JOLIET, IL – A return to Chicagoland Speedway after six years on the Fourth of July weekend highlights some of the quandaries NASCAR has with its schedule and also the opportunities.
Is it more important to try to reinvigorate an audience at a traditional oval or reach new fans through a downtown street race?
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Did the pendulum swing too far toward road races in favor of traditional ovals?
Is Chicago, the United States’ third-largest metro area, even the right place to race on Independence Day for a sport with rural roots and Southern traditions?
“We have a great facility here,” said Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace, whose team owners include Chicago sports icon Michael Jordan.
“I don’t know the reason why we stopped coming here, I don’t know what the attendance was back in 2019. … I think it’s a great market, whether it’s here or the street course.”
Chicagoland opened to raves in 2001, but interest did wane and twice seats were removed during a stretch when many tracks underwent similar downsizing, reducing grandstand capacity from about 75,000 to about 47,000.
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The Cup Series eero 400 was headed for something close to a sellout July 5 at the 1.5-mile oval that hosted 19 Cup races before going dormant amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the interim, NASCAR took the Cup Series to Road America, the Wisconsin road course where its second division had raced, for two years and then onto the streets in the Windy City for three.
While NASCAR lost $55 million on the street race, the event had an economic impact in Chicago in the hundreds of millions. Officials have touted the event as beneficial in negotiations with sponsors and media partners and as a way to bring in new fans. Approximately 80% of those who bought tickets for the first Chicago street race were first-time attendees, and the audience for the second race about 70% new.
JOLIET, ILLINOIS – JULY 04: A family poses for photos with “Welcome Back To Chicagoland” signage on the midway after qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series eero 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 04, 2026 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
It also helped show that NASCAR could race virtually anywhere. All three national divisions – Cup, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series – raced on a temporary circuit on Naval Base Coronado in the San Diego area two weeks ago.
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“I’m good with any kind of new ideas,” driver Austin Dillon said. “I love going to places for the first time. It creates opportunity for all the drivers. Trying to figure out something the fastest is cool.
“You see what we were able to do in San Diego at Coronado and just the fanfare there. I mean, they sold out of merch, I believe. One of the best overall merch sales ever was in San Diego, compared to Daytona this year, so that shows you that any type of new idea, any time you put something new in fans’ faces, it’s a good thing.”
Street circuits are not without challenges. The Coronado races were at times chaotic, with red flags in each, and fans reported long waits and concessions shortages.
Some drivers have feasted on the road street races – most notably New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, who won in his debut in the inaugural downtown Chicago race in 2023 and has won seven more in Cup and six in the O’Reilly series.
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Others, such has Erik Jones, whose three Cup wins have come at iconic NASCAR ovals Daytona International Speedway and Darlington Raceway, would be happy if NASCAR reverted to its two traditional road courses, Sonoma Raceway in California and Watkins Glen in New York.
But Jones understands the reasons to go elsewhere, and van Gisbergen would be perfectly happy if both Chicagoland and the Chicago street course were on the 2027 schedule.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JULY 05: Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course on July 05, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
“I’ll race anywhere they tell us to,” van Gisbergen said. “I’m biased; obviously I want more road courses, but that’s how it is.”
NASCAR announced its 2026 schedule at the end of August 2025. Assuming a similar timeline questions to be answered over the next month and a half would seem to include whether Coronado returns, whether the Chicago street race, Chicagoland or both are back, and where they fall on the calendar.
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“I hate to abandon any racetrack,” Dillon said. “Every one of them has character and this one definitely has a lot of character. … I think the only other factor is showing up. We’ve got to make sure that everybody shows up and enjoys it.”
For most of its history, NASCAR raced at Daytona International Speedway on the morning of the Fourth of July or the Saturday closest to it.
That changed in 2020, when the series raced in front of empty grandstands at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the pandemic. Road America held the weekend in 2021 and ’22 before the races moved down the road to Chicago and now Chicagoland.
It’s not so much where NASCAR races on the weekend of the Fourth that matters to Wallace as how the event is sold, executed and received, wherever it is.
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“We just continue to work on our product and keep showing up and providing and producing really good racing,” Wallace said. “Keep giving the fans what they want to see and have them itching for more after the checkered flag falls.
“That’s the ultimate goal I believe, to get more people involved and get that conversation rolling about NASCAR and continue to grow the hype up.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Chicagoland Speedway’s return highlights NASCAR’s schedule questions
