Due to an almost two-hour rain delay within the second stage, NASCAR set 8:20 p.m. local time as the ultimate finish for Sunday's originally scheduled 75-lap race.
Alex Bowman was one in all a handful of drivers who didn’t pit for the beginning of the ultimate stage and stayed on wet weather tyres.
After battling with sports automotive star Joey Hand for several laps, Bowman moved into the lead on lap 51, just before Josh Berry was yellow flagged for hitting the tire barriers.
When the race resumed on lap 54 with about 4 minutes remaining on the clock, Bowman accelerated well off the restart after which passed the fast-approaching Tyler Reddick – on latest slicks – by 2.863 seconds to take his first win of the 2024 season and secure a spot within the playoffs.
Watch: Alex Bowman on Chicago's win: 'I comprehend it means quite a bit to this team'
Bowman’s last victory got here on March 6, 2022, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and now all 4 Hendrick Motorsports drivers have qualified for the 16-driver playoff.
“Whenever you go to the track with Hendrick Motorsports, you have a chance,” Bowman said after the race. “But first I even have to apologize to the blokes within the No. 23 (and driver Bubba Wallace). I just messed something up attempting to activate the wipers, missed the turn and ruined their day. I hate it. I’m still embarrassed about it, but we now have a trophy to take home and I comprehend it means quite a bit to this team. They put me able to win the race.
“Man, I broke my back, I had a brain injury, and we've been sort of struggling since then, and I haven't – you begin to wonder if you happen to're ever going to have a likelihood to win a race. The last one we won wasn't something to rejoice.
“We're going to drink so much damn bourbon tonight, it's going to be a bad deal. I'll probably wake up naked on the bathroom floor again. It's just part of the deal.”
Ty Gibbs finished third, Hand driving the third automotive for RFK Racing was fourth, and Michael McDowell accomplished the highest five.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Todd Gilliland, William Byron, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney accomplished the highest ten.
The two essential candidates to win on Sunday ended their struggles prematurely.
Three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen, who won the race last 12 months, crashed on lap 25. Kyle Larson, who began from pole position, crashed on lap 34.
The start of Sunday's race was briefly delayed after a protester – holding a “Free Palestine” banner – climbed the fence at Turn 3 and handcuffed himself to it before being removed by police.
Light rain fell during a break within the race, and NASCAR allowed teams to make your mind up whether to start out the race on wet-weather tires before the beginning.
Scene 1
After a detailed battle with Christopher Bell, van Gisbergen had emerged ahead and secured the Stage 1 victory when the yellow flag was brought out with three laps remaining attributable to a crash involving Corey LaJoie. Bell finished second, Gibbs third, Chase Briscoe fourth and Larson fifth.
Stage 2
After a rain delay of nearly an hour and 45 minutes, Hand took the lead when a lot of the cars within the lead decided to pit for the break and maintained his advantage over Bowman by 0.131 seconds to win Stage 2. Keselowski was third, Carson Hocevar fourth and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the highest five.
On lap 25, with the sphere racing within the rain, Bowman spun out while passing Bubba Wallace at Turn 2, then at Turn 6, Briscoe locked up his brakes on the entry to Turn 6 and spun violently, hitting the tire barriers and hitting last 12 months's race winner, van Gisbergen.
Following the collision with Briscoe, Van Gisbergen hit the wall, however the damage to Van Gisbergen's No. 16 Chevrolet was too severe for him to proceed.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and three, several drivers opted to pit for slicks, but Hand remained on the right track and led.
NASCAR had previously scheduled the race to finish at 8:20 p.m. local time attributable to approaching darkness, which meant there was about 16 minutes remaining when the race resumed on lap 49.
On lap 50, Bowman closed in on Hand's rear bumper, and the 2 drivers separated themselves from the majority of the sphere, battling for the lead.
On lap 51, Bowman passed Hand to take the lead for the primary time within the race, just before the yellow flag was brought out for hitting Josh Berry within the tire barriers at Turn 2.
The race resumed with about five minutes remaining with Bowman ahead of Hand, Keselowski and Truex.
