To properly cook a thick piece of meat, you need a lot of time and a lot of patience. It can’t be rushed; it needs to develop slowly but surely in its own juices. That’s kind of the same concept about NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race, according to Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe.
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While several of his NASCAR Cup peers are convinced that Sunday will mark the third and final street race in the Windy City, Briscoe is holding out hope that the race comes back next year and for several more years to come.
“(Chicago is) such a huge market, whether that’s a street race, it is kind of unique because we do have a racetrack at least in the area (Chicagoland Speedway, about 50 miles southwest of downtown Chicago), whereas some of these other cities, there’s not a racetrack close,” Briscoe said in an interview on Saturday.
Briscoe added, “A lot of the drivers went into last year talking about just how awesome the city is. Like this is such a kind of underrated city. I feel like you hear all the bad, you forget how good it actually is. I’ve really enjoyed coming here the last three years if this is the last year.
“This is definitely a place where I would come back, bring my family. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to being here this weekend and whatever the end result is, it’s been a lot of fun just to be a part of the city and feel like they’ve done a really good job of embracing us, too.”
Thunderstorms loom over Sunday’s Chicago Street Race
While the weather forecast earlier in the week called for sunny skies and temperatures in the low 80s, that has changed dramatically. As of late Saturday night, the forecast for Sunday calls for an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms throughout the scheduled race time.
If that happens, not only does that mean teams will have to race with rain tires, it will also be the third straight race in Chicago that has been impacted by rain.
“It would feel cursed if it rains again tomorrow,” said Briscoe, who clinched his spot in the upcoming NASCAR Cup playoffs with a win two weeks ago at Pocono. “That first year (2023) if it didn’t rain, I feel like there would have been 200,000-plus people (in attendance). It was unbelievable, even in the rain, how many people were here.
“It’s unfortunate if it does rain again tomorrow just because I feel like it definitely is kind of taking some wind out of the sails just from the event standpoint… I feel like this event hasn’t gotten close to its full potential of what it could be just because the weather hasn’t cooperated.”
Although he remains optimistic that NASCAR will be back in Chicago next year — either for another street race or a return to the NASCAR-owned Chicagoland Speedway, which hasn’t hosted a NASCAR race since 2019 — Briscoe paid tribute to the street race if Sunday is its final edition.
“I think all the drivers honestly have enjoyed racing here,” said Briscoe, who is 10th in the Cup standings heading into Sunday’s race. “The first year we were certainly skeptical whenever it got announced. As a sport, we’d never ran a street race. Even looking at the track layout, you didn’t really know what to expect.
“But I think for me at least, it’s kind of exceeded my expectations of how well it can actually race. And it certainly creates a lot of chaos, too. So, yeah, I’ve been impressed with how it’s been the last two years. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate this year and we can finally put on a kind of a normal race without all the rain.”
Other venues Briscoe would like to see NASCAR race at
Briscoe, who threw out the first pitch at Thursday night’s Chicago Cubs vs. Cleveland Guardians game at iconic Wrigley Field, would like to come back to the ‘Second City’ to race again in the future.
But if that doesn’t happen, other possible venues Briscoe would like to see include Detroit — even though NASCAR already races at Michigan International Speedway, about 80 miles away — Boston, Denver, and even New York City.
Even though there have been reports that NASCAR is exploring street races in San Diego, Philadelphia, Vancouver and Toronto, if he had a pick, Briscoe would go with ‘Beantown’ first.
“New York would be cool but I think Boston would actually be a super cool city to do it in,” he said. “It’s kind of a city I think that would really embrace us and would just be a lot of fun.”
