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Justin Marks out of Xfinity Series race after engine blows on Chicago Street Course

JHby:Jonathan Howard07/01/23

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Justin Marks Chicago Street Race
(Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

After being the fastest in practice, Justin Marks finds himself out of the Xfinity Series Chicago Street Race earlier than expected. Marks was in the top-10 when his No. 10 Jockey Chevy Camaro had an engine failure. We’ve already got issues in the NASCAR The Loop 121.

Justin Marks was going to be a threat to win or at least get a top-5 in this race. While he is usually the bossman at Trackhouse Racing, he was racing for Kaulig Racing this weekend. He had an awesome run in practice. Then, he couldn’t make it to the final qualifying round.

After just a few laps, Marks had his engine blow up and smoke filled the air. Soon he was spinning in Turn 11 as oil made the track conditions slick. Tough break for Marks and Kaulig Racing.

Right now, the Xfinity Series drivers are keeping it cool. Pole winner Cole Custer caught some folks off guard on the restart and ran away with the first few laps. However, he’s going to have his hands full on these restarts coming up. John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill don’t want to see that No. 00 get too far away.

While Justin Marks is ending his day early, he showed he’s still got it. Let’s hope we see Marks get another chance to show off his skills on the track and soon. He’s got a lot of talent, especially on road and street courses.

Justin Marks blows up four laps into Chicago Street Race

The thing that is great about this Xfinity Series event is that it is truly the first-ever Chicago Street Race. Those Cup Series guys might be the main attraction, but these Xfinity drivers are the ones getting the track ready and giving it the first laps of its young existence.

While Justin Marks won’t be able to drive along for that historic event, outside of four laps, he will have a good seat to watch the rest of the weekend. Kaulig Racing doesn’t have another driver that is really in the mix of this race. Unless we see a big movement from Chandler Smith or Daniel Hemric in this one, they will have to just hope for the bets.

So far, things have gone better than expected, at least I think. We have seen drivers get in trouble on the track, but that’s what you want. It should be a difficult test for these NASCAR drivers.

As this race continues, let’s hope that we see some great racing up front and throughout the field. NASCAR has put together an amazing event, let’s see if they can put on a great race as well.