announcement, the two road course winners will take on the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday, July 5, while driving for JR Motorsports. Zilisch will drive the No. 88 as part of his full-season schedule while van Gisbergen, a full-time Cup Series driver, will control the No. 9 during a one-off start.
The in-house competition theme is due to the sponsors on their cars and the fact that both drivers are under contract with Trackhouse Racing. Zilisch and van Gisbergen are both part of the Red Bull family, and they both have WeatherTech as a primary sponsor. Chicago week, in particular, will see the two drivers running schemes highlighting both of these sponsors.
Photo credit: JR Motorsports
Both of these drivers have previously shown that they can win on road courses in the Xfinity Series. Van Gisbergen won at Portland, Sonoma, and Chicago last season. Zilisch has wins at Watkins Glen International and Circuit of the Americas over the past two seasons.
The only time these two drivers faced off in an Xfinity Series road course race was last season at Watkins Glen. Zilisch started from the pole and won after leading 45 of the 90 laps. Van Gisbergen started 14th, led 13 laps, and finished fifth.
The two road course aces will face off once again in the Xfinity Series once the calendar turns to July. They will have more on the line during this in-house competition. They will race to see which Red Bull/WeatherTech scheme and which Trackhouse Racing driver is more succcessful on the streets of the Windy City.
Sure, this race won't matter to van Gisbergen in terms of the championship battle -- he is a playoff driver in the Cup Series after winning in Mexico City -- but both drivers will have the opportunity to win some bragging rights.