NASCAR CEO Acknowledges Potential Street Course Addition for 2027 Schedule

What’s Happening?

Prior to Sunday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway, a quote from NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell caught the attention of online fans as it openly acknowledged the potential for the sport to return to the Chicago Street Circuit in 2027.

.@NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell said Chicagoland Speedway is "looking at a potential sellout on Sunday, which is fantastic, so that market remains very important to us, be it a street race or on the oval [in 2027]." pic.twitter.com/IIvu7RcIMG

— Adam Stern (@A_S12) July 5, 2026

This past weekend’s race at Chicagoland was a major turning point in the history of NASCAR in the Chicago market.

Over the past few decades, the sport has pursued three separate venues in an attempt to crack one of the country’s largest media markets.

First, there was Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, where the Truck Series raced in 2000 and 2001, then there was Chicagoland, a 1.5-mile track built in Joliet that the sport raced at from 2001 to 2019, and finally, the Chicago Street Circuit in Grant Park, which ran from 2023 to 2025.

Though the sport seemed content to race at the street circuit well into the future, after last year’s event, the race went on an indefinite hiatus, with officials using terms like “pause” to describe the track’s status.

In its place, NASCAR added a West Coast street circuit at San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado, and added a date at Chicagoland for the track’s first race weekend this decade.

Still, talk of a return to the streets continues.

Prior to Sunday’s Cup Series race, Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal shared on X a quote from NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell addressing yesterday’s sellout, a return to the market in 2027, and even acknowledging rumors of a potential street circuit race.

While O’Donnell’s comments did not confirm which track will be on the 2027 schedule, it is another piece in an (as of right now) confusing puzzle that will make up the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season.

The Windy City Rumor Mill

Given the proximity of both tracks and the set 36-race weekends on the NASCAR calendar, most fans have assumed that only one track (Chicagoland or the Chicago Street Circuit) could be on the 2027 schedule.

Again, it’s easy to understand, as Chicagoland directly took over the Chicago race weekend in 2026, and NASCAR’s recent trend of cutting back on doubling up markets and double-dates.

For the most part, entering this weekend, most fans felt that the winner of this hypothetical competition would be the street circuit for three key reasons.

First were the obvious factors: its location, attractiveness to sponsors, and unique nature.

Second was the seemingly low interest in a race at Chicagoland entering this past week, which proved untrue by the weekend, as the grandstands were packed, with traffic backed up for miles (mostly due to weather).

Finally, there were plenty of rumors suggesting the race would be back in 2027, first from Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, who reported in May that NASCAR was “closer to reality than ever.”

This was backed by a report from Melody Mercado of Block Club Chicago in June, who claimed that if NASCAR returns to the streets of Chicago, the date could shift to late May or early June of 2027.

Even days before the race at Chicagoland, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke about a return to the streets of Chicago, doubting that NASCAR would race at both tracks in 2027 on his podcast, The Dale Jr. Download.

Still, things aren’t all bad for Chicagoland, as late last week, Earnhardt threw another wrench into this story, noting on another podcast that he has heard NASCAR is interested in racing at both tracks.

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