“We have those 2 option years”: Chicago Street Race president addresses uncertain future with NASCAR

Chicago Street Race made its NASCAR debut in 2023 under a three-year contract, with an option to extend for two more years. Ahead of the Grant Park 165 at Chicago, event president Julie Giese remained optimistic about continuing the race beyond the initial deal.

The Chicago road course faces a potential end in the Cup Series calendar, as NASCAR is currently negotiating a deal with San Diego to host yet another street race. Notably, Chicago was initially brought under NASCAR's fold to replace the aging Road America road course.

To make things worse, the event's founding sponsor, McDonald's, pulled out of its three-year contract in January 2025. Furthermore, the event drew concerns from the local public, who complained about the road closures during course construction. In response to their grievances, a shorter two-week construction window was implemented this year.

Chicago Street Race's president, Giese, spoke to the Sun-Times about the event's uncertain future.

“We’ve had great conversations with the city. I think right now, our focus is on this year’s event. We’re a week away, so we’re focused on hosting the best NASCAR Chicago Street Race yet. We have those two option years, and we’ll continue those conversations coming out of the event weekend,” he said.

Giese also mentioned how ticket sales have improved this year, largely on account of price slashes. General admission tickets have gone down to a third of their original costs, while grandstand seats sell for 50 percent less than in previous years.

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When the NASCAR president reflected on his learnings from the Chicago Street Race

Back in December 2024, NASCAR president Steve O'Donnell addressed the challenges that came with the sport's inaugural street race at Chicago. He remained elusive about the event's future in the Cup Series calendar but admitted to making 'tweaks' in the format to better navigate the showcase.

“For us, we’re just looking at 2025. It’ll be the third year of a three-year run and each year we’ve wanted to build upon the momentum that we have. We’ve learned things each and every year, it’s our first street race, a lot of learnings came from that," he said via On3.com

"A lot of weather challenges as well. ... We’ve made some tweaks to the event format and continuing to evolve that as well, so we’ll get through the event, see where things are," he added.

The Chicago Street Race also marks Round 2 of the In-Season Challenge. The previous round at Echopark Speedway saw a multi-car wreck ending the day for most of the contenders, including polesitter Joey Logano and the #1 seeded driver Denny Hamlin.

As for the regular season, Shane Van Gisbergen, who won the inaugural race in 2023, is the favourite to win this year's fixture as well. TNT Sports will broadcast the 75-lap event on Sunday, July 6, at 2 p.m. ET.