{"id":20060,"date":"2022-07-20T09:53:52","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T09:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/chicago-nascar-race-downtown-event-coming-to-city-next-summer\/"},"modified":"2022-07-20T09:53:52","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T09:53:52","slug":"chicago-nascar-race-downtown-event-coming-to-city-next-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/chicago-nascar-race-downtown-event-coming-to-city-next-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago NASCAR race: Downtown event coming to city next summer"},"content":{"rendered":"
Chicago’s most iconic roadways \u2014 including DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive \u2014 will be turned into a 12-turn, 2.2-mile showcase for the first street course race in NASCAR’s 75-year history.<\/p>\n
Tuesday’s announcement came more than 40 years after then-Mayor Jane Byrne proudly unveiled plans for a Chicago Grand Prix race that would have run through the streets of Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend in 1981.<\/p>\n
The political backlash was nearly as fast and furious as the race would have been \u2014 so much so that the event was canceled long before the green flag dropped.<\/p>\n
Chicago’s second female mayor now is following the trail blazed by the first.<\/p>\n
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said there will be three years of NASCAR races along the lake in downtown Chicago, with the first set for July 2, 2023 \u2014 if she wins a second term.<\/p>\n
At the official announcement at Cityfront Plaza, Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing and development strategy, called it the \u201cthe most monumental day in the history of our sport, NASCAR.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNext year, we’ll be celebrating our 75th anniversary. In 75 years, our sport has never had a street course,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m excited and proud to announce to you today that, on July 2nd, 2023, the NASCAR Cup Series will be coming to downtown Chicago and racing here.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a panel discussion with NASCAR officials, Lightfoot said the \u201cexcitement among all of us \u2014 and particularly me \u2014 about the possibilities was just off the charts\u201d when she started negotiations with NASCAR more than a year ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a huge, huge sports town. That goes without saying. And the opportunity to bring something so unique as NASCAR to the city of Chicago \u2014 and I think it’s gonna be one of the most iconic racecourses, maybe ever. And introduce a whole new fan base to what NASCAR is about in the city of Chicago \u2014 we couldn’t pass up that opportunity,\u201d the mayor said.<\/p>\n