What’s Happening?

On Wednesday, Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reported that at the Chicago Street Race, NASCAR brought in multiple city officials intrigued by the prospect of a NASCAR street race. No specifics were given on who was there, but this highlights that NASCAR is potentially looking to add more street races to the calendar.

• Despite the weather issues both years, the Chicago Street Race has been a major success for NASCAR. The racing product has been good, and the events have produced two of the biggest TV audiences of the past two seasons.
• Street races have many benefits for both NASCAR and the local market. Rather than building a race track, which is often well away from the city center, the track is built where the people are, often in or near the center of a major city. This makes it easier for fans to come to the race and encourages them to patronize local businesses.
• Despite the interest of NASCAR and other cities, street races are often very controversial for local governments, businesses, and citizens. Shutting down city streets creates a headache for all individuals, and potential profits do not always offset those.

Who Else Would Be Interested in a Street Race?

Obviously, multiple cities are at least somewhat interested in hosting a NASCAR Street Race. In all likelihood, NASCAR would focus on major markets where it doesn’t currently have a presence, and there are plenty of places for NASCAR to go.

One such market is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is interested in NASCAR. According to Adam Bittner of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, tourism officials in Pittsburgh are intrigued by NASCAR, and SportsPittsburgh Executive Director Jennifer Hawkins told the Post-Gazette that she would “Love” to see NASCAR in Pittsburgh.

While NASCAR hosts a race in Pennsylvania at Pocono Raceway, that track is over on the State’s East side, roughly five hours away. Given the success of a street race in Chicago, a market NASCAR had already visited with the sort of nearby Chicagoland Speedway, imagine if a totally new market gained a street race? The most recent inking of NASCAR in Pittsburgh was David Ragan, who took a Roush-Fenway Racing show car to the city in September 2007.

Another intriguing market is Denver, Colorado, a market largely untapped by NASCAR. The closest NASCAR ever came to Denver was having the lower tier series race at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, about an hour and 40 minutes south of Denver.

Denver is no stranger to motorsports, though. CART and Champ Car, precursors to IndyCar, hosted street races. A.J. Allmendinger won the final street race in Denver in 2006.

Seattle, Washington, is another market NASCAR could consider. The Cup Series currently has no races staged in the Pacific Northwest, and the only current NASCAR activity in the region is the Xfinity Series’ annual visit to Portland International Raceway.

Street Racing in that area is not necessarily new, as NASCAR’s Winston West Series (now the ARCA Menards Series West), held street races in Spokane and Tacoma in Washington. However, no major professional auto racing series has held a street race in the region.

Maybe NASCAR could look international for a street race. Street Racing is very popular amongst major international markets for series like Formula One and Formula E. This includes Formula One countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the Middle East, the upcoming Madrid Street Circuit in Europe, and Singapore in the South Pacific, plus street races in the United States in New York (Formula E), Las Vegas (F1), and Miami (F1).

It might be a tougher sell to bring NASCAR to a city like this, given that NASCAR has been exclusively a North American sport for most of its history. However, NASCAR’s recent forays into international markets via international series in Brazil, Europe, and Canada could raise interest.

Would NASCAR Add a Street Race or REPLACE the Chicago Street Race

Perhaps the bigger question for NASCAR is whether or not they will replace the Chicago Street Race with another street race or add the race to the schedule to replace another race. There are multiple sides to this.

On the one hand, NASCAR’s deal with Chicago runs through 2025, meaning that the event could end by the end of next year. Does NASCAR want to maintain a presence in Chicago by racing at Chicagoland if that event ends, or do they want to expand somewhere new? On the other hand, Chicago is a major market, but Chicagoland did not draw many fans in its later years.

If Chicago does stay on the schedule, is NASCAR willing to add a street race? That would require moving a track off of the schedule, and that decision is always a tough one. Does Las Vegas lose a race, or could another short track drop a date due to the poor Next-Gen product on short tracks? Does NASCAR move off of another track that begins to struggle?

Either way, NASCAR has some tough decisions to make. However, the success of the Chicago Street Race could make it difficult to avoid trying the concept elsewhere.

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