NASCAR waves green flag on 2023 Chicago street race

CHICAGO — NASCAR will hold its first Cup street course race next year in Chicago, series and city officials announced Tuesday.

The Cup series will race Sunday, July 2, 2023. NBC will televise the event. IMSA will compete Saturday, July 1.

Each series will race on a 12-turn, 2.2-mile circuit that goes around Grant Park and include Lake Shore Drive. The start/finish line and pit road will be located along South Columbus Drive, directly in front of Buckingham Fountain.

“Like the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, we seized an incredible opportunity to add an unprecedented element to our schedule and take center stage in the heart of another major metropolitan market,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing development and strategy, in a statement. 

“This is the ideal setting for the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series street race. The NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen cars and the IMSA machines will race along the shores of Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago, marking a truly historic moment for our sport.” 

The races will be surrounded by music and entertainment events.

“We need to make sure it’s a good event,” Chase Elliott said earlier this month. “The drivers might not like the track and it might not be ideal for us. But when you’re in the middle of the city and have the ability to draw that kind of a crowd out to your race, we better make sure it’s put on well. 

“Done at a very high level, people have a good spot to watch the race from, things to go do and make it an event. That’s what it needs to be. And I think as long as it’s that and it’s done well, it will be a success whether the drivers like the track or not.”

Said Ryan Blaney earlier this month about a possible street course race: “I think it’s great they’re