Drivers give opinions on the future of NASCAR in the Chicago metro

Chicago is America’s third biggest sports market behind Los Angeles and New York City. It’s no wonder that NASCAR wants to be in the Chicago area for the long term. But what happens when you have multiple different options?

The NASCAR Cup Series returned to Chicagoland Speedway last weekend after a seven year hiatus. The weekend was a success with a sold out grandstand and competitive racing throughout the field.

For three years from 2023 to 2025, NASCAR visited the Chicago Street Course in downtown Chicago. It was a new venture for NASCAR as they traditionally had not done street racing. The street course was also regarded as a success. It brought in new fans and economic growth.

Another question then comes up. Can you do both in one season, or have to pick between them?

Cup Driver Opinions

In the Cup field, some drivers saw benefits to racing both. Carson Hocevar, who finished 22nd on Sunday said, “I don’t mind it, its close to my home. Ziegler (Auto Group) would buy both races its good business.” Hocevar also didn’t want Chicagoland to go away after one year.

Chris Buescher, who finished 19th said that while he likes road racing, he enjoys tracks that have character and believes Chicagoland is one of those tracks.

Austin Hill, who crashed out early in stage one said that he wants both tracks to stick around. Daniel Suarez had a similar opinion and argued that both tracks are in different markets with Chicagoland being an hour out of downtown.

Michael McDowell, who led early in last year’s Chicago Street Course race said that he’d prefer racing there again. However, he also felt selfish knowing that he felt road courses were his strength but also felt he had “unfinished business” there.

Riley Herbst, who scored his third top 10 of the season said that he enjoys racing in big cities due to the atmospheres and bringing in new fans. But he also enjoys racing on 1.5 mile tracks like Chicagoland. Herbst scored his first win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on a 1.5 mile track, Las Vegas.

Ryan Preece felt good with either, but leaned towards Chicagoland knowing that fans wanted the track to return and showed up in numbers. A.J. Allmendinger also was open to running the Street Course again but wants NASCAR to ensure there isn’t too many or too little road course races when deciding that.

Erik Jones leaned heavily towards Chicagoland and even felt more comfortable when the Cup Series had only two road courses.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. felt that if Naval Base Coronado returns, there isn’t a need to also run the Street Course again. He strongly supported remaining at Chicagoland Speedway long term.

Austin Dillon also talked about the specialty of racing in downtown Chicago. He highlighted some positives such as great places to eat, plus the views and fireworks of July 4th weekend.

William Byron came in fourth and said, “the Street Course is fun, but this is a really good oval (Chicagoland) it has a lot of character so I like it here.”

Shane Van Gisbergen won two of the three Cup races at the Street Course. He said, “I think it was always a pretty cool race, that part of the country where we race in that part of the city is epic so I’d love to go back.” Gisbergen will have to defend his trophy if Cup were to return there.

O’Reilly Driver Opinions

With the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series also being back at Chicagoland, some drivers gave their opinions.

Anthony Alfredo, who finished 26th said that he would hate to give up Chicagoland just after returning. He enjoyed the Street Course, but felt that street racing should rotate to different cities to keep the specialty alive with them.

Harrison Burton, who came in 15th said that he was open to both, but felt NASCAR should especially not leave Chicagoland again with racing he described as being fun and like “old-school NASCAR.”

Brandon Jones, the O’Reilly race winner said that he’d hate to see Chicagoland leave for the Street Course again. He also didn’t feel very fond of the road courses. But he was open to running both Chicagoland and the Street Course, or rotating different cities.

Conclusion

While NASCAR drivers are open to running more than one race in the Chicago metro, there is one thing clear from their opinions. They want Chicagoland to remain on the schedule long term. Rotating Chicago with Coronado could be a potential choice in the future. Or what about various other markets in America?