Amid NASCAR Spending Over $50 Million on Chicago Street Race, a Recent Report Reveals F1’s Massive Expenditure for Las Vegas Grand Prix

This year, two of the most anticipated races on the global motorsport calendar are scheduled. These two races are ones which, if you’d mentioned about the possibility of them taking place in their respective fanbase a decade ago, they would’ve just laughed it off. But the fact of the matter is, we are actually going to witness the NASCAR Street Course race in downtown Chicago and the Las Vegas Grand Prix from Formula 1 this year.

This is simply because the fact that there are going to be Next Gen stock cars and F1 cars in the middle of two of the most prominent cities in the US is a rather absurd and seemingly unbelievable proposition. And to make that believable, to make that all happen, it’s taking a lot of dollars.

Like, A LOT.

F1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix vs. NASCAR Chicago Street race, which is costing more?

According to a recent tweet by journalist Adam Stern, the amount of money it’s going to take for the Las Vegas Grand Prix circuit to be constructed, stands erected and facilities installed, is over $50 million. In fact, the organizers have asked the country to pay for half of the expenditure with public money.

“The infrastructure upgrades tied to readying the [@F1LasVegas] Grand Prix circuit are expected to cost $80 million, with race officials asking Clark County to contribute $40 million in public money toward that work,” Stern tweeted. 

"The infrastructure upgrades tied to readying the [@F1LasVegas] Grand Prix circuit are expected to cost $80 million, with race officials asking Clark County to contribute $40 million in public money toward that work." – @ReviewJournal https://t.co/l0UerPXopz

— Adam Stern (@A_S12) June 6, 2023

On the other side of the country, the race in downtown Chicago, which is only a few weeks away at this point, is going to cost NASCAR over $50 million as per Chicago Sun Times.

But unlike the F1 race, comparatively, NASCAR’s race has attracted a lot of criticism, both from the fans and from groups of people in Chicago. While the fans have complained about various race-related things such as the fact that racecars won’t go over 100mph, that they’ll have sound curbing mufflers, and so on, some residents of Chicago are absolutely against the idea of shutting down major parts of the city for a race to take place.

Having said that, it’s not as if the race won’t do the city any good.

NASCAR’s Street race could pour a massive sum into the local economy

While the Chicago Street race is costing NASCAR over $50 million, it is predicted to infuse over double of that amount into the local economy or $113 million to be precise. It is estimated that over 65% of the o.1 million of those in attendance will be from out of Chicago.

Perhaps because of that the race’s president Julie Giese claimed that NASCAR coming into town is “incredibly important,” that not only will it be beneficial for NASCAR, but it will be the same for the city of Chicago.

“It’s an important market for us from a fan perspective,” Giese added and claimed the race is “a great opportunity to showcase the city as well as NASCAR.”

So to conclude, it’ll be interesting to see if NASCAR’s gamble on Chicago pays off for the sport and the city despite the criticism. But even more interesting would be to see if it is the Next Gen cars that emerge successful in a new territory or if it’s the F1 cars.