The upcoming Cup Series street race in Chicago is the second time that NASCAR travels to race in the Windy City. The venue has been prepped for weeks now and is poised to host a thrilling contest between the best stock car racers in the world. But do the narrow roads and constricting walls mean that there will be excessive aggression on display?
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Joey Logano, 2X Cup Series champion, spoke to the press and opened up on his thoughts about aggression on such street circuits and road courses. He believes that the heavy braking zones in these types of tracks are what lead to the illusion that drivers are being more aggressive than usual. He continued to touch upon the need to be aggressive on every track.
The NextGen cars forcing extreme parity on the field isn’t news. What this does is put drivers in a situation where they’re doing everything they can to gain as many spots as possible during restarts. This is what leads to said aggression. This pressure is only amplified in road courses and tracks like the Chicago Street Course where there is little run-off area to go wide on.
In Logano’s words, “You’re going to hit something. There’s just no room to not hit something. I think that just is more pronounced when you come to a road course, but even more so in Chicago with the walls because there’s just no runoff anywhere you go you’re going to hit something. I don’t think the aggression level is higher. It just looks like it is.”
NASCAR decides to go for double-file restarts in Chicago in 2024
The weather forced NASCAR to go for single-file restarts in the inaugural street race in Chicago in 2023. Despite the change being a success that the promotion wanted to implement in other venues, it has gone for double-file restarts this time. One of the key reasons behind this move is to appease fans.
NASCAR’s VP of Competition, Elton Sawyer, has already expressed that he doesn’t want to take away double-file restarts unless there is a need to do so. Things are bound to get chaotic with cars in rows of two in the narrow lanes of the city even if the drivers don’t intend it to be so. But rest assured, NASCAR will be on its toes to change things back to single-file should the situation get worse than predicted.
