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If this is it for NASCAR's Chicago Street Race, drivers will miss a ‘favorite event'
If this is it for NASCAR's Chicago Street Race, drivers will miss a ‘favorite event'

New York Times

time5 hours ago

  • Automotive
  • New York Times

If this is it for NASCAR's Chicago Street Race, drivers will miss a ‘favorite event'

CHICAGO — NASCAR stock cars will roar down Michigan Avenue, DuSable Lake Shore Drive and other streets around Chicago's Grant Park for perhaps the final time on Sunday afternoon, marking the conclusion of an eventful and weather-marred three-year contract. Meteorologists are calling for rain on race day for the third consecutive year, and the long-term forecast for the race's future on the NASCAR schedule looks gloomier. While considered a remarkable feat in the NASCAR world, the race has also been an expensive proposition for the sanctioning body — more than $50 million spent for the inaugural race in 2023, with less attendance than originally hoped. Advertisement The grandstands, hospitality areas and concert venue have been pared down for this year's edition of the race. Meanwhile, The Athletic has reported NASCAR is in talks for a San Diego street race next year — and it's unclear whether there could be room for two such events on the calendar. But if this is the last one in Chicago, drivers certainly aren't cheering its demise. Despite widespread industry skepticism before the first edition of the race, Chicago has become a signature event that presents a different experience than most on the NASCAR schedule. 'It's probably my favorite event in NASCAR each year,' said Kyle Larson, a three-time winner this season in the Cup Series. Favorite? Of all 38 races? 'I mean, name a better one,' he said. Larson rattled off a list of pluses for the Chicago race: Drivers enjoy staying in a hotel across the street and walking to the racetrack. There are endless nice restaurants. The city is beautiful. And the racing has been surprisingly good. From Larson's view, what's not to like? It wasn't always evident it would turn out this way. In the lead-up to the inaugural race, Chicago politicians and residents alike raised a fuss over road closures, traffic, and concerns about everything from dog-walking disruptions to asking track president Julie Giese if there was a chance of cars crashing into buildings. Meanwhile, there was hand-wringing in the NASCAR garage over headlines about high crime and worries about whether the Cup Series cars would be able to have a good show on such a narrow course. Then, in the middle of the first day of on-track activity in 2023, the first rain hit. The city evacuated the entire park due to lightning, and NASCAR was forced to cancel high-profile concerts that night to the dismay of many fans who were sold on the 'music festival with a race' concept. Advertisement Suddenly, it seemed like the event might be doomed before it even got started. 'That first year on the Saturday, the amount of people coming in here for the concert was insanity,' Spire Motorsports driver Michael McDowell said. 'It was going to be a giant success. And then, obviously, the weather and the thunderstorms.' The next day, a large storm caused the track to flood. The rain swirled around on the radar like a small hurricane. Finally, the skies cleared enough for New Zealand native Shane van Gisbergen to win a thrilling race in his NASCAR debut, broadcaster NBC had its highest NASCAR viewership in six years, and the race was viewed as a hit despite the rain. It won 'Event of the Year' at the Sports Business Awards. Mother Nature struck again last year, causing more delays and shortening the race. And Chicago might get drenched again on Sunday, if those forecasts are correct. Still, an often-cynical NASCAR garage has refreshingly focused on the rays of sunshine poking through the clouds when it comes to Chicago. 'It's had to go through a lot of adversity, but the race itself and the city and the track are awesome,' McDowell said. 'It accomplished what we wanted to accomplish: Bringing the race to the fans and not the fans to the race.' Giese said more than 80 percent of ticket-buyers in the first year had never previously been to a NASCAR race; that number dipped to a still-impressive 70 percent in Year 2 and was tracking similarly for Sunday. Drivers don't have that data at their fingertips, but their anecdotal evidence has put Chicago in a favorable light. Driver/team owner Denny Hamlin said there was 'more excitement around the venue itself than what a normal race venue has' and was pleased to hear non-NASCAR fans at his hotel discussing the race. His experiences led him to stump Saturday for a return to Chicago because it has stayed true to the original goal: Creating a massive, in-person promotion geared toward an audience who might not otherwise even consider watching a NASCAR race. Advertisement 'I (went) shopping, and I go to all these different stores,' Hamlin said. '(The conversations were,) 'What are you in town for? Oh, yeah, there's a race. We were talking about going to that. We didn't go last year because of the rain, but we're thinking about going.' 'That's what you want. These are younger people who are not going to travel to Chicagoland (Speedway, an oval in Joliet, about 40 miles away from Grant Park) to go to a race. You have to have it right here where they can walk to it.' But that's also the dilemma for NASCAR. This isn't F1, which never races on an oval and conducts its championship circuit exclusively on street circuits and road courses. Nor is this IndyCar, which has a sprinkling of ovals on a calendar otherwise dominated by road racing. NASCAR has six non-ovals per season, and Chicago is the only street course race. Street courses are tighter and less forgiving than natural road courses, which have plenty of runoff areas unrestrained by real-life city avenues and obstacles like sidewalks and bus stops. While Chicago has allowed new fans to see the cars and drivers up close, it's also not a true sampling of the core NASCAR product. That's one reason Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott has been such a strong advocate of seeing NASCAR race at the Nashville Fairgrounds short track near that city's center and repeatedly praised NASCAR for building a small oval inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for its preseason exhibition 'Clash' race from 2022-2024. 'There's nothing that's going to top giving people a true short track (in Nashville),' Elliott said. 'What is NASCAR? Here it is. Take an Uber from Broadway to the racetrack and go watch. 'That is the biggest home run waiting to happen. But this is a good second choice, as far as getting inside a big-city market. It's been a lot of fun to come do it.' Advertisement Regardless of whether Chicago sticks, it's a given that the NASCAR schedule will continue evolving. And that's a recent development for a series which once had such a stale calendar that Joey Logano considered a 'big change' was 'moving a date a couple weeks.' These days, NASCAR has taken some wild chances. It raced inside the L.A. Coliseum. It tried a dirt race. It took a gamble on the small-capacity Bowman Gray Stadium earlier this year. It took the Cup Series to Mexico City last month for the first international points race in the Modern Era. But nothing compares to what it accomplished logistically in Chicago. A series without any street course setup experience convinced city leaders they could pull it off and then did, constructing a world-class track that challenged drivers in the heart of the third-biggest American city. It's telling that in spite of a trifecta of rainy race days, the Chicago Street Course legacy is likely to still be viewed favorably and as a proof of concept for future street racing events. 'It's proven being bold can have its benefits if you take big risks,' 2023 Cup champion Ryan Blaney said. 'It's something they'd never done before. They took it head-on.' 'I wish we would have gotten more fortune with the weather, but it's been a big success. No matter what happens next year, going forward, it's been really good NASCAR decided to do this. It was a win.' (Top photo of Shane van Gisbergen celebrating his win Saturday in the Xfinity Series race in Chicago: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)

Alex Bowman is looking for a 2nd straight Cup Series win in Chicago
Alex Bowman is looking for a 2nd straight Cup Series win in Chicago

Washington Post

time19 hours ago

  • Sport
  • Washington Post

Alex Bowman is looking for a 2nd straight Cup Series win in Chicago

CHICAGO — Alex Bowman thinks he is moving in the right direction. With the NASCAR Cup Series back in Chicago on Sunday, it's good timing for the Hendrick Motorsports driver. Bowman raced to a sorely needed victory in downtown Chicago a year ago, stopping an 80-race drought and securing a spot in the playoffs. He is still looking for his first win this season, but he finished third last weekend at Atlanta.

How Chicago's historic orchestra hall helps NASCAR tackle a street-race problem
How Chicago's historic orchestra hall helps NASCAR tackle a street-race problem

New York Times

time2 days ago

  • Automotive
  • New York Times

How Chicago's historic orchestra hall helps NASCAR tackle a street-race problem

CHICAGO — The Symphony Center is one of Chicago's oldest structures, but the history inside isn't why NASCAR teams have descended on a building that first opened in 1904. The reason is that, when you go up to the ninth floor and walk out onto the east-facing balcony, you get a picturesque view of Millennium Park to your left, Lake Michigan straight ahead and Grant Park to your right. Advertisement From this lookout on the Symphony Center's highest floor, NASCAR teams get an important view during the Chicago race weekend. During on-track sessions for both the Cup and Xfinity Series, teams position spotters here to help their drivers navigate the temporary street circuit that encompasses 2.2 miles and 12 turns around Grant Park. 'It's definitely quite the view from up here,' said Travis Geisler, alternative spotter for Team Penske driver Joey Logano. Geisler, Penske's competition director, doesn't normally spot for Logano, only stepping into that role whenever NASCAR races on a road course. The spotter's job requires being an additional set of eyes for a driver, helping them through the potential safety and competitive facets they must navigate, while also monitoring every other driver. An already challenging role is made more difficult when NASCAR ventures away from its traditional oval tracks to road courses, like it will this weekend in downtown Chicago. For the third consecutive year, NASCAR is racing on the Windy City's streets. On circuits like Chicago, a spotter's visibility is often obscured, with several obstacles in the way and communication with their driver limited. And that's how a group of spotters find themselves atop a building that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — regarded as one of the United States' 'Big Five' orchestras — calls home. It's an ideal place to view a section of the track. 'You are higher up, so you can see more, even though some of the braking zone into (Turn) 11 is blocked by the tree, you can at least see when somebody's setting it up and can give (a driver) a heads-up,' said Hayden Reeves, primary spotter for Legacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones, of the Symphony Center location. 'From here, you can pick them up a little sooner.' At most ovals, teams employ just a single spotter, stationed usually at the track's highest point — typically on top of the scoring tower on the frontstretch. On a road course, with a more complex layout, teams usually bring in at least two additional spotters, scattered throughout the circuit to offer guidance at areas where the main spotter cannot get a proper visual. Advertisement For Chicago, teams generally place their primary spotter on a stand along the main straightaway in the frontstretch. Additional spotters, many of whom study the vernacular of the primary spotter to make it easier for the driver to understand, are in the designated locations between Turns 3 and 4 — where they stand atop double-decker buses parked outside the circuit — and at the Symphony Center. Spotters along the straightaway are responsible for picking up the cars exiting Turn 12 and entering Turn 1, a primary passing zone, then coming into Turn 6, another passing zone. They also handle restarts, which are often frantic. Spotters on the buses handle the cars as they come down the high-speed backstretch into Turn 3, through Turn 4 and into Turn 5. Spotters at the Symphony Center pick up their driver as they exit Turn 8 and enter a quick succession of three turns, including Turn 11, a tricky 90-degree bend that has been the site of many pile-ups. 'Most of the corners are 90-degree corners and blind, and you can't see around them,' said Kaulig Racing driver AJ Allmendinger. 'And as we've seen a couple of times, you start stacking cars in there, if the spotter is slow to get to it or can't see it, we all kind of stack it in there because you just don't see the cars wrecked.' The use of multiple spotters on road courses — teams may use more than three and place them where needed — requires everyone to adjust their operations. T.J. Bell, spotter for 23XI Racing's Corey Heim, described it as a 'game of telephone' where not everyone has direct communication with everyone at all times. On an oval, a driver's lone spotter informs them of everything — choosing the right lane on a restart, if another driver is to the inside or outside of them, cautions, what's happening on pit road, or any number of other things. On road courses, however, the regular spotter is not necessarily the primary voice, as some duties are left to those with a better sightline. Advertisement The setup means the regular spotter has to accept not being able to talk to their driver as often as normal and must adapt to handing off to the alternative spotters, then remaining silent. 'Well, I'm an egomaniac. I don't like to share my job with anybody,' said Freddie Kraft, the spotter for 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace. 'I want to be in control of everything.' This year, track officials have relocated the primary spotter stand from above pit road to across from it, a move made due to the removal of a hospitality area that had been there for the past two years. While spotters should now have a straight-on viewpoint of pit road itself, some have expressed trepidation about whether they'll be able to clearly see cars exiting Turn 12 and entering Turn 1, or picking up their driver going into Turn 6 due to trees that line the course. Track officials responded to the concerns by adding video boards to assist. Limited visibility for spotters is not unique to Chicago, with similar concerns arising in the past few years at other tracks, including some ovals. Last month at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, a permanent road course in Mexico City where NASCAR raced for the first time in nearly 20 years, some of the initial designated spotter locations weren't ideal. Spotters had difficulty seeing cars going into Turn 1, a key section of the 2.49-mile, 15-turn course, due to the stand being too low to the ground. After consultation with NASCAR, spotters were allowed to relocate to areas they saw as a better fit, though some still said they lacked sufficient visibility. 'Spotters into Turn 1 of Mexico. Do you know where they were standing? You can't see anything,' Wallace said. 'And so if we want to talk about safety and all this stuff, either say we're not racing with spotters, or get them in a position and make sure the area is safe for them to operate in to give us the safety and the protocols that we need.' Wallace's frustration stems from how much drivers rely on spotters. That importance is magnified on some tracks, particularly a street course that offers little margin for error due to the concrete walls that closely surround the track. But because of the vast layout of the Chicago course, or nearly any road course, there are areas where spotters can't see their cars. There can also be radio issues due to interference from nearby buildings. The combination of factors leaves drivers momentarily on their own, a little blind to what's around them. Advertisement 'You just have to pick it up on the stuff that you may get relaxed on, stuff like relying on your ears a lot,' Logano said. 'When you get your spotter going and all that, you listen to him to make your decisions, and now you have to take a little bit of focus off the road and look at the mirror.' It's all part of the challenge of trying to race on a road course, both for those behind the wheel and those watching from above trying to keep a close eye on the action. 'Chicago is a tough one with a lot of blind spots,' Kraft said. 'You would probably need five or six guys to do it effectively. It's basically just a positioning thing. You see Turn 4 spotters are standing on top of a damn tour bus. Like, we got someone on Symphony (Center) on the balcony. Some guys are in hotel rooms trying to watch Turn 6. It's very challenging at times. It's hard.' (Top photo of cars going through Turn 11, with Symphony Center in the background, during last year's Chicago Street Race: Joseph Weiser / Icon Sportswire)

CBS News Chicago proudly sponsors Race Against Gun Violence in Grant Park on June 5
CBS News Chicago proudly sponsors Race Against Gun Violence in Grant Park on June 5

CBS News

time23-05-2025

  • Sport
  • CBS News

CBS News Chicago proudly sponsors Race Against Gun Violence in Grant Park on June 5

CBS News Chicago is the proud media sponsor of the Chicago Race Against Gun Violence in Grant Park on June 5. The annual event is organized by Strides for Peace to celebrate the life-changing work of community organizations that work to combat gun violence in Chicago every day, and raise money to help them continue to provide their vital services to the city. There are four different races you can sign up for: an 8K run, a 5K run, a 2-mile walk and a Kids for Peace sprint. The cost to enter each varies. You can also register to participate as a team or as an individual. Events begin at 6 p.m. with a welcome, warm up and the Kids Sprint for Peace. All contributions you make go to your charity of choice. Click here for more information about the event, and links to sign up and donate.

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