NASCAR Chicago Street Race draws thousands despite heat Saturday, main event on the track Sunday afternoon

CHICAGO (WGN) — Despite the temperature being close to 90 degrees, the heat seemed to be no match Saturday for both diehards and new fans attending the third edition of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race.

Temperatures look to cool down for Sunday afternoon’s main event, the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165, though there is a chance for rain in the forecast

— something that’s caused the main race to be shortened in each of the first two Chicago Street Race events.

The race did get underway as scheduled just 1 p.m. Sunday.

As for Saturday, Grant Park was jam-packed for the Xfinity and Cup Series practices and qualifying, followed by the Xfinity Series The Loop 110 race and then a performance by the Zac Brown Band at night.

Shane van Gisbergen continued his mastery of the Chicago Street Race on Saturday, as the 36-year-old New Zealander swept the Pole Awards to gain the starting spot at the front of the field for both races this weekend. He then went out and won the Xfinity Series race for the second year in a row in Chicago.

Back in 2023, Van Gisbergen won the inaugural Chicago Street Race Cup Series event, becoming the first driver to win his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in the second qualifying race at Daytona in 1963.

Van Gisbergen is looking to make it a Chicago Street Race sweep this year in the Grant Park 165.

The gates and NASCAR Village opened at 10 a.m., with Chicago basketball legend and former NBA MVP Derrick Rose serving as the Grand Marshal for the Grant Park 165.

Honoring military families

At least 150 Blue Star families will hold the flag during Sunday’s National Anthem, sung by Soul Children of Chicago, prior to the Grant Park 165.

A Blue Star family is an active-serving military family, and Courtney Sanders of Blue Star Families says “there’s a Blue Star family in every zip code in the United States.”

Sanders herself has two daughters in the Navy, and her husband is an Army veteran.

“We’re very excited to be partnering with NASCAR today,” she said. “We’re going to have at least 150 of our family members holding our flag during the National Anthem that’s going to be sung by Soul Children of Chicago. So we’re very excited.

“This is very special, especially this year, as this is the 250th birthday of the Army, Navy and Marines.”

Big crowds, economic impact

More than 53,000 fans attended last year’s Chicago Street Race, and NASCAR says it’s expecting that many again this year, with an estimated $128 million impact to the city.

“Thirty-four thousand hotel rooms were rented last year, and we’re looking forward to more of that this year,” Michael Edwards of the Chicago Loop Alliance said. “More tourist dollars coming into our community, the tax revenue it generates for the city, $10 million, and $40 million worth of international and national media coverage, just for this beautiful skyline behind you — that’s worth it.”

Despite the reported big numbers this year, the future of NASCAR in Chicago is murky as the third edition reaches its conclusion. The three-year contract between NASCAR and the city that was announced in 2022 has two mutual options, and their fate is unclear.

When asked if he’d like to see the Chicago Street Race return, Edwards gave an emphatic answer.

“We would love to see NASCAR come back,” he said. “I think we’ve all sort of figured out how to gain advantage from it and to partake in it and to make business from it.

“It would be great to have it come back.”

‘Nothing like the skyline of Chicago’

For many, this weekend marks their first-ever street race, even for some diehard NASCAR fans.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s just the sound, the noise, and all the applause,” Michael Oglesby, from Atlanta, said.

Said Ron Curtis, from Chicago: “First NASCAR Chicago race for all three of us. It’s awesome.”

Jane Wit, Mimi Ward and Kris Joynt are no strangers to racing and are back again for the Chicago Street Race, but they say this will be their first time spending the entire weekend at Grant Park.

“We’ve been doing this for 18 years and we are sisters, and I’m going to say we’ve been to 15 tracks total,” Wit said.

They call themselves “Sisters of Speed,” and they certainly aren’t messing around when it comes to dressing the part.

“We’ve met lots of people and lots of drivers, and this is just checking one off,” Joynt said.

Father-son duo Key and Maxwell Moore, meanwhile, came in from Philadelphia for the race, also cherishing the tradition they’ve come to love.

“I’m feeling excited, excellent, amazing,” Maxwell Moore said. “He got me into racing.”

“It’s the fans, the network, the atmosphere. When you get it young, he’ll never forget it,” Key Moore said.

Many fans also came prepared for the heat Saturday.

Most said they expected high temperatures, and it doesn’t bother them one bit, especially those who came from southern states.

“We’re gonna let the heat determine what we do next. Too hot? We’re leaving. If we’re okay, we’re gonna stay,” Curtis said. “There’s a great breeze coming in off the lake, can’t beat it.

“Nothing like the skyline of Chicago for a race like this.”