Throughout the last several NASCAR seasons, the sport’s governing body has made some drastic changes to its schedule to spice it up with things like more road courses, a dirt race and the Clash at the Coliseum.
Those changes continued into the 2023 season, as NASCAR celebrates its 75-year anniversary, with a new street race in the heart of the Windy City this weekend.
The NASCAR Cup Series is returning to the Chicago area — it hasn’t raced at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois since 2019 — for Sunday’s Grant Park 220 (5:30 p.m. ET, NBC), which will have drivers racing on the city streets rather than on an oval or road course. It’s expected to be the first of three Chicago street races.
NASCAR is making history this weekend, so ahead of its debut in downtown Chicago, here are a few things to know about the race.
1
It's the NASCAR Cup Series' first street-course race
NASCAR has a rich racing history when it comes to places and surfaces, and it even raced at Soldier Field back in 1956. But this weekend marks the sport’s first-ever street race.
However, technically, NASCAR has raced on regular streets before — just not in a true street-course sense. As NBC Sports notes, NASCAR’s first season in 1949 included a street course but it wasn’t entirely a street course:
Sure, part of the Daytona Beach course was sand, but the course did include the same streets locals traversed in their cars. Seventy-five years later, the Cup schedule includes eight types of courses — the most diverse group of tracks the series has ever run.
2
Course layout
The course for the Grant Park 220 is in the heart of downtown Chicago and will pass through, of course, Grant Park. It’s a 12-turn, 2.2-mile street course for a 100-lap, 220-mile race.
The start-finish line and pit road will be directly adjacent to Buckingham Fountain, and cars will pass by Soldier Field and take a brief tour of Lake Shore Drive between Turns 2 and 3.
3
See NASCAR's Chicago street course, virtually
The race weekend hasn’t started, so cars have yet to hit the track. But here’s a virtual look at the course:
Get ready for this weekend's #NASCARChicago action with this turn-by-turn fly-through. pic.twitter.com/vXA6lUYHaw
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 29, 2023
And here’s a look with virtual cars thanks to iRacing and courtesy of NASCAR:
4
Angles of each turn
For the sport’s first street-course race, NASCAR broke down the angles and details of each turn in downtown Chicago. Via NASCAR.com:
- Start/Finish Line: On Columbus Drive, in front of Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park
940 feet toward Balbo Drive
- Turn 1: 90 degrees left on East Balbo Drive
900 feet towards DuSable Lake Shore Drive, with Museum Campus with Grant Park’s fields to the right - Turn 2: 90 degrees right on DuSable Lake Shore Drive
1,350 feet on DuSable Lake Shore Drive with Lake Michigan on the left - Turn 3: Slight right-hand curve staying on DuSable Lake Shore Drive
825 feet toward Roosevelt Road in front of the Field Museum at the Museum Campus - Turn 4: 90 degrees right on East Roosevelt Road
375 feet toward Columbus Drive - Turn 5: 90 degrees right on Columbus Drive, heading towards Balbo Drive
2,050 feet on Columbus Drive - Turn 6: 90 degrees left on Balbo Drive
1,000 feet down Balbo Drive across a bridge over railroad tracks toward Michigan Avenue - Turn 7: 90 degree Right on Michigan Avenue
500 feet on Michigan Avenue - Turn 8: Right on Congress Plaza (street version of a chicane)
Just over 500 feet toward Ida B. Wells Drive - Turn 9: Middle of Congress Plaza Drive where it crosses over Ida B. Wells Drive
Another 500 feet back to Michigan Avenue - Turn 10: Right back on Michigan Avenue
475 feet toward E. Jackson Drive - Turn 11: 90 degrees right on E. Jackson Drive back towards the lake adjacent to the Art Institute.
950 feet back to Columbus Drive and back across the railroad tracks
- Turn 12: 90 degree right on Columbus Drive
925 feet back down Columbus Drive to the S/F Line in front of the Buckingham Fountain
5
Chicago street-course photos and renderings
Here are some early looks at the Chicago street course:
You've never seen a backdrop like this. #NASCARChicago pic.twitter.com/6oxUSY7koa
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 29, 2023
Building an event unlike any other. #NASCARChicago pic.twitter.com/EwQIud3qzQ
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 27, 2023
It's all coming together. #NASCARChicago pic.twitter.com/9gomsWa0Dz
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 27, 2023
A race in 1895 created a footprint for the #NASCARChicago Street Race.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 29, 2023
Obviously because this race hasn’t happened yet, we don’t have photos of what the course looks like with fans in the stands. Here’s another look with course renderings (and not actual photos):
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NASCAR Cup Series schedule for Chicago street-course race
The Cup Series’ weekend on-track schedule is:
Saturday, July 1: Cup Series practice, 1:30 p.m. ET, USA Network
Saturday July 1: Cup Series qualifying, 2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network
Sunday, July 2: Grant Park 220, 5:30 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock
