Well, it was fun while it lasted.
After three years of turning downtown Chicago into a high-speed video game level with real consequences, NASCAR is hitting the brakes on the city’s street course for 2026. That’s right—no Cup cars blitzing past Buckingham Fountain or fishtailing down Michigan Avenue next year. The engines will fall silent, the curbs will return to being obstacles for food delivery cyclists, and Grant Park will go back to being just a park.
But don’t pull the plug just yet. This is a pause, not a retirement. NASCAR says it’s working with the City of Chicago on a “new potential date” and a better plan to “optimize operational efficiencies.” That’s corporate-speak for: we still want to come back, we just need to make it less of a logistical circus.
The event’s social media account dropped a carefully worded statement about “building a global community of fans” and working with “Chicago youth programs.” All of which sounds lovely—and to be fair, they have made a genuine effort to connect with the city beyond the barriers.
Still, there’s no denying the track itself was a spectacle. A 2.2-mile, 12-turn street course snaking through iconic Chicago landmarks wasn’t just bold—it was bonkers in the best way possible. And it gave us something unforgettable: Shane van Gisbergen turning up from New Zealand and winning his first-ever Cup race in 2023 like he was just casually dropping in to mess with the locals. He did it again in 2024, and his success here helped launch a full-time NASCAR career.
“This place has changed my life,” SVG said. And honestly, the whole thing changed the way NASCAR thinks about racing. For better or worse.
The inaugural race even earned “Event of the Year” honors from Sports Business Journal—a nod to the sheer guts it took to throw a stock car race in the middle of downtown Chicago and somehow pull it off.
So, what now? Well, the Cup Series will skip Chicago in 2026, but NASCAR says it’s not abandoning the Windy City altogether. They’ll continue working with local schools, youth programs, and small businesses. Which is great—but if you’re the kind of fan who liked watching Camaros and Mustangs do battle against a skyline instead of a grandstand, you’ll have to wait until (hopefully) 2027 for the next round of urban mayhem.
And when it returns? Let’s hope the course still includes that stretch on DuSable Lake Shore Drive—the one where drivers get brave and fans get nervous. Because that’s where this street race stopped being a gimmick and became something genuinely thrilling.
For now, Chicago goes quiet. But don’t count it out just yet. NASCAR has a habit of revisiting unfinished business.
Meanwhile San Diego is standing over in the corner saying, “hold my beer.”
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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