Chris Knight | NASCAR Insider, Catchfence

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Visit L2R Smarter, Safer, Faster.com and start moving today. From Chicago, we are pleased to welcome Chris Knight, who is the owner and insider for Catch Fence, follows the NASCAR circuit, the cup circuit, all over the country. And here we are about dead center of this 2023 season with this iconic moment and really a ton of buzz around Chicago, even going back to when the announcement was made a year ago.

So Chris, thank you for joining us on the holiday weekend. First time ever for NASCAR. First time for Chicago.

First time for street racing. You were there. You got to witness it all.

What will you take away from it? I will take away that NASCAR pulled off one of the most unbelievable race events of not only this season, but probably the last 75 years, right? Because to put the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series on the streets of Chicago was something I had never thought I would ever see in my lifetime. And for them to do that and to overcome the rain that the track experience or the circuit experience on Sunday, and then for everything to clear out right close to race time. I know we were a little bit delayed to get the green flag, but once we got the green flag, fans and the motorsports world was treated to an absolutely unbelievable event as something that just keeps your goosebumps flowing even after hours at the checker flag has come and to see a driver, you know, with Justin Barks' Project 91 initiative and a driver from, you know, across the world come over and win the NASCAR Cup Series Grand Park 220 for the first time, you know, which is unbelievable.

When you talk about how special and how iconic and how unique and also how historic, what made it that way? What was so amazing about being there on the streets of Chicago? Well, I think people were skeptical about how well NASCAR would put this event together, right?

And how would the people of Chicago react to it, right? And Julie Giese and her entire NASCAR team hats off to them because they put on not only a incredible weekend, but an incredible week of events leading up to the races this weekend in Chicago. It was event after event, the fans came out into the thousands and fans were cheering and high-fiving and just capturing an unbelievable moment for the sport. And I think it really opened up the door for NASCAR to look in another direction and say, hey, we can not only do this in Chicago, but we can have the opportunity to have a NASCAR street course race throughout the country or even throughout the world. I mean, the opportunities are endless, knowing that they were able to pull this off and they were troubled by weather. They conquered the weather and then wound up having an incredible race. Shane Van Diesen did an absolutely great job coming back through the field.

He's trapped by strategy and for him to come through the field in his first ever race and to win and beat the guys like Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, the Daytona 500 champion from 2022. Just unbelievable what we were able to witness on Sunday. It was pouring before they dropped the green flag. And actually, I guess they had him out there for a few laps under caution. Initially, we saw a bunch of cars spinning out, hitting tires, losing control. Ultimately, how did the weather impact what we saw on Sunday? Well, I think they made the track treacherous to start the race.

We started on the wet weather package, which is obviously a tire that's conducive to resting on a wet pavement. And so we started the race to the wet and obviously it was treacherous. And I think people were maybe going a little bit faster or taking chances that they probably shouldn't have been taking so early into the race. But thankfully, Amy, the track was able to dry out much before the halfway point of the race. And once we got to that point of the race where they were switching from treaded tires to the standard slick tires, we saw unbelievable opportunities.

We saw drivers making passes and putting themselves in positions. And ultimately, because of starting the race late, we had to unfortunately shorten the event by about 25 laps or so. But still, that intensity built up because you knew the end of the race was coming and it offered so much strategy.

And you were just on the edge of your seat wondering what was going to happen next. And to see Shane come back through the field. And we all thought Justin Haley and Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott, we thought the race was going to boil down to those three guys. And here comes Shane in the track house car and he boils them all down and did it so cleanly for his first ever Cup Series race. It was really a magical day for that organization. And what Justin Marks and Pitbull have done for the sport and bringing this project to the forefront with Kimi Raikkonen and Shane and who knows who's next, right? NASCAR's in a really great place right now and I can't wait to see what's in the future for the sport. We're so excited to welcome Chris Knight back to the show. His enthusiasm is what we love about him and he is co-owner of Catch Fence but also has been covering NASCAR for a long time and is there in Chicago after the Grant Park 220.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. It's never happened. Not in my lifetime, not in your lifetime that a guy making his debut in NASCAR in the Cup Series has been able to pull off a win.

It hasn't happened since 1960. But then the fact that as you point out, it's a global perspective where maybe street racing and the road racing is more common in parts of Europe and other parts of the world to be able to treat the fans to such an incredible finish once the track had dried out. All of that makes this race even better than just the concept because it actually worked.

Yeah, it did work and it worked well and it worked great and Shane, we called him SVG for short over the last couple weekends as we got to know him. He brought a world audience with him, right? He's a three-time VA Supercar Champion. That's the same kind of racing that Marcus Ambrose did and he came to NASCAR for a long time. Marcus Ambrose had a successful career, one in the Cup Series, one in Xfinity Series, but for Shane to come over here and adapt as quickly as he did and he had a, you know, when you have Darien Grubb and you have Justin Marks and you have the teammates of Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain behind you, but for Shane to hop in that car with very, you know, no experience in a Cup car and him to adapt to a street course, it just played into his wheelhouse.

I think a street course and I think the drivers all seem to have fun. I don't think they wanted the race to end, but unfortunately it had to end because we got close to darkness, but I think, you know, the drivers got so accustomed to racing it and of course we've had, you know, different forms of road course racing over the last couple years with the ROBO being introduced at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but this street course racing, it was just something, it was breathtaking to see these Cup cars and these Xfinity cars racing, you know, when and they had the Pierre and Lake Michigan, you know, behind them and beside them and just a backdrop of the buildings of Chicago. It was just, whether you, if you weren't there, you still felt it, whether you at home or listening on the radio or watching the races on TV. And if you were there, it was something that you'll never forget.

Well, good. I'd love you to expand a little more on driver reaction. What did they have to say about this event? You know, I've heard that, you know, from the drivers that were interviewed, it was all positive.

It was very positive. You know, obviously there were some drivers that were frustrated because they felt like that maybe NASCAR waited a little bit too long to tell them that the race was going to end and ultimately hindered their strategy. So there were some backlash on that, but that's, I don't think that's either here or there because Shane was put in that same position as someone like Christopher Bell, who challenged for the race, a race win early in the race, but Shane was able to conquer that strategy and win, but overall just the vibe, you could see it, Amy, on social media after the races, when the drivers went to their social platforms and were just embracing this race and talking about how much they enjoyed it.

And can we do it next year? And, you know, the fans turn, I think the fans is what really made this event, right? Despite the heavy rain, despite the potential for, you know, just miserable conditions for most of the day, the fans still packed the house. And when they packed the house and they were able to see such a great race unfold, you could just feel that electricity when the checker flat flew, nobody wanted to leave. They were just there to enjoy it and they didn't care about the rain and they didn't care about, you know, having clothes drenched. All they care about was seeing a part of history unfold on the streets of Chicago.

And I think that's something that will all take away for weeks and even months to come. I got to tell you, it was a little jarring though, to see them racing through puddles, like they were standing water on the streets as they started. And that was different as someone who's grown up watching NASCAR, where generally they've had to dry the entire track before they could get cars out there. I applaud NASCAR because they did a great job. Yes, there was some areas in standing water, but for the most part, the track was in really great shape. The circuit was in really great shape. And I applaud NASCAR and the drivers, you know, NASCAR asked the drivers and the spotters and the teams if they were okay to go racing and they all gave them the thumbs up.

Right. And, and so you had some drivers had some trouble early in the race. I know, you know, Kyle Bush had some problems and Noah Gregson had some issues and his lousy and Eric Jones. But I think that was those guys just overstepping the limit of what the cars were capable of doing that early in the race until the track got, got drier. And once that track got dry, you just saw mistakes happen because people were being more aggressive and they realized that the end of the race was coming.

And so I think that's what the intensity built up. And I think that led to a lot of the electricity that the event happened, but Amy, we've been able to take this wet weather package and we go to places like North Wilkesboro and Martinsville, the short tracks on the ovals, and to be able to compete in a damp condition. I just think that it's grown volumes that we never would have thought that NASCAR would be in a place to do that for, for years and years ago. And now that we're able to go on a street course or a road course, and even the smaller ovals and compete on a damp surface, I just think that speaks how volumes, how far NASCAR has come within the last couple of years.

Oh, absolutely. It's a total shift and change in terms of logistics makes it possible for NASCAR to avoid some of the rain outs that are so frustrating for fans, but also the TV broadcast rights. Chris Knight of Catch Fence is with us from Chicago in the wake of the Grant Park 220.

Even the name sounds cool. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. What type of logistics made this possible? Because we're talking about downtown Chicago, Chris. It's not like they had a stadium with a street race set up inside of it.

Now, this was actually clearing out a major portion of downtown Chicago. It started several weeks ago and the track didn't get finished until overnight on Friday night, you know, ahead of the first practice sessions for Xfinity on Saturday, right? But I think a lot of it has to do with the team that NASCAR had in place. They brought Julie Giese over from being the Phoenix Raceway president and her job was to oversee the Chicago event and she did a great job. Logistically, I thought the course was very entertaining.

It had fast parts, it had slow parts, and it had twists and turns. It was not an easy event to put on, but I think that they were smart and they were methodical about how they could make this race so great, right? And not only, I know a lot of us got hindered because of the weather, but they had so many concerts lined up for the race weekend. So it wasn't just about coming to the streets of Chicago to watch cars on the racetrack. It was coming to see some of the best music artists in the country right now playing during an event weekend. And it was an opportunity for, you know, just everyday people and new fans and old fans and current fans just to embrace a contagious atmosphere. And I think the logistics, you know, they were difficult, but they worked and they've already started to disassemble the track tonight.

They can get back to the business already, you know, earlier this week with it being the 4th of July week. But I think it proved that they can, you know, just like they've done with the Coliseum at the LA Coliseum, that they can build a race course in a relatively short period of time and then put on a phenomenal show and then take it down just as quick. And the 75th anniversary of NASCAR, what a cool way to be able to celebrate with the Chicago backdrop.

And this announcement was made, what, over a year ago. So the logistics, the planning, they were massive, as you point out, Chris, what have you heard about moving forward and doing this again, whether it's in Chicago or somewhere else? Do you, I would be very shocked, Amy, if we did not go back. If not, you know, I know that there was talk about that the opportunity was there for NASCAR if it was a successful weekend. And by all accounts, he would, despite the rain and the cancellation of the concerts, this was a successful weekend and put on a successful race for the NASCAR Cup Series. And I would expect the Cup Series to be back at the streets of Chicago and for other cities to be calling NASCAR around the country and saying, hey, we want you to come take a look at our downtown, you know, Detroit, New York. You know, there's so many good, Miami, streets of Miami, Vegas, even, you know, if they're going to put Formula One at Vegas, why can't we go race the streets of Las Vegas with NASCAR, you know? So I just think that the successfulness of this event just opens the door wide open. And I'm excited to see what's in store for the sport, not only in 2024, but in the future.

All right. So, Chris, before I let you go, what's the next big thing coming up in NASCAR? I think a lot of people are excited to go back to the Indianapolis road course in August. And then obviously Daytona is coming up at the end of the summer to set the tone for the playoffs. You know, we don't, as far as new tracks, we don't really have any other new tracks on the circuit other than just getting ready for the playoffs. But I tell you what, Amy, we've had a lot of interest from other drivers of other disciplines throughout the country and throughout the world.

And it would not surprise me if we see it because of what Shane pulled off on Sunday afternoon, if we don't start seeing some other drivers come knocking on our door, wanting to be a part of this great sport. So SVG is what he's called, but Shane Von Giesebergen. It just sounds like a NASCAR name.

I know, right? If he's a great guy, you know, he really is a great guy. He's very tall, one of the tallest drivers that we've ever had in NASCAR. But when Chase Elliott goes out and said, man, that guy is fast.

You realize that what he did wasn't just a fluke. He's a talented race car driver. Well, and as you point out, because of his global appeal and because this was so cool, this event was so cool. There will be other drivers who are attracted to it, similar to the way that the Brickyard attracts drivers of various disciplines. And Daytona does as well, because those are iconic events. And this one history in NASCAR's 75th year. So you want to find Chris Knight on Twitter at Knightr, K-N-I-G-H-T-E-R-0-1.

He covers NASCAR, follows them all over the country. For catch fans, we're glad to have him back on the show again. I love how excited you are about it. Glad you got a chance to experience it, Chris. Thank you so much. All right. Thanks, Amy. Takes care. And thank you for having me on.

Hope to talk to you soon. Introducing L2R Smarter, Safer, Faster.com. Your solution to combat the negative effects of sitting at a desk. Sitting at a desk eight hours a day is as harmful as smoking.

If you're stuck at a desk all day, you don't need to quit your job. You need to join our Desk to 5K program. No running experience is required. As a doctor of physical therapy, I'll be honored to guide you every step of the way to reach your running and fitness goals. Let's conquer running together and make it enjoyable. Visit L2R Smarter, Safer, Faster.com and start moving today.