Cornett Goes Back-to-Back With Chicagoland Victory

Chris Cornett’s night at Chicagoland Speedway began with a trip toward the wall and ended in Victory Lane.

One week after breaking through at Richmond, Cornett made it two straight victories in the MLSR B-Open Series presented by Ideal Family, LLC, winning a 130-lap race that demanded much more than outright speed.

Chicagoland’s multiple grooves produced aggressive racing throughout the field, but the larger story developed around tire management, pit timing and the constantly shifting strategies created by the series’ 65-percent fuel limit. With fuel range estimated between roughly 36 and 42 laps, there was never going to be a simple path to the finish.

Cornett ultimately found the right one.

It certainly didn’t look that way early.

Ethan Thompson started from the pole, while Zack Domer wasted little time establishing himself as one of the fastest cars in the field. Domer attacked the outside lane in the opening laps and powered into the lead during an early three-wide battle with Thompson and Cornett.

Behind them, the racing was relentless. Shawn Hook and Chris Etchepare joined the fight near the front, while Jordan Zamagni-Mander began another charge through the field after electing not to qualify.

Cornett, meanwhile, suddenly found himself going the wrong direction.

The Richmond winner pushed into the outside wall in Turn 2 during the opening run and tumbled outside the top 10. Cornett later described a car that simply would not cooperate through Turns 3 and 4, forcing him to spend the early portion of the race finding a groove where he could make speed without putting the car at further risk.

Instead of allowing the mistake to define his night, Cornett recovered.

As the race settled into longer runs, the No. 83 began working its way back toward the front. The first caution erased much of the deficit Cornett had accumulated during his early struggles and brought him back into the fight.

From there, Chicagoland became a chess match.

Different pit sequences shuffled the running order throughout the evening. Some drivers attacked early with fresh tires. Others stretched their runs, hoping the extra tire life later would overcome the track position they surrendered in the moment.

Domer remained a fixture at the front. Thompson continued to show speed. Hook stayed in contention. Brandon Huninger, forced to start from the rear because of a penalty carried over from Richmond, carved his way through the field and eventually found himself leading the race.

Zamagni-Mander was doing much the same.

Starting 27th, the Killswitch Motorsports driver steadily worked through traffic and put himself into the strategy conversation with his teammate. By the closing portion of the race, what had begun with Zamagni-Mander near the rear had developed into a legitimate opportunity for Killswitch to place two cars on the podium.

Then came the decision that ultimately decided the race.

During the final round of green-flag pit stops, Cornett and Zamagni-Mander committed to pit road together. Cornett later said the teammates had discussed the timing, trying to avoid both extremes — stopping so early that their tires would be vulnerable at the finish or waiting so long that they surrendered too much time.

When Cornett heard competitors beginning to pit, the decision was made.

Domer stayed out longer.

That gave him fresher tires for the final charge, but Cornett’s earlier stop produced the track-position advantage he needed. When the strategies cycled through, Cornett emerged as the net leader with Zamagni-Mander in position behind him.

Now Domer had to chase them.

And chase them he did.

With 17 laps remaining, Domer’s tire advantage became obvious. He dispatched Dustin Coggin and Hook in rapid succession, gaining three positions in only two laps and returning to the podium.

The question was whether he had enough time left.

Cornett had already built the cushion.

As Domer continued taking chunks out of the gap, the math increasingly suggested he could reach Zamagni-Mander — but catching Cornett was another matter. The No. 83 had clean air, enough track position and just enough pace to protect the advantage created by the final pit sequence.

Domer eventually caught Zamagni-Mander as the pair encountered traffic, taking second place and setting his sights on the leader.

There simply weren’t enough laps remaining.

Cornett took the white flag with Domer still behind and completed the final circuit to secure his second consecutive B-Open Series victory.

Chris Cornett — Richmond winner. Chicagoland winner. Back-to-back.

Domer finished second after leading a race-high 40 laps, earning his best B-Open result of the season and his first top-five in the series.

Zamagni-Mander completed a remarkable drive from 27th to third, giving Killswitch Motorsports two of the three podium positions. The result also continued his climb after missing the opening race of the season. Zamagni-Mander said afterward that his decision to start deep in the field is intentional — he prefers allowing early trouble to develop ahead of him before methodically working forward.

Points leader Blake Hauschild finished fourth, continuing to collect valuable results even without contending for the victory late. Shawn Hook rounded out the top five with his best B-Open finish of the season.

Dustin Coggin finished sixth, narrowly ahead of polesitter Ethan Thompson in seventh. Chris Etchepare finished eighth, while Scott Matthews earned a top-10 finish in his series debut and James Beard completed the top 10.

For Cornett, though, Chicagoland represented something bigger than simply surviving a difficult opening run.

At Iowa, he spoke about Killswitch Motorsports beginning to move in the right direction.

At Richmond, that progress became a victory.

At Chicagoland, it became a streak.

Cornett led 35 laps, recovered from an early mistake, executed when the race turned into a strategy contest and became the latest driver this season to win consecutive B-Open races.

This time, he brought a teammate to the podium with him.