The offseason rumour mill is turning and the latest to be churned out is that NASCAR is planning to move on from the Chicago Street Course by the end of this season. While many are sad to see the race go by the wayside, many have begun speculating what race could be placed into that early summer slot in the future. As usual, ideas are running wild but there seem to be 3 main possibilities that could replace this race.
- Return to Chicagoland Speedway
Before there was the street circuit, NASCAR held races at a 1.5 mile trioval in Madison, IL. Hosting it’s final race in 2019, won by Alex Bowman, Chicagoland was a victim of covid scheduling, and hasn’t really been in conversation to return in the years since.
With NASCAR seeming to pull out of the Chicago market at the end of the year, many argue that a return to Madison would be an excellent way to remain present in the state of Illinois. The next gen’s performance on intermediate tracks has undoubtedly made Chicagoland an intriguing prospect to say the very least. Besides, since the abandonment of the facility, there has been a vocal fan campaign about its return. So there would definitely be fan support for the movement.
However, in recent years NASCAR has been diversifying their cup schedule more and more over the years and has been moving away from more traditional intermediate tracks. If the rumours are true and NASCAR is moving on from the Grant Park location after this year, it is significantly more likely they’d aim to replace it with an equally unique race track.
- Return to Road America
Another recently removed track that fans have clamoured to return, Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI is another decent candidate. The unique 4 mile road course previously hosted 2 cup races this decade before being dropped from the schedule after 2022. A section of fans within the NASCAR nation have been clamouring for Road America to return to the cup series and sliding it into the former slot of Chicago.
Road America’s fan experience has been called one of the best in modern NASCAR by fans, citing the track’s large scale creating essentially a nature walk inside of a race track. And the structure of the track allows for more authentic and creative pit strategies that hardcore NASCAR fans have been clamouring for as of late.
However I’m not sure this is an appealing proposition for NASCAR in the slightest. The Chicago Street race was one of the largest viewership draws of the entire season last year, only being beaten by the Daytona 500. In fact, the 2023 event was the most watched NBC NASCAR race since 2017. Even last year’s event, which was delayed and rain shortened, drew in 3.87 million viewers. This is nearly a whole 2 million more people than those who tuned into the final Road America race back in 2022. If NASCAR is aiming to replace Chicago, they would want something that could bring in viewers.
- A new street race in a new market
This is by far the most likely of all three options. The inarguable success of the Chicago Street race has proven to NASCAR management that they can rock up to any big market of their choosing, set up a race and get the big bucks.
NASCAR big-wigs have already talked about taking the travelling circus to other large markets in the form of a street race and I believe that this is the best decision that NASCAR could make in the wake of the loss of Chicago. Replacing one street course with another in a different market is a great way to put the sport in front of new fans and finally give long-time fans a race in their area.
The question is, where? Well, San Diego has been cited as an alleged favourite for 2026, and it’s easy to see why. With the uncertain future of Auto Club Speedway and the Clash moving out of LA, NASCAR’s future in SoCal has been questionable for the next few years. A street race in San Diego would be the perfect solution to this problem. Bringing NASCAR to a city as passionate as San Diego would be a no-brainer decision for either side, as San Diego is in need of new sporting events as it only hosts one major league team. In addition, the proximity to Mexico could encourage NASCAR to bring up the Mexico series for an additional support race.
Other cities that have been thrown around for potential future hosts include Portland, Denver and even New York City. All of which are large markets full of prospective new fans that may not have had the chance to watch a NASCAR race in person otherwise.
NASCAR’s schedule currently is significantly more dynamic than it was in years past, and this can almost guarantee that NASCAR will be looking outside the box in it’s efforts to replace Chicago in 2026. 5 years ago, a race on the streets of any city would be completely unthinkable, so predicting what NASCAR will do next is a lot harder than it was before. But based on all the changes in the last few years, we can be sure to expect anything.
Featured Image Credits: Colin Boyle, Block Club Chicago
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