Chicago Street Race Brings Positive Economic Impact to the City

What’s Happening

One of the things that the Chicago Street Race was under pressure to provide was positive impact on local businesses, including hotels. NASCAR got a positive note on this front when Choose Chicago reported that 79% of hotel rooms were filled, which made for the biggest weekend revenue since 2015 according to Robert Channick of the Chicago Tribune. Adam Stern also retweeted the news.

You Need to Know:

• This is big for NASCAR as the future of the Chicago Street Race continues to be in doubt. The City of Chicago can pull out of the agreement with up to 180 days notice, and there is no real indication of them going one way or another. Economic impact like this is the type of thing that NASCAR needs to show to the city in order for the race to be more than a one year event.
• This comes amidst the 2024 NASCAR schedule being under intense scrutiny amongst fans. Within the next month or two is when the 2024 schedule will likely be released, and the Chicago Street Race could be a hang-up in that schedule being released. NASCAR would, in all likelihood, like a commitment from Chicago just prior to this schedule being released.
• NASCAR fans saw this as a win, but others do not see this as a guarantee that the race will come back next year. There is still a lot of skepticism around that.

In the Stands

A simple W from Steve Paris.

Shayla D. remains cautious about the future of this race.

I guess thinhs changed Kyle.

Bob Quick adds some more important context

The odds of coming back are certainly better than they were.

TightOff is not so convinced.

The Chicago Street race still has many hurdles to clear before it can become a part of the calendar for next year. This is a positive step for the race, but it is merely just a step for right now.