Anyone planning a major, controversial event in Chicago should pay attention to the likelihood of mayoral turnover. Once a new administration is in place, once-silent aldermen quickly find their sharp-tongued voices. So it went with NASCAR: “That was a Lori Lightfoot deal,” summed up what the denizens of City Hall had to say.
Much of the media followed suit. “Is it worth it?” asked an Axios reporter. “Remains to be seen. Lots of accountability reporting to be done in coming weeks.”
Here’s a head start on some of that accountability reporting: Did you see the weather?
Simply put, NASCAR was virtually rained out of existence this past weekend. Saturday’s Xfinity Series Loop 121 first was postponed to Sunday morning because of lightning, and then called off entirely by NASCAR officials. The marquee event, known as the NASCAR Cup Series, was also compromised by conditions that necessitated both a shortening of the number of laps (from 100 to 75) and a later start time, by which point many of the outdoor stands were empty. Not that the crowds ever were as expected. It was pouring rain all weekend.
Compounding the weather-related disappointments: Saturday’s big concert by the headline act The Chainsmokers was canceled, as was the planned Sunday concert by Charley Crockett and Miranda Lambert, “due to flooding in Lower Hutchinson Field,” NASCAR said on the event’s website. Pictures emerged on social media of one local music act, JC Brooks, playing to just a handful of soggy viewers on Saturday.
NASCAR fans who chose to stay in town mostly were stuck all weekend in their expensive hotel rooms or wandering around wondering when the weather would break and the action could start. For NASCAR’s hardworking Chicago team, the weekend must have been a cruel disappointment.
Given the change to blue skies on Monday, it would have made sense to have postponed events until then. But NASCAR, undoubtedly thinking of the future and nervous of what might happen with a new mayor, apparently decided that was too big an ask of the city, and opted to wrap things up in the Sunday rain instead.
Put all of that together and you have a weekend offering little usable data and no reasonable conclusion other than fairness dictates allowing NASCAR to come back next year and try again (the contract between NASCAR and Chicago runs for three years, but allows for either party to pull out with six months notice).
It’s impossible to quantify the potential economic impact of a weekend where many clearly decided to stay home, given the conditions, and so much of what was planned never actually took place in anything approaching the intended circumstances. It’s true that the promised global TV broadcasts did showcase downtown Chicago, but hardly in a setting the city could have wanted or easily anticipated.
There was inconvenience, but Chicago did not grind to a halt, any more than it did during the Taylor Swift concert. Hotels did fill up. It’s also clear that some people liked the idea, while others did not. There was no significant conduct or crime issues at the race, although the weather might have impacted that too. Troublemakers in Chicago like to stay dry.
So there is only one conclusion. Give NASCAR another shot next year, and hold most of that “accountability reporting” until it will make some sense.
