Michael McDowell’s hope to avenge his disappointing finish in the Chicago Street Race two weeks ago will have to be put on hold for at least a couple of years, if at all.
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After starting on the outside pole, McDowell dominated the first 31 laps of the Windy City’s race with the Chicago lakefront on one side and the busy downtown area on the other side. It looked like no one, not even pole sitter and eventual winner Shane van Gisbergen, had anything to challenge McDowell in the 75-lap event. Then disaster struck the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.
A throttle cable broke, sending him to the garage to miss the next 20 laps while repairs were made. End of story: from what potentially looked like his career’s third Cup win, McDowell ultimately finished a disappointing 32nd.
The bad news for McDowell continued when Chicago Street Race officials announced on Friday that the event would not return in 2026, though there are hopes for a comeback in 2027. Hopes is the key word. That’s all the street race and McDowell now have.
McDowell unhappy that Chicago Street Race could be history
McDowell spoke about the Chicago Street Race hiatus during Saturday’s media availability at Dover Motor Speedway.
“Yeah, it’s a bummer,” McDowell said. “I’ve enjoyed it obviously. It’s a great atmosphere, really cool racetrack, and wish that throttle cable wouldn’t have broke because it would have been nice to have a shot at the last one.”
The Phoenix, Arizona native is hopeful that the street race will return to Chicago in 2027, even with reports that there will be a street race next year in San Diego and potentially another street race in 2027 in Philadelphia.
“But maybe it’s not the last one from kind of what I read that maybe there’s an opportunity for it to come back at some point,” McDowell said of the Chicago Street Race. “I enjoyed it. I thought NASCAR did a great job. The city did a great job as a fun street course. It was technical, it was tough but it was manageable. It’s fun that we were able to pull it off.”
McDowell has become quite the road course specialist as his lengthy Cup career has progressed. When asked if NASCAR should keep the current schedule of six road or street races per season, McDowell smiled and disagreed jokingly.
“18 road courses I think is the right number,” he said. “Maybe 20 would be too much. That’s pushing it, but I feel like that 16 to 18 number is probably the right fit for us.”
Will it be ‘Goodbye Windy City’ and ‘Hello Pacific Ocean?’
If the Chicago street race is moved temporarily, or even permanently, to San Diego, as has been extensively reported in recent weeks, McDowell will miss Chicago but also embraces the challenge of racing in a new venue.
“It’d be awesome,” McDowell said. “I mean, obviously I’m biased. Street courses are a lot of fun and going to new cities and new opportunities to try new things.
“I haven’t seen a course layout or potential of a layout (for the proposed San Diego street race), so I don’t know what that could look like. But I feel like we’re getting more experience of understanding what makes a course raceable for us and our cars. And so I look forward to the challenge, for sure.”
