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* Rick Telander of the Sun-Times…
I won’t get into the rights or wrongs of taking over the center of a city in the middle of summer and inconveniencing Chicagoans for weeks just to have a loud NASCAR race with ticket prices rivaling those of a Taylor Swift concert. “What, and for whom, are city parks and streets for?” you could ask.
Nor will I mention the oddness of a NASCAR race laid out like a Formula 1 track or the fact that police have been cracking down hard on young Chicagoans’ illegal street racing and “drifting” at rowdy intersections. You can watch “Fast & Furious” movies, kids. Do not imitate. […]
No matter. The legends of guys named Buckshot and Junior and Fireball, their suped-up moonshiner cars “runnin’ through the woods of Caroline” (to quote Springsteen’s “Cadillac Ranch’’), the roar of straight pipes and barely controlled recklessness — it’s primitive and enduring and, yep, American.
NASCAR’s here, like the traveling circus. Might as well put in the earplugs, folks, and climb aboard.
* WBEZ…
In addition to the races, there’s also a festival happening all weekend, including some big-name performers. On Saturday, the Black Crowes are slated to perform at 2:30 p.m. and the Chainsmokers will take the stage at 7 p.m. On Sunday, Charley Crockett and Miranda Lambert are on deck for pre-race shows beginning at noon.
How do I attend the race or concerts? Tickets are available online. All tickets are for both days and range in price from $269 for general admission to $3,015 for the President’s Paddock Club, which is billed as the “most luxurious race weekend experience.” While officials say the event is family friendly, there is no discount for youth tickets.
If you don’t have a ticket, officials say the best way to watch the race is on TV (Sunday’s race will be broadcasted on NBC). A NASCAR representative said at a recent press conference that there will be no streetside view of the race.
If you want to be a part of the scene without shelling out money for a ticket, there will also be a free NASCAR Village both days at nearby Butler Field, featuring pace cars, merchandise and concessions. The area will close each day at race time.
* WGN…
The Xfinity Series will be the first to race on Saturday, July 1, with their race, The Loop 121, beginning at 4 p.m. central time and will be televised on the USA Network.
The Cup Series, the best in NASCAR, will race on Sunday, July 2 at 4:30 p.m. central time in the Grant Park 220, and will be televised on NBC.
With a limit of ten total hours of track time, the drivers for both series will have a tight schedule to get their cars ready for the inaugural Chicago Street Race.
The teams will begin to arrive in Chicago on Friday, June 30, with garage hours starting for the Xfinity Series at 12:30 p.m. central time that day. Cup Series teams have their garage hours starting at 3:30 p.m. central time.
* $465 a ticket…
There are still reserved seats available to watch the race with these skyline views‼️🌆#NASCARChicago | 🔗: https://t.co/Kb80dCGcOH pic.twitter.com/JYXlyL7q4m
— NASCAR Chicago Street Race Weekend (@NASCARChicago) June 27, 2023
* Sun-Times…
NASCAR’s traveling show is coming to town for an Xfinity Series race on Saturday and the biggie, the Cup Series’ Grant Park 220, on Sunday. Are those cars and drivers ready for us? Are we ready for them?
Harrison Burton traveled here, too, to check out what would become the Chicago Street Race’s 2.2-mile, 12-turn, seven-90-degree-turn course, or track, or highway to hell and back — whatever you want to call it.
“It was wild,” he says. “I was just cruising in traffic. It was still just normal streets, and the [stoplights] were up. To me, that’s crazy. We normally go to places that are year-round set up and kind of permanent, and it’s just so different. It was mind-blowing to think about. Some of the corners there are a little tight even in a street car. It’s going to be a challenge.”
It’s going to be tight and it’s going to get gnarly, the drivers expect, with cars exceeding 100 mph on relatively short straightaways, having to slow way down — 40 mph or so? — into several turns and “trading paint” like nobody’s business. Picture a few dozen shopping carts flying into a cart corral all at once outside your local Jewel, if it helps. There will be lots of collisions and probably a good bit of chaos, making it tough on the dudes behind the steering wheels but, NASCAR hopes, such a spectacle that folks here will look forward to the races returning around the Fourth of July in 2024 and 2025. […]
“I had someone in Chicago ask me what NASCAR was,” Burton says. “I was like, ‘Holy cow.’ That’s crazy to me. Obviously, my whole life is NASCAR and it revolves around the sport. For me to hear someone who doesn’t even know what it is, much less what we’re doing and who we are — anything, no idea what our sport even is — is seriously crazy.
* More…
Here's a look at the set up in Grant Park for the NASCAR Street Race this weekend.
Closures now in place:
Ida B Wells CLOSED Michigan to Columbus
Balbo CLOSED Michigan to LSD
Congress Plaza Dr CLOSED
Jackson CLOSED Michigan to LSD
Columbus CLOSED Jackson to Roosevelt pic.twitter.com/BUGwDE5GIB— Sarah Jindra (@SarahJindra) June 26, 2023
Views from the Paddock Club 📍#NASCARChicago | 🔗: https://t.co/tnNUbME1yN pic.twitter.com/02DgmmGtWY
— NASCAR Chicago Street Race Weekend (@NASCARChicago) June 27, 2023
* NBC Chicago with some racing history…
While this is the first street race ever in NASCAR, the city of Chicago is no stranger to racing. NASCAR made its first trip to Chicago for a race in 1956, and the area has hosted dozens of races in the years since then. […]
That’s right, the Chicago Bears’ home stadium once hosted NASCAR races.
In 1956, three NASCAR-sanctioned races were held at Soldier Field – one NASCAR Cup Series race and two NASCAR Convertible Division races. The Cup Series race was held at the quarter-mile, paved track inside the stadium on July 21, 1956. NASCAR Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts won the race, earning $850 by crossing the finish line first.
The Convertible Division returned for one final race in 1957 before NASCAR went away from Soldier Field for good. In the last two years, the Cup Series has raced inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, so perhaps a return to Soldier Field some day isn’t out of the question.
* Even more…
* SBJ | Bubba Wallace bringing ‘Bubba’s Block Party’ to Chicago ahead of NASCAR street race: Ahead of Sunday’s NASCAR Chicago Street Race, 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace tomorrow will host “Bubba’s Block Party,” a “nationwide community initiative at The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center,” according to Shakeia Taylor of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The free event, scheduled from 5-9pm CT, will feature “racing-themed entertainment, local food from Black-owned businesses and a live musical performance” from artist Lupe Fiasco. Wallace, who became just the second Black driver to win a race in NASCAR’s top Cup Series level in 2021, “wants his block party to be a place where people who haven’t felt welcomed by the racing community to come and learn about the sport.”
* NBC Chicago | Excitement builds ahead of NASCAR Chicago Street Race: With the NASCAR Chicago Street Race a mere days away, the drivers are pumped to get their first taste of the new course. NBC 5’s Ruthie Polinsky reports.
* NBC Chicago | Michael Jordan, NASCAR owner? Unlikely path leads 23XI Racing to Chicago Street Race: “I’m a big racing fan,” Jordan explained in a 2019 interview with NBC Sports’ Dale Earnhardt Jr. “It started off when I was a kid. I grew up watching (Dale Earnhardt Sr.), I grew up watching Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough.
* NASCAR | Betting: 2023 Chicago street race odds: See which drivers hold the best odds to win the first-ever street race in Chicago, with odds courtesy of DraftKings.
posted by Isabel Miller
Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 12:46 pm
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It may have been in one of the links, but the first car race in America was in Chicago in 1895. The Times-Herald race was a bust due to 6 inches of snow with only 2 cars finishing the race.
Comment by City Guy Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 12:56 pm
course is really more Formula 1. too bad that could not be the race if a race is to be held at all. think this is mostly a mess. will be interesting to see the final net.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 1:02 pm
Fun or not, I’m continuously disappointed at our public spaces being sold off to the highest bidder.
Why would neighbors have wanted to use their local park space on 4th of July weekend anyway?
Comment by NIU Grad Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 1:03 pm
The Nascar Foundation works on making a difference in communities that host races. This week they are hosting a fundraiser for Greater Chicago Food Depository
When: Wednesday, June 28 from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Where: Steak 48 at 615 N Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
Who: NASCAR Drivers, Celebrities, and who’s who of Chicago!
What: A charity dinner to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository
Comment by Donnie Elgin Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 1:08 pm
I’m with Amalia, this should be a F1 race. Could be as big as Monaco GP if staged along Lakeshore Drive.
Comment by Give Me A Break Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 1:30 pm
NASCAR’s aren’t made for this type of flat street racing. As previously stated, it should be an F1 race. I’ll watch, as a Nascar fan, but it’s going to be BOR-ING!
Comment by Ryan Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 1:33 pm
If this smoke gets much worse, it won’t matter how much you paid for a ticket. No one will see a thing.
Comment by Montrose Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 1:34 pm
This seems like it was a good tourism idea in theory but the lengthy closures seem way more hassle than a (maybe) bump in hotel occuopancy and out of town tourists for July 4th week warrants.
At least (unless somebody botched another Park District contract) the City is raking 9% amusement tax on those $465 tickets. The City’s July hospitality tax collections will be interesting when they trickle in late this summer.
Comment by ChicagoBars Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 1:45 pm
I’d be interested in checking it out. But as someone who knows nothing about racing, the $250 price scared me away. If it makes the city money, ok, I guess. Lakefront is still open, so I’ll try and catch a glimpse on one of my runs this weekend.
Comment by Sox Fan Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 1:52 pm
Doesn’t NASCAR have a multi year contract with city that has large penalties of city cancels? I thought I read that but don’t see any reference to it lately.
I am old my dad took me to a couple of races at Soldier Field. I did not like them very loud I don’t get the point.
Comment by DuPage Saint Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 2:20 pm
===I thought I read that ===
Google is your friend.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 2:22 pm
Any racing in Chicago should have included the underground Wacker Drive, ala the “Blues Brothers”. While Grant Park is picturesque as a venue, it doesn’t have to raw visceral character as the underground Wacker Drive.
Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 2:48 pm
I can understand not grokking Nascar. I had thought until recently that most car racing involved engine experts who would design a specialty engine for the car and maybe some AD experts who would design a perfect chassis, thus to have an advantage. It would seem that’s not the case with Nascar and in fact against the whole point of Nascar which is that each driver has a stock auto.
Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 2:58 pm
I already have my plan to watch. This should be a blast and the tourism $$$ should start arriving at O’Hare and Midway on Thursday. The NIMBY folks here are something else (we don’t want a race, a casino, the Olympics). If you don’t want a lot of traffic, leave your place in River North and move to McHenry County then. OK, my rant is over, but my real biggest concern is I just hope there aren’t any related crime scenes. Welcome to Chicago NASCAR.
Comment by levivotedforjudy Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 3:12 pm
Is there any way to find out how/if tickets to this race are selling? Has/will that information be made available to the public?
(I’ve tried to Google for the answers, but the results are almost all sites for ticket brokers.)
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 3:18 pm
= In the last two years, the Cup Series has raced inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum =
So basically a real-life version of the movie “Cars”?
Comment by cover Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 4:05 pm
-Is there any way to find out how/if tickets to this race are selling? Has/will that information be made available to the public?-
NASCAR years ago stopped publishing attendance numbers, unless they want to promote a sellout event. That being said, there aren’t many reserved seats left available from using the POS site.
This is the weekend I’ve been most anticipating all year. Racing junkie and I attend many events throughout the midwest all summer long. Is this a site a terrible idea for locals on a holiday weekend? Absolutely. But I love it.
Comment by Matty Tuesday, Jun 27, 23 @ 4:21 pm
Cars ruin cities. They are loud, dirty, and dangerous. The city should leave the streets closed to automobiles after the race is done. That would be the only lasting good that could come from this race.
Comment by One Hand Typing Wednesday, Jun 28, 23 @ 12:32 pm