Up to Speed: Previewing the 2024 NASCAR Chicago Street Race

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

CHICAGO — Back to Chicago.

After the NASCAR Cup Series stepped off into the unknown last year with the first ever street course race in series history, the drivers and teams are back for Round No. 2 with their eyes open wide to all of the pitfalls of racing on city streets.

The 2.2-mile, 12-turn course that comprises the layout for the race will once again wind its way around Grant Park on the shores of Lake Michigan as the series hopes to continue capture the imagination of a whole new sector of the fan base as the Next Gen car thunders down the Windy City streets.

First imagined during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, the course was designed and raced virtually on iRacing before it was transformed into the reality being built before our very eyes.

With the series having persevered through Biblical rains to still be able to hold the race on the originally scheduled day, all involved are hoping Mother Nature plays nice this time around to allow everyone to get the full NASCAR experience.

By the Numbers

What: Grant Park 165, NASCAR Cup Series race No. 20 of 36

Where: Streets of Chicago – Grant Park – Chicago, Illinois

TV/Radio: NBC/Peacock, 5:30 pm ET / MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90

Track Size:  12-turn, 2.2-mile street course

Race Length: 75 laps (165 miles)

Stage Lengths: 20 laps (Stage 1), 25 laps (Stage 2), 30 laps (Final stage)

2023 Race Winner: Shane van Gisbergen – No. 91 Chevrolet (Started third, nine laps led)

Track Qualifying Record: Denny Hamlin – One minute, 28.435 seconds (89.557 mph) – July 2023

Top-10 Highest Driver Ratings at Chicago:

1. Shane van Gisbergen – No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet – 138.1
2. Christopher Bell – No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – 113.5
3. Kyle Larson – No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – 112.5
4. Michael McDowell – No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford – 105.3
5. Tyler Reddick – No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota – 101.5
6. Ty Gibbs – No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – 99.9
7. Justin Haley – No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford – 93.7
8. Joey Logano – No. 22 Team Penske Ford – 88.5
9. Chris Buescher – No. 17 RFK Racing Ford – 88.0
10. Chase Elliott – No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – 85.4

From the Driver’s Seat

“Chicago is definitely interesting,” Austin Cindric said. “Due to all of the bumps, it makes it different than most of the road courses we go to. A lot of tight 90-degree corners, a lot a hard braking zones, but I really think what makes it stand out, between that and the muffler package. I feel like that really changes how the engine performance is and maybe some of your decisions with gearing.

“Looking forward to getting back and honing in on something that works well there instead of chaos

“The hardest section on the race track is the decision making out of Turn 3, that high speed corner going into Turn 4. The largest bumps, a high-speed area, and maybe the tightest and most unforgiving wall. Maybe I say that because I crashed there twice last year, but definitely a big risk, reward section.

“A lot of reward for being able to maximize the width of the race track, but that comes with a lot of risk when you’re dealing with concrete walls.”

Last Time at Chicago

SVG. Three letters that say it all.

Shane van Gisbergen, a three-time V8 Supercars champion from New Zealand rolled into Chicago for his first NASCAR Cup Series start and took the field to school, capping off a strong weekend by capturing the victory in the inaugural Grant Park 220 on the Chicago Street Course.

“You always dream of it,” van Gisbergen said of the possibility of winning coming into the weekend. “Thank you so much to the Trackhouse team, Enhance Health, Project91. What an experience in the crowd out here. This was so cool. This is what you dream of. Hopefully I can come and do more.”

Piloting the No. 91 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 entry, the Kiwi hit the ground running a day ago with the fastest time in practice and a top-three time in qualifying, all before the race even started.

From the drop of the green flag, he stayed in touch with the leaders, running in the top-three for the majority of the race before getting dropped back when strategy came into play following the halfway point. Despite having a hill to climb from mid-pack, van Gisbergen kept his cool and methodically started picking cars off as the laps clicked away.

It wasn’t long until he was able to crack the top-10, then the top-five, and soon enough, he was filling the rear-view mirror of the leaders. Ahead of him were three former Cup champions and a hungry driver looking for a Playoff clinching win.

He surpassed Kyle Larson.

Then Kyle Busch.

Then Chase Elliott.

Finally, Justin Haley stood alone as the one driver between him and the lead.

Van Gisbergen was on the cusp of taking the lead from Haley with eight laps remaining before a caution flag flew, slotting him back in second place.

Once the field went back to green with five laps to go in regulation, van Gisbergen had his opportunity. It took just two corners of the first lap back under green for him to be able to work his way past Haley to ascend to the lead.

Though Haley tried his best to send it into Turn 3 and re-take the lead, van Gisbergen showed his street racing prowess by backing off a hair and letting Haley fly by him before being able to motor right back by him in the next turn.

“I saw when I was catching him, he was a little bit weak into the Turn 4 braking,” van Gisbergen explained. “I just let him have it and then crossed to the inside. That was probably one of my car’s strengths was braking there.

“But yeah, he was awesome to race against. The guys told me he’d probably be aggressive at the restarts. I don’t think he’s locking into the Chase they said.”

From there, he was able to hold a steady advantage over Haley and the other leaders, with the remaining laps seemingly only a formality for him to be able to be the first driver in more than 60 years to win in his first start in the series.

However, nothing is ever easy in the Cup Series, especially on road and street courses, as a crash with two laps to go pushed the race into overtime.

In theory, the leaders would have another shot to take down van Gisbergen, but it was no contest once the green flag flew for the final time as the No. 91 Chevrolet kept all of them in his rear-view and walked away with the win.

Haley finished the race in second-place, followed by Elliott, Larson, and Busch rounding out the top-five.

Weekend Schedule (All Times Eastern)

Saturday, July 6

• NASCAR Cup Series Practice (12:30 pm – USA Network)
• NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying (1:30 pm – USA Network)

Sunday, July 7

• Grant Park 165 on the Streets of Chicago (5:30 pm – 75 laps, 165 miles – NBC)