Chicago Street Date Could Move to a Different Weekend in Coming Years

What’s Happening?

2025 marks the third year in a three-year contact agreement between the City of Chicago and NASCAR to run a street race in its downtown area. With this year bringing the agreement to an end, the future of the NASCAR street race is unclear. Many different possibilities have been floated in the past. These include hosting the race in a different city every year with San Diego being one of the leading candidates. However, as Adam Stern reports, this might not be the end of NASCAR in the streets of Chicago after all.

Jason Lee, a senior advisor to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, sat down with the press to talk about the possibility of a NASCAR return. One potential solution that was floated was to move the date of the race weekend in order to put less strain on city law enforcement and officials.

You Need To Know:

• Coming into the 2025 season, many fans and industry insiders considered this year’s Chicago Street Course to be the last. At least for the City of Chicago. Other markets were still very much on the table. But the general attitude was that this event was going to be three and done.
• The street race in downtown Chicago has had its obstacles in its first two years. Both races were cut short due to darkness as lengthy rain delays postponed the races for several hours. Considering the woes of the event, many consider it a botched experiment.
• The fact that Chicago is still willing to have discussions with NASCAR in the future is a promising sign. It by no means that the street race (if there is one) in 2026 will return to the Windy City. But if this event takes on a traveling identity, it doesn’t altogether rule out a return in the future.

Lee’s comments suggest that the senior focus this year is putting on the best show they can for 2025. After that, negotiations are open but nothing is set in stone.

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