Before NASCAR raced in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 2022, Kevin Harvick thought it would be a disaster. It didn’t take long for the event to win him over.
Heading into the Cup Series’ first street race, Harvick is keeping an open mind.
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“Going through all these new types of events kind of changes your mindset to how you approach it,” he said, “because you see the enthusiasm, like you can feel it, you can see it.”
After months of hype and curiosity, the NASCAR Cup Series hits the streets of downtown Chicago on Sunday at the end of a big weekend for the sport that includes concerts and other entertainment.
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The 12-turn, 2.2-mile course includes seven 90-degree turns. There are lots of ways to get into trouble, including manhole covers and transitions from concrete to asphalt and back. Getting in and out of pit road in front of Buckingham Fountain could become an issue, and restarts also could be an adventure.
“It’s obviously narrow in sections. I think that’s going to be a hot topic of things to talk about,” said Chase Elliott, who is looking for his first win of the season. “I do think it’s going to be difficult to pass once everybody gets up to pace come race time. But I hope that we’re able to mix it up and do different things.”
A racecar moves north on East Congress Plaza Drive during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race Saturday, July 1, 2023, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
As the drivers tested out the course Saturday in practice and qualifying and the Xfinity Series raced in The Loop 121, the noise from the stock-car engines rumbled past the skyscrapers around Grant Park. Smiling passersby on Michigan Avenue stopped and used their phones to record some of the action through a fence. Some spectators climbed on the roof covering a train station stairway to take a closer look.
The spectacle of racing in downtown Chicago was exactly what NASCAR was hoping to create when it announced the event a year ago.
“They told us that over 80% of the fans here this weekend will be people who have never watched a NASCAR race,” Harvick said. “If you’re going to grow the sport, you’re going to have to do stuff like this.”
The inaugural Cup Series street race returns NASCAR to a coveted market in its 75th season. It ran 19 Cup races at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, a 45-mile drive from downtown, but it pulled out four years ago.
NASCAR is hoping the change in location will help attract new fans, both in person and with the NBC broadcast. But moving downtown puts its drivers on a bumpy course with little room for error, and a crash in a narrow area could cause a pileup in a hurry.
“The biggest thing is just figuring out your braking marks and where you can go a little bit harder than other places,” Martin Truex Jr. said., “just because of the bumps and the different pavements and concrete.”
Read more on the race:
NASCAR Chicago Street Race: What to know about the 12-turn, 2.2-mile course around the city NASCAR fans rev up for Chicago Street Race Column: NASCAR arrives this weekend — and Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick are eager to see how the ‘good vibes’ will play out NASCAR Chicago Street Race Q&A: Local racing expert ‘Racer Kaczor’ sizes up Sunday’s historic event for new fans After nearly a year of planning, the NASCAR Chicago Street Race is here. Will it rev up the city’s economy as promised? NASCAR in Chicago: On top of a stretch of wildfire smoke, how will 40 cars racing around downtown at speeds over 100 mph affect air quality? NASCAR and Bubba Wallace bring ‘Bubba’s Block Party’ to a South Side museum in Chicago Column: To give drivers a true Chicago experience, NASCAR must change its course in 2024 Denny Hamlin wins pole for Cup Series race Cars are prepared to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series race on Saturday, July 1, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Denny Hamlin won the pole Saturday for the NASCAR Cup Series’ first street race, edging Tyler Reddick on the challenging course in downtown Chicago.
Hamlin led the way for Sunday’s race with a lap of 88.435 seconds at an average speed of 89.557 mph on the 12-turn, 2.2-mile course. It’s his third pole of the season and No. 39 for his career.
“It was just a great day,” said Hamlin, who is looking for his 50th Cup Series win. “Probably my single best day at the racetrack in all of my career for sure.”
Reddick was second at 88.479 seconds, followed by Shane van Gisbergen in his first NASCAR event and Christopher Bell. Daniel Suárez rounded out the top five in 89.322 seconds.
With Hamlin, Reddick and Bell, Toyota had three of the top four cars. Hamlin and Bell are teammates on Joe Gibbs Racing, and van Gisbergen and Suárez drive for Trackhouse Racing.
“The track’s got a lot of grip,” Reddick said. “It has a lot of character in a lot of areas, but it has a lot of grip ... and the Next Gen car has had a lot of grip on a lot of the road courses.
“So it’s honestly a lot of fun. There’s some really tricky areas that are really going to be stressful for the Xfinity drivers and the Cup drivers tomorrow. We’ll just see how it goes.”
The 12-turn, 2.2 mile NASCAR Chicago Street Race is a 12-turn, 2.2-mile street course which is expected to draw 100,000 attendees on July 1-2. (John J. Kim and Peter Tsai/Chicago Tribune)
Reddick races for 23XI Racing, which is owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan — someone who knows a lot about success in Chicago. Jordan won six NBA titles with the Bulls during his Hall of Fame career.
“He’s pumped up whether we’re performing well at North Wilkesboro or we’re here in Chicago, honestly,” Hamlin said. “It is a big city for him. He obviously did a lot for this city and this city did a ton for him.”
The 34-year-old van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion, is the latest international driver to try NASCAR’s top series as part of Trackhouse’s Project 91. The goal for the team is expanding its global reach.
“I’ve got a bit to learn,” said van Gisbergen, a New Zealand native. “I was learning every lap, trying to push, and, yeah, it was a lot of fun.”
Xfinity Series race suspended until Sunday People wait to cross a pedestrian bridge over Columbus Drive because of a lightning delay during the NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Grant Park on Saturday, July 1, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
The first NASCAR Xfinity Series race on the street course in downtown Chicago has been suspended until Sunday because of lightning.
Cole Custer led each of the first 25 laps Saturday before the delay because of a lightning strike in the area. John Hunter Nemechek was second, followed by Justin Allgaier, Brett Moffitt and Austin Hill.
With more lightning in the forecast, NASCAR announced that the race would resume at 10 a.m. Sunday. It also canceled The Chainsmokers concert.
Custer is trying for his second Xfinity Series victory this season and No. 12 for his career. He also won on the road course at Portland International Raceway on June 3.
The Xfinity Series race in Chicago is scheduled for 55 laps and 121 miles.
Odds and ends The Chicago Street Race is the 177th track for the NASCAR Cup Series. It’s also NASCAR’s 100th race in Illinois. It’s a return to downtown Chicago after the Cup Series stopped at Soldier Field in 1956. That race was won by Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts in a Pete DePaolo Ford. Truex leads the Cup Series standings with 576 points, followed by William Byron and Ross Chastain with 558 apiece. Bell and Kyle Busch close out the top five. The top 16 in the standings make the playoffs. Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suárez occupy the last five postseason spots at the moment, and they’re all looking for their first win of the season. Kyle Larson is the 5-1 favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, followed by Kyle Busch at 6-1 and Truex at 7-1. Road course success could carry over to the street track in Chicago. Elliott is NASCAR’s active leader with seven career road course wins, followed by Truex with five. Tyler Reddick won at Austin and Truex finished first at Sonoma in the Cup Series’ two road course races this season.