NASCAR ventures to Chicago for the sport’s first-ever street course. Who can etch their name in history and claim the victory?
There’s a first time for everything. This weekend, NASCAR delves into the world of street courses, hosting its first-ever street course race in Chicago.
With no prior experience on the track for the drivers, we should expect just about anything this weekend, as it will be a race to see who can get comfortable on the track the fastest and grab a win in the Windy City.
Before we continue ahead, let’s recap what we saw last week in Nashville. Another driver grabbed their first win of the year as Ross Chastain rode to victory lane and clinched his spot in the playoffs with a win. It has been an up-and-down season for Chastain, but this win puts the 2022 Championship 4 contender right back in the playoff mix.
Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports filled out the next seven spots in the finishing order, with this year’s top two teams continuing to show strong pace ahead of Chicago. Hendrick is still in need of a couple of wins for Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman to secure their playoff spots after both missed time this season due to injury.
Let’s see if either can conquer the streets of Chicago and punch their playoff ticket this weekend.
https://twitter.com/NASCAR/status/1674418026102542338?s=20
The Track
The Chicago street course makes its first appearance on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the first street course to be featured on the calendar. The track is 2.14 miles long with 12 turns and takes the drivers through streets in the heart of the city.
As you can see below, the track features a lot of 90-degree corners with some higher-speed sections in Turn 3 and Turns 8-10. One thing to look out for this weekend will be the effect of spins and crashes. The track is quite narrow, and if one car ends up sideways or stopped, it can create a large blockage for those behind, changing the entire race.
Though we don’t have any real-life running on the course yet, you can get an idea of how things will look this weekend from the latest eNASCAR event held in Chicago this week.
Points Standings
Here’s the playoff order heading into this weekend’s action at Chicago.
- William Byron*, Hendrick Motorsports
- Martin Truex Jr.*, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Kyle Busch*, Richard Childress Racing
- Ross Chastain*, Trackhouse Racing
- Kyle Larson*, Hendrick Motorsports
- Denny Hamlin*, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Christopher Bell*, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Ryan Blaney*, Team Penske
- Joey Logano*, Team Penske
- Tyler Reddick*, 23XI Racing
- Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*, JTG Daugherty Racing
- Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing
- Chris Buescher, RFK Racing
- Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
- Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing
*= 2023 race winner
Predictions
With no prior races to reference, I’m going to look toward the best road course racers this weekend. Among them, I think that Chase Elliott stands out. He is in need of a win after missing a chunk of the season with an injury, and he can adapt as well as any driver to new courses. I’ll go with the No. 9 to ride to victory lane this weekend.
- Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports
- Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing
- Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
- Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
- Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
How To Watch – NASCAR at Chicago (All times ET)
- Practice: Saturday, July 1 – 1:30 p.m. – USA
- Qualifying: Saturday, July 1 – 2:30 p.m. – USA
- Grant Park 220: Sunday, July 2 – 5:30 p.m. – NBC
