JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — It has been seven years since NASCAR last raced at Chicagoland Speedway. Seven years of Midwest heat, rain and snow covering the aging asphalt at the 1.5-mile track. That last weekend also was before NASCAR moved into its Next Gen cars.
The Cup Series returns to Chicagoland on Sunday, and what was old is new again.
“It is definitely like learning a new racetrack,” Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe said.
NASCAR ran 19 Cup races on the D-shaped oval in Joliet — about 50 miles southwest of downtown Chicago — from 2001 to 2019. It tried to build interest in the event in a crowded market, even making Chicagoland the opening race of the 2011 playoffs. But the race struggled with attendance before NASCAR pulled out.
NASCAR raced on a street course in downtown Chicago on the first weekend in July each of the previous three years. The future of that concept is in question; it could return in 2027 on a different weekend.
In the meantime, Chicagoland Speedway is back.
“I would say from a character standpoint, this is the closest thing we have to Homestead or maybe Darlington,” Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon said. “But mile-and-a-half wise, this thing has a lot of character, so I love it and I think it’s going to put on a great show for TV.”
Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson participated in two days of tire testing at the facility in April. But the drivers largely stayed in one line lower on the track. As rubber accumulates on the asphalt this weekend, Hamlin and company could begin to explore the higher lines.
“I’ve been around long enough to know that a test racetrack and a race weekend track are two vastly different things,” said Hamlin, who has the pole position for Sunday's race. “So, lots of unknowns.”
The biggest unknown is the Next Gen car, which debuted in 2022. Chicagoland Speedway is rough and bumpy, and the Next Gen cars do not like rough and bumpy.
But Brad Keselowski thinks that might be a good thing.
“It should be interesting to see the car-versus-track combination,” Keselowski said, “because the fact that the car hates the track could actually be really good for the racing, as it opens up different grooves and makes you do different things to try to accommodate that as a driver or as a team with the car setup.”
Bubba Wallace is driving a “Space Jam”-themed car in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Looney Tunes movie. Wallace also attended an event at Navy Pier paying tribute to the movie in the runup to the race.
Wallace drives the No. 23 Toyota Camry for 23XI Racing, which is co-owned by Michael Jordan, one of the stars of the 1996 movie.
“I just remember watching that like on repeat and so to have that connection and be representing the Looney Tunes, Warner Brothers, ‘Space Jam,’” Wallace said, “you know just everything that that movie provided as a kid, to be reliving that is super cool. So appreciate all the parties involved. It was a great event at Navy Pier. Had a great turnout, met a lot of new fans."
Christopher Bell is wearing a splint instead of a cast as he continues his recovery after breaking his left wrist in a crash at Michigan on June 7. The 31-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver finished fifth last weekend at Sonoma.
“I think it's pretty much on schedule,” Bell said. “The goal was to be out of the cast for Chicago, and I don't have a cast on my arm anymore, so that's really good. ... I can wear a normal firesuit, which is nice, and I can wear close to my normal glove, which is nicer, but my mobility of my wrist is still the same as it would be in a cast.”
Carson Hocevar is making his 100th career Cup Series start. He made his Cup debut in 2023 and got his first win at Talladega on April 26.
“I mean, you just kind of blink and you’re at 100, right?” he said. “And you know I’m going to blink twice and be at 200. ... I’m just glad I have a win in the win column before a hundred.”
The last time NASCAR raced at Chicagoland Speedway, Alex Bowman held off Kyle Larson for his first career Cup Series win in 2019. He also picked up a victory on the street course in downtown Chicago in 2024.
Bowman has struggled so far this season, but he is one of just 14 drivers to win on a 1.5-mile track in the Next Gen era.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
FILE - Drivers start a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh,File)
FILE - Alex Bowman celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh,File)
