A lucky few Chicago kids basked in the NASCAR winner’s circle Thursday when, for the second time in two days, officials gave out free tickets to this weekend’s races — a perk worth hundreds of dollars.
About 450 kids were given free two-day general admission tickets Thursday afternoon at a NASCAR event at the Columbus Park Teen Center in Austin. Many of them were there as part of summer programs on the West Side.
The thousands who attended Bubba Wallace’s block party in Washington Park on Wednesday night were also given free general admission tickets for Saturday and Sunday.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, actors and brothers Lahmard and Larenz Tate and Julie Giese, the president of the Chicago Street Race, also addressed the crowd.
“NASCAR has been an incredible partner throughout this entire journey,” Johnson said. “I’m so looking forward to making NASCAR’s first-ever street race fun, safe and successful and, of course, to showcase our amazing city.”
The Tate brothers, Chicago natives, will serve as honorary race officials this weekend.
“I’m a big NASCAR fan,” Lahmard Tate said. Growing up watching the sport, “we never saw ourselves in it. So to see Bubba Wallace is amazing and breaks down those stereotypes, especially showing that a lot of Black and Brown folks like NASCAR too.”
The Tates and Johnson surprised the kids with the free tickets. They first asked the crowd if they would be going to the race, but many shouted back that tickets were too expensive.
“If things are a little too expensive, you got to make them affordable or even better, you got to make them available,” Johnson said.
“So we want to make sure our people get to experience NASCAR.”
Xavion Carter, 12, came to the Columbus Park event through Marillac St. Vincent Family Services, a Garfield Park organization that runs after-school and summer programs.
The kids learned about how a NASCAR pit crew works and career opportunities within the motorsport industry. They also had a chance to ask questions, which ranged from, “What happens if a tire pops?” and “What about if all the cars crash together at once?”
Xavion loves race cars. He correctly answered a question posed to the audience about what a pit crew does.
“A pit crew switches the tires out for the driver. They screw out the old tires and put in the new tires,” he said.
He learned how the crews work from the 2006 Disney movie “Cars,” which tells the story of a race car named Lightning McQueen that gets stranded on its way to a big race.
“I was watching that movie ‘Cars’ once. And I was really liking it. And then I saw these guys who helped with Lightning McQueen’s tires, and I learned that was the pit crew,” Xavion said.
He’s thrilled for the chance to see this weekend’s race in person, thanks to the free tickets.
“I love how the cars zoom past, and their super speed,” Xavion said.
Latoya Redmond, a manager with Marillac St. Vincent, said Thursday’s event was a special event for the kids. She found out about it on Tuesday and quickly signed campers up.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Redmond said. “One that these kids otherwise wouldn’t have.”
