Chicago - 2023

Street courses take a couple of rounds to turn profit.

St. Pete took about three or four years to turn a profit from the IndyCar event.
 
Like other area residents that are interested in how this all plays out, I too am curious about what streets will be closed and for how long.

I suspect that only the south bound lanes of Lake Shore Drive will be needed for the race and that the north bound lanes will be split up and used for both north and south bound traffic during the race. But so far those type of details haven't been provided.

Also, it would seem that there will be only limited access to the parking lots beneath Grant Park and Millennium Park.

All in all, though, I'm looking forward to the NASCAR Circus coming to town.

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aunty dive said:
Didn’t the city sign a 3 year agreement with NASCAR?
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I wouldn't be surprised if the agreement has some type of buyout clause that would allow either side to bail, but only at a cost to them.

Hopefully, the soon to be newly elected mayor looks closely at this year's event before letting it go on another year during the height of Chicago's tourist season.
 
“Today, NASCAR introduced McDonald’s as the first founding partner of the first-ever Chicago Street Race Weekend. McDonald’s will have official presenting, marketing and promotional rights for the Chicago Street Race Weekend including the NASCAR Cup Series’ Grant Park 220 and NASCAR Xfinity Series’ The Loop 121 races in downtown Chicago over Fourth of July Weekend, July 1-2.”

“NASCAR plays such an important role in sports culture, so we’re thrilled to be the first founding partner of this race in our hometown of Chicago,” said Elizabeth Campbell, Senior Director of Cultural Engagement, McDonald’s USA. “We look forward to showing up for our racing fans and putting on a successful event in a city rich with sports history.”

 
Jorge De Guzman said:
Sounds like NASCAR better sell those cabanas for as much they can, because it doesn’t sound like there’s gonna be a 2024 version of this race…here at least
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I'm thinkin' that how this year's "racing & music festival" plays out will have a significant impact on the whether or not the show turns out to be a one-and-done.

Regardless of how successful the race weekend is, shutting down that part of the city for that length of time will generate some serious opposition to doing it again next year.
 
This is going to be fun watching with new Mayor and the massive McDonald's restructuring taking place.
 
In addition to experiencing a Racing and Music Festival, NASCAR fans can also look forward to late night spontaneous street theatre throughout downtown Chicago at no additional charge. :cool:
 
pjmolo said:
In addition to experiencing a Racing and Music Festival, NASCAR fans can also look forward to late night spontaneous street theatre throughout downtown Chicago at no additional charge. :cool:
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Bet we get some free strippers on tv at least once in that race. :XXROFL: :owquitit: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: o_O
 
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Took a trip to downtown Chicago this past Wednesday to attend a buddies retirement luncheon and used the opportunity to drive on a portion of the street course.

From where I'm at on the south side I drove north on Lake Shore Drive to Roosevelt Rd. where I slid over to Columbus Dr. and entered the track at Turn 5.

Columbus Dr. between Turn 5 and Turn 6 is made up of older concrete and, due to some type of previous excavation, there's what amounts to a speed bump just north of Roosevelt Rd.

Columbus Dr. between Turn 6 and Turn 12, on the other hand, has been newly paved with a first layer of asphalt to be followed by at least one more layer.

I wasn't on it but it looks like Jackson Dr. between Turn 11 and Turn 12 has also been repaved with asphalt.

In general, there's a lot going on down there.
 
Surfer’s Paradise was my absolute favorite CART Race and probably my favorite street course of all time. I had no idea it’s still in use to this day. I didn’t know this type of racing in Australia is a thing, call me uneducated. I wanted to post the vid with the prayer that Cup cars will race like this in Chicago, giving hope to other pessimistic fans like myself that it will be more of a fun race than the “spectacle” they’re going for.
 
I've tried to tell people from the beginning, stock cars are much better suited for street courses than open wheel cars due to the fact they can survive minor contact.
 
Jorge De Guzman said:
Surfer’s Paradise was my absolute favorite CART Race and probably my favorite street course of all time. I had no idea it’s still in use to this day. I didn’t know this type of racing in Australia is a thing, call me uneducated. I wanted to post the vid with the prayer that Cup cars will race like this in Chicago, giving hope to other pessimistic fans like myself that it will be more of a fun race than the “spectacle” they’re going for.
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There are some great street courses for sure. I really want to be optimistic for Chicago but the layout doesn't give me a lot of hope. We all know how turn one at Indy played out the last couple of years and this track has seven 90-degree turns. With the likes of Chastain and Logano in the field it just looks like a recipe for a very messy race.
 
kkfan91 said:
I've tried to tell people from the beginning, stock cars are much better suited for street courses than open wheel cars due to the fact they can survive minor contact.
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They can also survive a 20 car turn 1 dive bomb
 
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