NASCAR driver differ on Chicago, future. 'Keep coming back,' one says. 'Switch it up,' says another
In Chicago’s earliest days as a NASCAR hotbed — way back in 2023 — star driver Denny Hamlin won the pole in the very first Cup Series street race, then billed as the Grant Park 220. Only one thing would get in the way of Hamlin and sweet victory: He wrecked on Lap 2. So much for that.
Downtown again on Saturday, a day before what’s now a shorter, renamed Grant Park 165, Hamlin suffered an even more ignominious mishap: On the very first lap of a practice run, his No. 11 Toyota blew an engine. That led him to skip qualifying, which left him in the back — No. 39 out of 40 drivers — alongside another major name who found himself in a similar boat, Chase Elliott.
One might expect that with the city’s three-year contract with NASCAR expiring, Hamlin would be all too happy to bid our lakefront adieu. But no. It seems he’s either a glutton for punishment or of the belief the racin’ world belongs here going forward. (Maybe both?)
“I think you try everything you can to get this thing back here in Chicago, because I believe it’s an important place for us,” he said.
If it were up to Hamlin, NASCAR would make a stop at Chicagoland Speedway, too.
“But Chicagoland is not a substitute for this race,” he said. “I’d like to see us run both.”
Elliott isn’t as sold on Chicago and also sounded well aware there are many urbanites in these parts who are less than sold on a street-closing, artery-clogging holiday-weekend crasher.
“If I lived here and I wasn’t a NASCAR fan, I could totally see the frustration of roads being blocked, traffic and all that sort of thing,” Elliott said. “So, look, I get it, I get it. It’s been fun for us. I hope there’s been more positive than there has been negative for the people of Chicago. Whether this is the last year or not, I appreciate them having us, even the ones who didn’t want us. …
“I look forward to wherever [street racing] goes next, and I hope that somewhere down the line we can take it to another city, just to switch it up.”
Will NASCAR go street racing again next season? If so, will it happen in San Diego, which is, according to much industry speculation, the likeliest outcome?
Or might NASCAR and Chicago — which have mutual options for 2026 and 2027 — figure out a way to stay together? One imagines their conversations going something like this:
“Do I want to break up? I don’t know. Do you want to break up?”
I’m betting on a break-up. After two-years of record rain, canceled concerts, shortened races and necessary decreases in ticket prices, it feels like the way to go.
Michael McDowell, who drives the No. 71 Chevrolet, will start on Row 1 next to pole winner Shane Van Gisbergen. The way rain has tormented previous Chicago Street Races — and threaten to again Sunday — has bummed him out as it has many others.
“I am thankful if it is [the end] for the time that we’ve had here,” McDowell said.
“I hope that we keep expanding and keep trying new things, because I feel like it’s been a success, but I think we really need to look at each area geographically and when their rain season is, and then not go there during rain season. We need to head that up.”
Kyle Busch, who will start in sixth, is ready to see what else is out there.
“We’ve got to keep moving it around and keep going to different areas,” he said. “So if there’s another area that can be more powerful to our industry, then we should do it.”
Chase Briscoe will start on Row 3 next to Busch. He’s ready to label this event “cursed” if another Sunday race is thrown off by rain.
“I feel like this event hasn’t gotten close to its full potential of what it could be,” he said.
But if Briscoe were in charge, he’d keep “Chicago” on NASCAR’s schedule — “We need to be in the market, for sure” — by having a race in Joliet. That’s not to say Briscoe doesn’t enjoy the city. Most of these drivers seem to have enjoyed it a lot.
“A lot of the drivers went to an event last year and were talking about how awesome the city is,” Briscoe said. “You hear all the bad and you forget how good it actually is. I’ve loved coming here the last three years. If this is the last year, this is definitely a place where I’d come back and bring my family.”
One of the favorite experiences of drivers here each year has been stepping out of a hotel and practically right onto race grounds. They don’t get to do that sort of thing just anywhere, pointed out Bubba Wallace, who spun out into a tire barrier during qualifying and will start in 37th.
Should this race keep on keepin’ on after this year?
“I don’t see why not,” Wallace said. “Keep coming back. Figure out the logistics and make it better.”
Or just wave goodbye.