NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race wound its way through Grant Park in three successive seasons, but after a year off could it be returning?
Sources confirm to NBC Chicago that NASCAR officials and the city are in active discussions to bring back the Street Race in 2027, though no agreement has officially been reached.
Those sources also reported the event would not be held over the Fourth of July weekend, as the previous iterations of the race had been. Instead, it would be moved earlier in the calendar, potentially into late May, according to the sources.
What’s also unclear is whether or not NASCAR will run both the Street Race in Chicago and a race at the Chicagoland Speedway in suburban Joliet, which is hosting a race over the Fourth of July weekend this season.
The NASCAR Chicago Street Race was introduced to the schedule in 2023, with the circuit winding its way through Grant Park and down some of the city’s most iconic streets, including Michigan Avenue and DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
After three races the event was removed from the schedule in 2026 and was replaced by a street race in San Diego, but there had been rumblings it could return to the Windy City in the future.
While the race drew thousands of fans to the city and was hailed as a television ratings success, the lengthy time frame required to set up the circuit and to tear it down had irked some city residents and businesses, while others had said the traffic impacts had negative consequences for pedestrian traffic to their storefronts in the downtown area.
NASCAR originally came to the Chicago area in 2001 when Chicagoland Speedway opened in Joliet, hosting Cup Series races through the 2019 season.
When the Street Race was removed from the schedule, the circuit returned to Chicagoland for this season, with the 1.5-mile tri-oval undergoing rehabilitation work to once again host Cup Series competition.
The Xfinity Series race will take place on July 4, with the Cup Series race set to take place on July 5.
