NASCAR to race on the streets of Chicago for the first time
For the first time ever, the sights, sounds and speed of NASCAR are coming to the streets of downtown Chicago on July 1-2, 2023. One of the most iconic cities in the world, Chicago will add another chapter to its illustrious sports history when the NASCAR Cup Series debuts against the backdrop of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline in the Grant Park 220 on Sunday, July 2 at 5:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“Like the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, we seized an incredible opportunity to add an unprecedented element to our schedule and take center stage in the heart of another major metropolitan market,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing development and strategy. “This is the ideal setting for the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series street race. The NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen cars will race along the shores of Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago, marking a truly historic moment for our sport.”
Lake Shore Drive, Michigan Avenue, Columbus Drive and select surrounding thoroughfares will be transformed into a 12-turn, 2.2-mile street course, with the start/finish line and pit road located along South Columbus Drive directly in front of Buckingham Fountain. The course will pass through the famed Grant Park, as well as approach the northern edge of Soldier Field, one of the most notable and recognizable sports venues in the country – and the site of the only other Cup Series race to take place in Downtown Chicago, in 1956.
“Welcoming yet another NASCAR event to Illinois just weeks after the inaugural Enjoy Illinois 300 Cup Series race is a testament to the strength of our tourism industry from Chicago to Metro East,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Illinois, with its longstanding tradition of innovation, is a fitting host for NASCAR’s first-ever street race, and we are thrilled to welcome this new series to America’s most iconic drive.”
The Chicago Street Race will become the 177th different track the NASCAR Cup Series has competed on its 75 year history.
“I think it’s a good idea, I’ve just never done street racing before,” said current point standing leader Martin Truex Jr. “I’m optimistic that it’s going to be a good time and it’s going to go off well. I have no idea the logistics involved. I can’t even imagine what goes into it. It’s going to be interesting to see a street course with these cars, what the grip level might be in each corner. You just wonder what the difference is in each turn – that’s the competitor side of me thinking. On the race fan side, it seems like it’s going to be cool, so we will see how it goes. Hopefully, it’s a good turnout and it goes off well. I enjoy tracks that are unique and challenging and it’s always a good challenge to learn a new place.”
On-track action for the NASCAR Cup Series will get started with a practice and Busch Light Pole Qualifying on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET, both events will be televised on the USA Network.
Sunday’s Grant Park 220 to be NASCAR’s 100th race in the state of Illinois
NASCAR is no stranger to the state of Illinois, and this weekend the sanctioning-body will host its 100th NASCAR national series race in the prairie state welcoming the newly designed Chicago Street Race – the sixth different track NASCAR has competed on in Illinois.
The first NASCAR national series race held in the state of Illinois was a NASCAR Cup Series event at Santa Fe Speedway in Willow Springs, Illinois. The event was held on July 10, 1954 and it was won by Dick Rathman driving a Hudson for car owner John Ditz. Finishing runner-up in the race was NASCAR Hall of Famer Hershel McGriff also driving a Hudson.
In total, NASCAR has previous competed on five tracks in Illinois with Chicagoland Speedway (2001-2019) hosted the most (54 races) of the five facilities.
| NASCAR Tracks in Illinois | City | Cup | Xfinity | Truck | Combined | First Year |
| Chicagoland Speedway | Joliet | 19 | 24 | 11 | 54 | 2001 |
| World Wide Technology Raceway | Madison | 2 | 15 | 23 | 40 | 1997 |
| Chicago Motor Speedway | Cicero | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2000 |
| Santa Fe Speedway | Willow Springs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1954 |
| Soldier Field | Chicago | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1956 |
| Totals | 23 | 39 | 36 | 98 |
This weekend will also not be the first time the NASCAR Cup Series has competed in Downtown Chicago. In 1956, the series competed at Soldier Field and the race was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts in a Pete DePaolo Ford. Most recently the NASCAR Cup Series competed at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, .Ill.
Road Course Aces: NASCAR’s best in road racing
Though this weekend’s race is technically on a ‘street course’ and not a ‘road course’ a similar approach to being successful this Sunday will apply. NASCAR’s active road course wins leader, Hendrick Motorsport’s Chase Elliott, heads into this weekend looking for his first win of the season and is already considered one of the early favorites for this weekend, but the most recent winner on a road course in the series and current points leader Martin Truex Jr. will most certainly be in the mix as well.
| Active Road Course Winners (13) | Total Wins | Sonoma | WGI | Charlotte | Daytona | Indy | COTA | Road America |
| Chase Elliott | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Martin Truex Jr | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Busch | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Larson | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyler Reddick | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Kevin Harvick | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AJ Allmendinger | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Christopher Bell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joey Logano | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Blaney | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Denny Hamlin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daniel Suárez | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ross Chastain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
The NASCAR Cup Series has competed on two road courses this season so far, with 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick winning at Austin (COTA) and Truex winning at Sonoma.
Button, van Gisbergen among the new faces in the garage attempting the Chicago Street Race – NASCAR is bringing the international flare to the Chicago Street Race with the Grant Park 220 on Sunday, July 2 at 5:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio as drivers from around the world will compete in the inaugural event in Downtown Chicago.
Not only will Trackhouse Racing have NASCAR Cup Series regular Daniel Suarez from Monterrey, Mexico piloting the No. 99 Chevrolet this weekend, but also the organization will field a third car the Project 91 entry and will have New Zealand native and three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen behind the wheel. This will be van Ginsberg’s first attempt at a NASCAR event.
“I can honestly say I have dreamed about an opportunity in NASCAR, but really never thought it would become a reality,” van Gisbergen said. “I can’t wait to get to the states to meet everyone and prepare for Chicago. It’s NASCAR’s first time on the streets of Chicago, so in some ways everyone will be a rookie like me, but I don’t underestimate that it’s going to be a huge challenge.”
Trackhouse Racing debuted the No. 91 car with former Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen at Watkins Glen. He finished 37th after he was collected in an incident. Raikkonen returned to run for the team at Circuit of the Americas this season, finishing 29th. Chicago will mark the third race for the Project 91 car.
Also returning to the NASCAR Cup Series after making his series debut at Austin earlier this season is former Formula One champion Jenson Button, who will pilot the No. 15 Ford for Rick Ware Racing. Button is a native of Frome, England. In his Cup Series debut at COTA, Button started 24th and finished 18th.
Race To The Playoffs: Chastain the latest to lock into the postseason with a win
Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain has become the 11th different driver to win this season and lock himself into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after taking the checkered flag in a dominate performance at Nashville Superspeedway last weekend. With 11 spots in the Playoffs already taken and only nine races left until the postseason, time and space is running out for competitors to earn their spot.
| NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Outlook – Drivers Without Wins This Season | |||||||
| Rank | Drivers Without Wins | Starts | Points | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts | +/- Cutoff |
| 12 | Kevin Harvick | 17 | 515 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 164 |
| 13 | Brad Keselowski | 17 | 450 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 99 |
| 14 | Chris Buescher | 17 | 449 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 98 |
| 15 | Bubba Wallace | 17 | 381 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| 16 | Daniel Suarez | 17 | 353 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | Alex Bowman | *14 | 351 | 0 | 0 | -5 | -2 |
| 18 | Ty Gibbs # | 17 | 343 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -10 |
| 19 | AJ Allmendinger | 17 | 329 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -24 |
| 20 | Michael McDowell | 17 | 326 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -27 |
| 21 | Corey LaJoie | 17 | 308 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -45 |
| 22 | Austin Cindric | 17 | 302 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -51 |
| 23 | Justin Haley | 17 | 298 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -55 |
| 24 | Ryan Preece | 17 | 290 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -63 |
| 25 | Chase Elliott | *10 | 289 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -64 |
| 26 | Todd Gilliland | 17 | 281 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -72 |
| 27 | Aric Almirola | 17 | 272 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -81 |
| 28 | Austin Dillon | 17 | 247 | 0 | 0 | -5 | -106 |
| 29 | Harrison Burton | 17 | 235 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -118 |
| 30 | Erik Jones | 17 | 220 | 0 | 0 | -5 | -133 |
| 31 | Chase Briscoe | 17 | 189 | 0 | 0 | -25 | -164 |
| 32 | Noah Gragson # | *16 | 154 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -199 |
| 33 | Ty Dillon | 17 | 151 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -202 |
Holding the most comfortable spots on the Playoff outlook of the drivers without wins, is Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, who is 164 points ahead of the Playoff cutline. RFK Racing teammates Brad Keselowski (+99 points) and Chris Buescher (+98 points) are also in good standing heading into this weekend. But 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace (+30 points) in 15th and Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez (+2 points) in 16th will have their work cut out for them if they want to hold on to their positions.
Currently there are five drivers that made the Playoffs last season that are below the postseason cutline heading into this weekend – Alex Bowman (-2 points), Austin Cindric (-51), Chase Elliott (-64), Austin Dillon (-106), and Chase Briscoe (-164).
Race Review Online 