CHICAGO STREET COURSE - CHICAGO IL
As NASCAR expanded to more road course events in 2023; they came to an agreement with the city of Chicago to race a street course race downtown. The Chicago Street Course is a 2.2 mi (3.5 km) street circuit in Grant Park in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States. On July 19, 2022, the Grant Park 220 was announced as part of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series, replacing the Kwik Trip 250 at Road America. Following the announcement, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot faced criticism from Chicago City Council members who claimed to have been left out of the negotiations, including Alderman Brendan Reilly, who represents the 42nd Ward where the course is
located. NASCAR was reported to have negotiated a $500,000 flat fee for the course, plus an additional $2 per ticket sold to the event and 15% of all merchandise, food, and beverage sales. The permit fee was reported to be far lower than the fees for similar major events involving the closure of Grant Park such as Lollapalooza. Residents critical of the event expressed concerns over the closure of major roads and Grant Park over the Independence Day weekend, noise from the event, and the potential danger to nearby residences and the Art Institute of Chicago. Leading up to
Justin Haley leads mid-race
the races, NASCAR hosted a number of promotional events with city institutions and neighborhood groups. NASCAR also worked with the Art Institute to ensure that there was no risk to the museum's collections. On July 1, 2023, the course hosted its first official race, the 2023 The Loop 121. The 2023 Grant Park 220 took place on the following day, July 2. Both races were shortened due to thunderstorms which persisted throughout the weekend. Chicago's contract with NASCAR is scheduled to cover three years and last through 2025. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who defeated Lightfoot in the 2023 Chicago mayoral election, stated on July 3, 2023 that the course's future remains under evaluation and that community input is
being sought. The circuit is a 2.2 mile (3.5 km) loop through Grant Park, starting and ending on Columbus Drive in front of Buckingham Fountain and including portions of Columbus Drive, Balbo Drive, Lake Shore Drive, Roosevelt Road, Michigan Avenue, Congress Plaza Drive, and Jackson Drive. The course consists of 12 total turns and two bridge crossings over Metra Electric District tracks. As a street course, the track is a temporary fixture along roads that are normally open to regular traffic. The roads the track covers and nearby roads are closed several days in advance of scheduled races to allow for the installation of the track. Roads that are closed for the course fully reopen within the two weeks following the races. The first race held was for the Xfinity series. The Loop 121 saw Cole Custer win the pole. The race was scheduled for 55 laps, but shortened to just 25 due to weather. Custer led all 25 laps. The first Cup race was the Grant Park 220 It was 78 laps, and the race
Shane van Gisbergen wins in his first ever Cup Start
also faced weather issues. The race started with a wet track and cars on rain tires. Several spins brought out yellow flags before the track dried enough to see the teams put on slicks tires. Christopher Bell led the most laps, but it was a disappointing race to watch because of so many yellow flags. 27% of the race was run under the yellow with the average green flag run being less than 6 laps each. Bell led early in the event; and then again from laps 27-47. Justin Haley got the lead when Bell pitted and led for the next 23 laps. New Zealand native Shane van Gisbergen was making his first ever NASCAR start and got the lead from Haley with eight laps to go. He went on to get the win by just over one second, and became the first driver to get a Cup win in his first ever Cup start in 60 years. The top five finishers were Haley, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch.
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