For the second year in a row, the City of Chicago is setting up for NASCAR to take over the city streets. Despite being marred by bad weather and negative publicity, the 2023 event produced an entertaining race. The event’s second year has some optimism, but a city spokesperson told Robert Channick of the Chicago Tribune that they have yet to reach a “Final decision” on whether or not to bring the event back for a third year.
NASCAR and the City of Chicago are making changes to ensure this year’s event is smoother than last year. This includes reducing setup from 25 days to 19 days and NASCAR agreeing to fork out an extra $2 million for expenses, including police overtime, according to Channick. Julie Giese had this to say to Channick about these changes from last year to this year.
I think the big difference this year versus last year is people have an understanding of what the event is and how it comes together and what to expect. It wasn’t as bad as everyone expected last year as far as moving around the city.
Julie Giese
Tim Calkins, a Northwestern University Professor, told Channick that he believes the locals are more receptive to the event than last year.
They understand there’s some appeal to it, and they’re much more open-minded to welcome the event to the city.
Tim Calkins
The Harris Poll recently surveyed Chicago residents about how they will be impacted by the Street Race. While only 39% of fans said this event and those who like it are good for the city, fewer (32%) said they anticipate being “inconvenienced” by the event. However, only 24% of people believe this is good for Chicago residents.
Safe to say, local support for the event is…questionable at best. The city leadership sees that, too, and a spokesperson had this to say to Channick.
We will make a final decision on the third year and beyond in the near future.
Chicago spokesperson
We don’t know everything about how the City ultimately feels about the event, so the best we can do is look at this from all angles.
At the moment, Chicago and NASCAR have a three-year contract, with Channick reporting there is a two-year option. If Chicago decides to pull out of the event, they must give NASCAR 180 days’ notice, meaning that a decision must be made just after the New Year at the latest.
This is a totally different animal from a normal race. Rather than hosting an event at a purpose-built race track, NASCAR is taking over a city center for a weekend-plus. That’s an objective inconvenience to many, unlike a regular race at a purpose-built track, where NASCAR does its thing likely well away from the city center. There has to be a genuine return on investment for this to make sense in the long term, hence the changes made this year.
From the outside, it’s certainly easy to notice that there is a perfectly good NASCAR race track in the Chicago metro area, Chicagoland Speedway. From a convenience perspective, that could be a good solution. However, the Street Race can be quite a good look for Chicago, as in 2023, it was the second-most viewed NASCAR race of the season.
There’s also the reality that Chicago has had plenty of spats with current sports teams about funding for new stadiums or renovations. The Cubs took years to convince the city to install lights at Wrigley Field in the 1980s, and the city refused to help fund the Cubs’ renovation of Wrigley Field in the mid-late 2010s. The White Sox and the Bears are looking to construct new stadiums, but getting funding from the city has been challenging.
If Chicago struggles to give local teams at least some funding, how long will they be willing to support NASCAR? No one knows for sure.
The focus is on this weekend; hopefully, we will see the race happen without the weather messing up the weekend. Time will tell if it becomes a long-term event, and the City of Chicago has a lot of positives and negatives to weigh.
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On February 17, Ubisoft released a trailer that confirmed that NASCAR would be included in The Crew Motorfest’s next season update. Details were limited at the time, but in a press release issued today, Ubisoft revealed the full details of the update ahead of its March 4 launch.
Ubisoft says drafting will affect car speed and help save fuel, implying that drafting will be a huge factor in the game, at least with these cars. You can check out this and much more on Ubisoft’s official post linked below
Earlier this Tuesday, the official The Crew Motorfest account clarified confusion around the NASCAR bundles. The Crew Credit (CC) bundles only include cosmetic team liveries, not additional cars. The 3 base Next Gen cars (Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Toyota Camry XSE, and Chevrolet ZL1) are part of the free Season 9 update and can be purchased separately.
Mitch Rasmussen, NASCAR’s Senior Director of Interactive, said in the press release:
We’re excited to bring our iconic brand to life in The Crew Motorfest. This collaboration represents another important step in our strategy to bring NASCAR into the digital spaces and places where next generation fans spend their time, giving players new ways to interact with the culture and communities they love.
The content arrives as part of Year 3 Season 9 and is officially licensed by NASCAR. You can watch the first trailer and learn more in the article linked below
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Four road courses on the schedule, and somehow that’s enough to spark one of the biggest debates in the garage. After recent comments from Brad Keselowski questioning the business value of road racing, the conversation has picked up serious steam. Is NASCAR leaning too far into it, or is the current balance about right?
There are valid points on both sides, from sponsorship realities to fan traditions to competitive diversity. Some tracks have gained traction. Others have struggled. The question isn’t just whether road courses belong, but how many make sense within a 36-race season. It’s less about extremes and more about direction. And with future schedule changes always looming, this debate probably isn’t settled anytime soon.
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Corey Day’s run-in with Connor Zilisch at Circuit of the Americas became one of the most discussed incidents from Saturday’s race, even drawing a response from Denny Hamlin as well, who this week talked about his support for Zilisch.
During the race, Zilisch dealt with brake trouble on his No. 1 Chevrolet but worked his way forward from the rear of the field, advancing from P29 to P4 in the closing laps. With five laps remaining, he engaged in a battle with Hendrick Motorsports driver Corey Day as they exited Turn 2, holding the outside line. But as they contested the position, Day moved up behind him, contact occurred, and Zilisch spun off course to finish the race in P21.
After the contact, frustrated, Connor Zilisch initially referred to Day as an “absolute hack” on his radio, describing the clash as part of the latter’s racing pattern. But the JR Motorsports driver later tempered his comments, simply saying he expects an apology from the young Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Given that Zilisch declined to escalate the situation, on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin credited him for calmly managing his response after the race, saying,
“Zillich was smart about this. He in his interview, he’s like, “I looked over at him thinking, come on over here. Come apologize.” And he said he just looked at him with a stare like, I don’t know what it is with these guys. Why, Why can’t they… youth?”
However, he questioned Day’s failure to issue an immediate apology. In fact, he said he was “floored” by Corey Day’s reaction, which involved staring at a frustrated Zilisch rather than apologizing.
The No. 11 JGR driver also raised questions about how Hendrick Motorsports evaluates developing drivers. Organizations invest with the expectation of returns measured in wins and titles, but when a driver continues to make visible mistakes, fans and especially other drivers will start to scrutinize. Hamlin pointed to the balance between development and production, asking how long it would hold.
The COTA incident was not the first time Day’s racing antics were questioned. Last week, during the Atlanta race, Day was involved in a multi-car crash on lap five after attempting a three-wide move that resulted in contact with Ryan Sieg. The move triggered a chain reaction that collected several cars.
Sieg responded over team radio, questioning both the decision and Day’s presence in the series.
Hamlin argued that drivers are allowed to make mistakes as part of growth. At teams with front-running equipment and title ambitions, time frames are shorter. But he questioned whether Day faces a deadline by season’s end or whether the assessment extends into the following year.
In Day’s case, results have not offset the incidents that have drawn attention. Hamlin referenced Kyle Larson as an example, noting that aggressive driving can lead to contact as well as wins.
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