Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Chicago, IL–
While we are just a little over a week away from the NASCAR Street Race weekend in Chicago, many people are ready for this exciting weekend, others just want it over already. So, is this the race for fans to see this summer? The concert line-up is amazing and the two days of racing with it may be the best put together race weekend since NASCAR started the exhibitions at the Coliseum in Los Angeles.
The 22.1-mile racecourse will be enclosed by 2,000 concrete barriers, each weighing 10,000 pounds. High fencing will be built along the course to withstand debris from crashes and deter unticketed spectators along Michigan Avenue.
There is a lot of ground to cover and quite a few people were concerned about police having to leave other areas of the city to ensure the event goes off without any issues. Chicago Police commented today that they will no additional officers coming from other parts of the city after one of the worst weekends of violence in the city once again.
NASCAR also unveiled that OEMs Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota will take part in the weekend with pace cars. As part of the partnership, each OEM will have an opportunity to lead the field to green in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series The Loop 121 and the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220.
“As the industry unites to support an unprecedented NASCAR event weekend, we are proud to welcome Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota as our official pace cars for the Chicago Street Race,” said Julie Giese, Chicago Street Course President. “We look forward to showcasing the cars that will compete in the race through the streets of downtown Chicago prior to leading the field to green over race weekend.”
The order for the official pace car will be determined by the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying results with the pole winning OEM leading the field to green to start each race. Future restarts will rotate with each OEM leading the race field. In subsequent years of the Chicago Street Race, the second OEM will lead first in 2024 and third OEM will lead first in 2025.
While there have been a few concerns with the crowding, people seem to be hyped about the concerts before and during the race to include big names like The Black Crowes and Miranda Lambert just to name a few. Many of the hotel partners are excited about the extra 50,000 people downtown.
“It’s really great to have these people coming to our city. We can throw them a big party, a big event, and really showcase all the good things that we know about Chicago as residents and showcase it to the people across our country,” said Lynn Osmond, president and CEO of Choose Chicago.
