What to expect in this weekend's NASCAR street races in Chicago
The Grant Park 220 and The Loop 121 will mark the first races at the new Chicago Street Race venue. The event has come with quite a lot of criticism but also with a lot of excitement and hope from fans and drivers.
Many fans have had bad remarks about the course on the location rather than just the actual layout itself. Some fans believe that the venue is in a dangerous area of town and having the amount of people that will attend the race in one area of Chicago could be a safety issue.
The majority of fans believe that the course layout is not exactly anything to write home about either, especially since it includes shutting down one of the most-traveled thoroughfares in the Windy City for the race, namely, DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
Fans have mentioned that the viewing of the race is something left to be desired, with the grandstands and viewing points being on lackluster areas of the track. The track sits near Buckingham Fountain along DuSable Lakeshore Drive and Columbus Drive as well as Michigan Ave. The 2.2-mile track is effectively a figure-8 track that doesn't cross.
The track consists of 12 turns with seven of those turns being 90° corners. The track is very similar to the likes of Baku in Formula 1. The thing people don't write home about on this track design is the lack of corners compared to a normal road course track. The Chicago Street course has to use the grid as well as the areas around the parks to construct the track. With that being said, the track design was forced to be one with quite a few 90° corners.
If you were to take a lap around the track you would be greeted with a 90° left-hander followed by a 90° right-hander with a long straightaway that bends into another 90° right-hander which bends to yet another 90° right-hander... I'm seeing a trend.
A long straightaway leads to yet another 90° left corner which leads to yet again another 90° right corner.
You add in a little carousel for turns 8, 9, and 10 and you follow that with two more righthand 90° corners and that is your lap around the Chicago Street course. One big, fancy rectangle.
You could understand why fans aren't exactly overly thrilled about this track, but who are we to judge without seeing a race? As I mentioned before, this track is very similar to the likes of Baku in Formula 1, which has had its fair share of criticism, but has provided great racing through its first seven years.
There's only been a couple of races in Baku that were underwhelming. In fact, the track has its own catchphrase, "Well done, Baku".
So NASCAR fans should take the same approach and wait for the races to play out. We could see a situation where 90° corners provide a lot of overtaking under braking -- even though the stock cars aren't exactly known for their braking. This Chicago street race is unlike any other road course out there which could be considered a more flowing track. This weekend could be full of yellow flags or it could be full of late brake overtakes with drag races down the long straightaways.
So what have the drivers said about the track?
Well, Christopher Bell said that he thinks "it could be a race of survival", adding "everyone in the industry is thinking that way right now, that there's just no margin for error."
Another Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Martin Truex Jr., echoed that point by saying it's "going to be who can shred that line and not fall off."
Joey Logano said that it was "going to be a different animal".
But it's more than just survival, as Truex mentioned that "the race will be run in a different way strategically, considering how the track would be for the tires and suspension given it's a street course."
A lot of drivers are concerned about the actual surface of the track, with Noah Gragson saying, "Nobody knows what it's going to be like."
We must remember that this is not a purpose-built track and the track surface is not going to be perfect.
Another issue with this race is the effect it has on Chicago itself. Starting on June 22nd, road closures began to take effect. On the 26th, Congress Plaza Drive was closed, while on June 27, DuSable Lakeshore Drive, Balboa Drive, and Roosevelt Road closed so crews could install the track barriers.
On the 28th, lane closures for the roads will begin. By the time Friday rolls around everything will be closed. This is to be expected considering Chicago wants to use important parts of their city to showcase what Chi-town is all about come race weekend.
We'll see the same in Vegas for Formula 1 this year.
No matter what, whether or not fans and drivers like the idea, there is no doubt that people around the world will tune in to at least check out this weekend.
Will Chicago have a place on the calendar in the future? This weekend could either help or hurt that cause.
There is a bit of concern even before the green flag for Saturday's Xfinity Series race and Sunday's Cup race both begin: neither race is a complete sellout.
Preliminary estimates for Sunday's main event predict roughly 50,000 spectators will be in the stands. But not all of those are purchased tickets. An estimated 2,000 tickets are reportedly being given away to Chicago-area kids from the inner city to expose them to the world of NASCAR.
Whenever you give away that number of free tickets, there admittedly is some level of concern.
When NASCAR used to race at Chicagoland Speedway, roughly 50 miles from downtown Chicago in southwest suburban Joliet, Illinois, one of the biggest complaints was the distance from Chicago. And yet NASCAR still drew 50,000-plus for virtually every Cup race that was held there for nearly 20 years of existence.
And there's one other thing to keep in mind for Sunday: rain is in the forecast. Heading into the weekend, the prediction was about 60 percent chance of rain, which could obviously further impact attendance.
Lastly, this is the first of a three-year contract between NASCAR and the city. However, rumors have it that just the first two years are guaranteed. If this year's debut event flops, and next year is as bad -- if not worse -- there may not even be a third year to be had.