NASCAR In Chicago
Sports, news and entertainment coverage on the NASCAR Chicago Street Race and how its presence downtown affects the city and its residents.
In this week’s “Polling Place,” we also asked for your thumbs-up or thumbs-down on NASCAR in Chicago with the second race weekend in the books.
Impact on the city
Ida B. Wells Drive between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive will be closed Monday and will remain shut down until about July 18, according to city officials. Wider closures begin June 27. The race runs July 6-7.
Visitors are greeted by Bubba Wallace’s 23XI McDonald’s Toyota Camry show car, which is parked just steps away from the main entrance. The exhibit opens to the public on Friday and runs through July 7.
Powerhouse showcase is part of a weekend of music events planned for Grant Park’s Festival Field great lawn, which also features previously announced sets by Keith Urban, the Chainsmokers, the Black Keys and Lauren Alaina.
Ryan Field, which housed the football team for almost 100 years, is in the process of being demolished.
Blaney went from watching those become champions to becoming one himself when he won the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series in his eighth season. Blaney visited Chicago to help promote the second Chicaago Street Race.
Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commissioner Erin Harkey was appointed by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2021 when the pandemic had shut down theater, live-music and Chicago’s myriad festivals and special events. She slowly brought those events back to life with the annual Blues Fest returning last summer. Matthew Beaudet was the city’s building commissioner since 2020.
NASCAR and the Art Institute of Chicago will unveil a custom wrapped Toyota Camry Pace Car and showcase the upcoming Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit Thursday at the 2024 Chicago Auto Show.
2023 — A look back at the inaugural NASCAR in Chicago weekend
Before the Chicago Street Race, fans fled for shelter in garages and coffee shops as it rained buckets on the course.
After the heavy rain finally let up in the late afternoon Sunday, NASCAR’s big event was won by van Gisbergen after a wild, chaotic race in downtown Chicago.
2023 — What people are saying
The Xfinity Series’ Loop 121 race never really got anywhere before being postponed due to weather. As for the main race — the Grant Park 220 — Cup Series drivers had some gripes after qualifying.
Still hard to understand why the circuit chose Chicago for its first street race.
Cars themselves are the epitome of the USA, the essence of us. Everything a car lets you do, everything you can do in a car, everything you can do to a car — it’s the stuff that makes you feel free, in control, beyond the law, fast.
Are those cars and drivers ready for us? Are we ready for them?
NASCAR is expecting Chicagoans to pay for the privilege of watching stock cars race.
Sun-Times readers sing the praises of NASCAR.
“Racing through the city streets, very narrow, I honestly don’t know how it’s all going to work out,” Bubba Wallace said.
2023 — More on the drivers
“If one of those [manhole covers] pops up a little bit,” Chase Elliott said, “you’re going to destroy something pretty bad.”
While The Loop 121 race was cut short due to lightning, the drivers have a better sense of the road conditions for completing the race tomorrow. “It’s…
“The sooner we just kind of understand the gravity of the event and not get too caught up in the on-track stuff,” Hamlin said, “the better we’re going to be.”
Denny Hamlin won the pole Saturday for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race. Hamlin, in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 89.557 mph was the fastest time and…
Jordan is a co-owner of 23XI Racing, which will have a pair of drivers — Wallace and Tyler Reddick — in Sunday’s Grant Park 220 downtown street race.
The Chicago Street Race might be the first of its kind, but the circuit does have a rich racing history in Illinois.
Yes, this means we all have to root for the No. 7 Camaro on Saturday.
Johnson’s team announced he has withdrawn from this weekend’s Chicago Street Race.
Suarez has been a barrier-breaking star as the sport’s first Mexican-born driver to win a Cup Series race and has established himself as a perennial top-20 driver.
What the heck are we in for with this Grant Park 220 business?
The two-time Daytona 500 champion stopped by Chicago as other drivers offered ride-alongs on the track in an SUV. Earnhardt rated each bump, crest and imperfection.
“It’s an incredible event,” Bowman said. “It’s been two chaotic races with the weather, but it’s been a super-fun event and really meaningful to be able to win.”
The northbound section of DuSable Lake Shore Drive is set to reopen Monday at 6 a.m., and the southbound section is on track to reopen Tuesday night, city officials say. The last of the road closures will be cleared July 18.
The start of the Grant Park 165 race was delayed by a downpour. Fans pulled on rain gear. ‘Us diehard NASCAR fans, we suffer through it,’ one fan said. Alex Bowman won the race.
Turnout to watch Keith Urban, the Chainsmokers and others was just a fraction of what Lollapalooza stars draw in Grant Park.
We got soaked again on Sunday, but at least we made a little more sense of things.
The defending Cup Series champion was sidelined after a crash in Stage 2.
The country star moved in and out of the crowd, playing feel-good songs in what he called ‘an alternate reality where everything is good.’
Newlywed singer wins over racing crowd with new singles, powerhouse vocals.
After a year's delay, Chainsmokers finally bring their beats, samples and hype to NASCAR Street Race
High decibels and flashy production values divert from the duo’s focus on manipulating machinery and stirring the audience.
“Street tracks are different every year, no matter where you go,” Shane van Gisbergen said. “The burial location is always different, whether inside the curb or on top of it. The track always changes.”
“If he were here and he were to see his name on a race car at the Chicago Street Race, it would just absolutely blow his mind,” Alex Maddox said.
Chicago-style hot dogs, local barbecue and Garrett’s popcorn are on the menu at the festival grounds.
‘We’re just trying to get louder than those race cars,’ Dan Auerbach declared to a cheering crowd.
For 45 minutes, the 87-year-old blues guitarist ripped through solos, cracked jokes and flashed a bright smile throughout his Saturday afternoon set.
For nearly two hours, Festival Field grooved as attendees danced to classics sounds of the homegrown genre.
Last year’s race suffered from record-setting rainfall. But fans this year were graced with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s, allowing them to enjoy live music and other entertainment that was rained out last year.
Practicing for his scheduled qualifying run before Saturday’s Xfinity Series Loop 110, Day totaled his ride when he crashed into Illinoisan Justin Allgaier’s stopped car.
“He’s just really good, and he doesn’t ever touch anybody to get by them,” said Kyle Larson, who finished third. “That’s rare to see, so it’s fun to race with a guy like that.’'
“It’s nice to be able to look out into the crowd and see a lot of different faces than what I see at a NASCAR race,” Wallace said Friday in Douglass Park.
NASCAR Chicago Street Race begins this weekend, and sections of DuSable Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue have closed to make way for the event.