NASCAR’s First on Track Action at Chicagoland Confirmed

What’s Happening?

Ahead of Chicagoland Speedway’s first NASCAR race since 2019, NASCAR will host a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series tire test later this month.

• The April 21 test will feature three drivers from each of the two series racing at the track this summer. Drivers include Ryan Blaney for Ford, Denny Hamlin for Toyota, and Kyle Larson for Chevrolet, from the Cup Series garage, and Justin Allgaier for Chevrolet, Brandon Jones, and Nick Sanchez from the OAP Series garage.
• This test is the first step in NASCAR’s return to the track in Joliet, Illinois. The 1.5-mile track last hosted a race in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and an overhaul of the NASCAR schedule in 2021 saw it removed from the schedule.
• Of course, in modern NASCAR, any track time outside of a race weekend is valuable to a team. After years of not hosting a race at the track, and given the cold, bitter Illinois weather, teams will likely want to get a feel for the track’s aging surface.
• This season, Chicagoland takes over the slot on the schedule once held by the Chicago Street Race. The race weekend will host both the NASCAR OAP and Cup Series on July 4 and 5.

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