Before NASCAR raced in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 2022, Kevin Harvick thought it would be a disaster. It didn’t take long for the event to win him over.
Heading into the Cup Series’ first street race, Harvick is keeping an open mind.
“Going through all these new types of events kind of changes your mindset to how you approach it,” he said, “because you see the enthusiasm, like you can feel it, you can see it.”
After months of hype and curiosity, the NASCAR Cup Series hits the streets of downtown Chicago on Sunday at the end of a big weekend for the sport that includes concerts and other entertainment.
The 12-turn, 2.2-mile course includes seven 90-degree turns. There are lots of ways to get into trouble, including manhole covers and transitions from concrete to asphalt and back. Getting in and out of pit road in front of Buckingham Fountain could become an issue, and restarts also could be an adventure.
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“It’s obviously narrow in sections. I think that’s going to be a hot topic of things to talk about,” said Chase Elliott, who is looking for his first win of the season. “I do think it’s going to be difficult to pass once everybody gets up to pace come race time. But I hope that we’re able to mix it up and do different things.”
As the drivers tested out the course Saturday in practice and qualifying and the Xfinity Series raced in The Loop 121, the noise from the stock-car engines rumbled past the skyscrapers around Grant Park. Smiling passersby on Michigan Avenue stopped and used their phones to record some of the action through a fence.
The spectacle of racing in downtown Chicago was exactly what NASCAR was hoping to create when it announced the event a year ago.
“They told us that over 80% of the fans here this weekend will be people who have never watched a NASCAR race,” Harvick said. “If you’re going to grow the sport, you’re going to have to do stuff like this.”
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Denny Hamlin won the pole Saturday for the NASCAR Cup Series’ first street race, edging Tyler Reddick on the tricky course in downtown Chicago.
Hamlin led the way for Sunday’s race with a lap of 88.435 seconds at an average speed of 89.557 mph on the 12-turn, 2.2-mile course. It’s his third pole of the season and No. 39 for his career.
Reddick was second at 88.479 seconds, followed by Shane van Gisbergen in his first NASCAR event and Christopher Bell. Daniel Suárez rounded out the top five in 89.322 seconds.
With Hamlin, Reddick and Bell, Toyota had three of the top four cars. Hamlin and Bell are teammates on Joe Gibbs Racing, and van Gisbergen and Suárez drive for Trackhouse Racing.
The 34-year-old van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion, is the latest international driver to try NASCAR’s top series as part of Trackhouse’s Project 91. The goal for the team is expanding its global reach.
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