CHICAGO — The NASCAR Chicago street race was shaping up to be a disaster.
After lightning cut part of Saturday’s programming short, a torrential rainstorm the next day submerged roads across the city — including the improvised downtown track that was set to host the main event and the end of the previous day’s race.
By 4 p.m. Sunday, three of the scheduled concerts had been canceled and NASCAR representatives began hinting of a refund system as the pace of the downpour worsened still, threatening the biggest race of the weekend: the Cup Series Grant Park 220.
But one hour later, the spigot miraculously shut off. Drivers and fans walked back to the tracks under the first clear sky of the afternoon, repacking the stands to their fullest yet. Viewers from across the world marveled as sleek cars zipped — and sometimes slid — on the racecourse below the gleaming Chicago skyline.
It was a photo finish that marked the end of a controversial buildup to a first-of-its-kind event in downtown Chicago, one billed as an out-of-the-box chance to inject tourism dollars and showcase the city but which also attracted complaints of extended road and park closures. Whether the street race and festival can be considered a success, and whether it will come back in 2024, will depend on many factors that remain to be seen.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, who inherited a multiyear agreement with NASCAR from his predecessor, Lori Lightfoot, was noncommittal Monday on its future.
“We’re very grateful that despite, the extreme weather, NASCAR was able to deliver with very minimal disruption,” Johnson said in a news conference. “Like everything that I inherited, I am a teacher, so I will assess it and grade it, and it will be an open process where other folks get a chance to weigh in.”
Although the mayor wouldn’t answer whether he will turn away from NASCAR, he did express some support for the event Sunday, showing up before the race.
Downtown aldermen who spoke with the Tribune on Monday took a similarly cautious approach, praising the overall execution but noting the analysis of the event’s economic benefit is what will seal its fate. Meanwhile, Lightfoot’s former deputy mayor for economic development, Samir Mayekar, tweeted a celebration of Chicago’s beauty shining on a national stage “almost like it was always part of the bigger plan.”
How much the city profited, from amusement tax revenue to the race’s influence on the local economy, will likely take months to analyze, while the soft impact on Chicago’s reputation and long-term tourism is more difficult to gauge. But the results will factor into whether the current administration will continue Lightfoot’s vision of a five-year NASCAR tradition or render it a one-time oddity.
The contract between the Chicago Park District and NASCAR was announced last summer and lasts three years, with the option to extend for two more. Either party can opt out of the next year’s race without penalty with 180 days’ written notice. NASCAR can take another 90 days to cancel if it pays a $250,000 penalty.
Aldermen Brian Hopkins, 2nd, and Bill Conway, 34th, whose wards encompass downtown, said the main issue was scheduling such an extensive event during the Fourth of July weekend, traditionally the most demanding time for Chicago police manpower. The lengthy closures of nearby streets and of Grant Park rankled many of their constituents, including when the city booted the long-revered Taste of Chicago summer food festival from its usual slot that weekend to this fall.
“We’ll have to reserve judgment until we see what the actual result is, but tying up Grant Park for the majority of the middle of summer — that in my opinion was and remains a mistake,” Hopkins said. “And all the good planning in the world can’t change that. This was not well-planned, and it was not a good idea of the former mayor. We had to make some lemonade out of the lemons that she left us with.”
Hopkins said the biggest inconvenience with traffic was the city’s “mission creep” of shifting major road closures, including on DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Nonetheless, the downtown alderman applauded the final result while noting he won’t decide his stance on next year’s plans until the economic analysis is done.
“There’s always that classic shot of the Chicago skyline in the background,” Hopkins said. “That’s a commercial for the city of Chicago, broadcast to an international audience. I recognize the value of that. … I thought this event really lived up to the hype.”
Conway agreed that the city shined on TV this weekend, but the timing meant his residents who did not shell out for NASCAR tickets could not access Grant Park on a major holiday weekend, while Chicago police overtime hours likely skyrocketed.
“We have to look at a different weekend to do this,” the freshman alderman said. “This is a group of (police officers) that have had an excessive amount of days off canceled already, so that was a significant cost for having this event. And if we do go forward with this, we want to make sure to minimize it in the future.”
Ald. Lamont Robinson, newly elected to the 4th Ward, said “NASCAR’s responsiveness to constituents’ concerns and their accessibility was appreciated” but he still thinks it’s “crucial to re-evaluate the contract.”
“If the city decides to continue the contract with NASCAR, NASCAR needs to take a proactive approach to collaborate with City Council, ward-affected aldermen, and directly impacted residents through the planning process and ensure proper compensation for city personnel,” Robinson said in a written statement, adding he will propose an ordinance “to prevent resources from being diverted from neighborhoods during major city events.”
NASCAR’s responsiveness to constituents’ concerns and their accessibility was appreciated. However, considering the inconvenience caused to my constituents, it is crucial to re-evaluate the contract. If the city decides to continue the contract with NASCAR, NASCAR needs to take a proactive approach to collaborate with City Council, ward-affected aldermen, and directly impacted residents through the planning process and ensure proper compensation for city personnel.
Next City Council session, I will be proposing an ordinance to prevent resources from being diverted from neighborhoods during major city events. The proposed special events ordinance mandates the calculation of estimated costs, including hourly personnel expenses, for special city services. Applicants will be required to post a bond or prepay estimated costs, with actual costs reconciled after the event. Implementing this ordinance will promote collaboration, transparency, and equity.”
Then, of course, was the near-biblical storm on Sunday that threatened the success of the entire event and led to the National Weather Service warning of “potentially life-threatening” floods for hours. The weather forced the cancellation of that day’s concerts and the completion of the already-postponed Xfinity Series competition from Saturday, with Cole Custer declared the winner two laps short of the halfway point — a NASCAR first.
When the record rain began to ease Sunday afternoon, NASCAR sent out a fleet of trucks with squeegees and blowers to clear the pools of water off the track. At 5:15 p.m., the Grant Park 220 started — 45 minutes after it was scheduled — with drivers navigating a 12-turn track made all the more difficult by wet conditions, resulting in slower than projected speeds and a lot of fender benders but no serious crashes.
While the cars were equipped with windshield wipers and all-weather tires for the Chicago Street Race, NASCAR doesn’t usually race in the rain. The cars were not equipped with headlights and the course was not lit, forcing officials to shorten the race from 100 to 75 laps at about the halfway point due to impending nightfall.
“Obviously, we go into the weekend wanting to be able to execute everything,” Julie Giese, president of NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race, said Monday. “We can’t control the weather. So we always have contingency plans.”
NASCAR generally reschedules races postponed due to inclement weather. While safety is the prime consideration, getting the Cup Series race run on Sunday was a priority for the organizers in part due to the unique disruption caused by the first street race in NASCAR’s 75-year history.
In the end, New Zealand Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen won his NASCAR debut in an exciting come-from-behind finish, thrilling a damp crowd that stuck out flash flood delays and event detours.
Getting the event done on Sunday also enabled work crews to begin breaking down the temporary racecourse more quickly, with northbound DuSable Lake Shore Drive and southbound Michigan Avenue opened up on Monday.
The breakdown of the temporary racecourse is scheduled for completion by July 15. The 2,200 concrete barriers lining the track will be trucked down for storage at The 78, the site of a 62-acre megadevelopment slated for long-vacant land in the South Loop.
NASCAR does not disclose ticket sales, but a spokesman said it sold out nine sections of reserved seats before the race, with ticket buyers from all 50 states and 14 countries. Same-day tickets were also available at the racecourse. NBC Sports announced Monday that the race was its most-viewed NASCAR coverage in six years.
“This isn’t a financial play for us,” Giese said. “This is about introducing our sport to new audiences. And I feel like we did that this weekend.”
The weekend occupancy at hotels, one of the primary beneficiaries of a projected $114 million in economic benefit, has yet to be tabulated, and other financial indicators are likely to trickle out in the coming weeks.
Giese said NASCAR intends to be back in Chicago in 2024: “I think we’ve said from Day 1 that we’re committed to being here for all three years, and hopefully beyond.”
By Monday morning, a new website link was posted on the NASCAR Chicago Street Race page. It read, “BE THE FIRST TO KNOW WHEN 2024 NASCAR CHICAGO STREET RACE TICKETS BECOME AVAILABLE!”
