Many believed that this year, NASCAR’s visit to Chicago will see drivers contest on the streets of ‘The Windy City’ in entirely dry conditions. However, that wasn’t the case as the Midwest’s notoriously unpredictable weather massively affected the Chicago Street Race race once again during the 2024 running of the revised Grant Park 165.
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Despite the sport battling inclement conditions once again last Sunday, fans and drivers were left with a positive outlook on the event. Drivers exhibited high-quality racing as the governing body allowed teams to pick their dry-slick strategies for the first time on the drying Downtown streets.
Also, if Saturday’s Xfinity Series race held in bone-dry conditions was anything to go by, fans were in for a blockbuster battle of road racing greats such as Shane van Gisbergen and Kyle Larson at the front.
Veteran motorsports journalists Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi talked about the event on a recent episode of DirtyMo Media’s The Teardown. According to Gluck, fans came out in substantial numbers to witness the impressive racing action. Of course, the rain did throw a spanner in the works but that did not compromise the overall event and experience according to the industry insider.
“Everybody’s like this is cool, this is a great event,” Gluck said. “It just felt like there were such positive vibes and to me, you just chalk it up to bad luck, it just sucks. I don’t know why this weather has come out of nowhere twice in two years.”
Thank you, fans. Thank you, Chicago. ❤️#NASCARChicago pic.twitter.com/PWngLkqB4v
— NASCAR Chicago Street Race Weekend (@NASCARChicago) July 8, 2024
It goes to show the potential of the Chicago Street Race in perfect weather. Bianchi went as far as to compare it to a Formula One race, with all its grandiose. He also touched on how the local pushback against the event from last year had also dissipated.
“It’s nonsensical to think that NASCAR shouldn’t be in Chicago,” he said. “This weekend it was, this is cool, this is awesome, the industry embraced it, the city embraced it, there was this big feel to it and it very much had a vibe of Formula One.”
With such positive reviews, there is a good chance that NASCAR will bring back the Chicago Street Race for a third year. Hopefully, the next time it happens, fans get to see how the drivers race on a dry street circuit.
