NASCAR Chicago Street Race Rolls Through Town, Hits A Few Potholes Along The Way, But Emerges In The Winners Circle Despite Odds

Jul 03, 2023 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Reviews 0

By James Currie

The inaugural NASCAR Chicago Street Race 2023 was panned by the public for months leading up to its actual starting line up but after it was all said and done, a true leader emerged from the pack. NASCAR pulled out ahead even facing incredibly daunting challenges. The weekend long festival had something for every car fan, music lover and action adventurist even if it didn’t all pan out as planned.

Leading up to the event, Chicagoans were not shy to voice their concerns over the juggernaut race organizations take over of our beloved front yard park. They expressed distain over construction, traffic jams, floods of people and noise but that didn’t stop former mayor Lightfoot and the city from accepting terms and laying ground work for a multi-year deal solidifying the organization will be a part of Chicago’s summers for years to come.

Earlier this week, the event organizers started construction on what shaped up to be the largest and most involved privately funded festival of its kind. The only thing close of course being Lollapalooza. Streets started closing, traffic patterns modified and build began. The roadway was repaved in places, fences put up, grandstand built along the start/stop line and we’re off! By Friday, construction was complete and race cars were ready run all without much disruption from the public. But mother nature had other plans.

Chicago had been in a dry spell for weeks up to this event. A desolation dustbowl that had us waning for rain as much as an engine needs gas. That all changed Saturday as the heat, humidity and rain came. Thunder scares shut down the first of the many events within the great figure 8 track as The Black Crowes finished and before the Chainsmokers were to headline the main stage, they shut them down with no plans to reschedule. The following day even more challenges as the lake front woke up to torrential down pours that lasted until the evening cancelling not only the other concerts, but most of the racing. Fans asked to shelter at times making this seemly impossible to continue. But then a break in the clouds as the rains subsided enough to continue with a revamped plan. Scrubbing the remainder of the earlier racing and moving to the NASCAR race most came for. The 2.20 race of 100 laps was going to happen, but reduced down to just 75 laps as time (and sun) ran out.

On Sunday, the day didn’t look good for race fans as the rain wasn’t letting up. The grandstand became barren with just a few die hards left in ponchos and sheltering under their umbrellas. Cars got covered. Drivers went back to their hotels, waiting rooms and crew camps. Announcements from the organization went out letting people know things were being cancelled and no plans for rescheduling Monday as that was an option. Then, around 5PM, the rains slowed, the track was cleared and the drivers called back.

Pit crews uncovered their cars. Drivers suited up and hopped in to the drivers seats. Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields called out one of the most famous lines in sporting events, “Gentlemen, start your engines!”. And indeed they did.

The cars all switched over to rain tires from racing slicks to handle the wet track. The slowly made their way around the 2.2 mile course and were finally let loose to put the peddle to the metal and with race cars, quite literal. Cars went through the stages before ending early completing only 75 of the scheduled 100 laps with New Zealand race driver Shane van Gisbergen taking home the title of the Grant Park 220 in his Cup Series debut.

From the attendance alone on this otherwise terrible weather weekend, it seems the city or at least it’s neighborhood residents didn’t mind NASCAR being on our lakefront as much as they thought. I’m not saying this didn’t go without warnings or concerns. They definitely had some hiccups throughout the event. The biggest complaints seems to be from cancelling the music to not having the appropriate pedway bridges for the amount of people. These were overcrowded, hot and had no festival staff managing the traffic. To get from one side of to the other over the race track, you had to walk over these. There was no other option. No underground tunnels. This didn’t work for most as it caused delays and tempers to flare from angry fans worried they were going to miss something. Downtown traffic being another issue. Pedestrian was bad enough in a tourist district like this, but parking under the park, getting in and out was a nightmare. It took me 1 hour to get out of the Millennium Park garage with no communications from the festival or garage explaining what was wrong leaving many irate drivers honking at each other and waving fists to exit to concrete graveyard.

It will be interesting to see the actual final results for the city. How much did this help our city? What was the hotel occupancy rates? How much tax and revenue did this bring in and how many jobs did it provide?

I think this was a good idea and event for Chicago even with all the bad. It was a first of its kind for NASCAR and the city. Like other major events that take up multiple days in our front yard, it will take time to get right. They can only improve as they have more years to make it right. Let’s hope the public and neighbors can get behind this as much as the former Mayor or, let’s hope the city and new regime can find those improvements before the next round. And, maybe mother nature will not be as punishing.