Could the rain delays that dogged NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race in its first two years have inadvertently become its superpower?
“Wet-weather road racing is really exciting,” four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon told Chicago’s City Club on Thursday night. “The most exciting type of racing is not only slick (conditions) but drying pavement.”
Drying pavement is something the Grant Park 165, the premier event of the Chicago Street Race weekend, has seen plenty of. Rainy conditions forced NASCAR to shorten the race in both 2023 and 2024, but both events also produced dramatic racing that gave pundits plenty to talk about.
The race weekend, which has drawn mixed reaction from locals because of the road closures it causes, returns to downtown Chicago for a third year on July 5 and 6.
Last year Alex Bowman won the rain-delayed Grant Park 165 after staying on wet-weather tires, even as other race leaders swapped their tires for slicker ones better suited for the drying conditions. The victory snapped an 80-race winless streak for Bowman, who drives the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, of which Gordon serves as vice chairman.
New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen won the rain-shortened Grant Park race in 2023, becoming the first driver in 60 years to win in his NASCAR Cup Series debut. Gordon, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, called the win “probably one of the most shocking things that’s happened in NASCAR in the last 30 years.”
Gordon said that when he first saw the course map for the inaugural street race two years ago, he wondered about some of the narrow stretches on the route. Some of the participating race teams were also initially nervous about the course, he said.
But drivers now love the 12-turn, 2.2-mile course, which offers high- and low-speed areas, narrow passes, and roomier stretches. The pop-up course runs through Grant Park, down DuSable Lake Shore Drive and up Michigan Avenue.
“It’s a very fun and flowy” course, Gordon said. “It puts on a great show, and the drivers really love it.”
“They absolutely can’t wait to get here” next month, added Gordon, who was in Chicago for the 2023 and 2024 races and plans to return this year.
“It’s such a cool event,” he said. “To see our race cars screaming around the streets of Chicago, and all the city has to offer, it’s so special for all of us competitors to be a part of.”
The launch of a street course was made possible in part by the Next Generation car, which NASCAR began using in the 2022 season. The Next Generation car was designed with several improvements, including better brakes, that opened the door to racing on different types of tracks, Gordon said.
Could the success of the Next Generation car in downtown Chicago pave the way for future NASCAR street races in other locations?
“I certainly think so,” Gordon said in an interview Thursday afternoon. “It opens up a whole new window of opportunity. (But) I’d like to see it stay here for a long time because it’s the perfect city for us to be in.”
Gordon said the televised race puts a spotlight on Chicago. The event also has helped expand NASCAR’s fan base, which has declined partly because iconic drivers such as Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and Mark Martin have retired.
“When you have that many key figures in a sport step out, you lose fans,” Gordon said. “We’ve got to make drivers household names and faces again.”
With hotels, restaurants and entertainment footsteps away from the downtown course, he said the Chicago Street Race offers an enhanced experience for fans, partners and sponsors. Next month’s race weekend also will feature a Saturday night concert by Zac Brown Band.
“It’s just a fun and exciting atmosphere that we see a lot of interest in,” Gordon said.
