The Chicagoan

NASCAR is taking a different approach as it heads into the third year of the Chicago Street Race, making noticeable changes to the event lineup, ticket prices, and overall setup in hopes of delivering a smoother experience after back-to-back years of weather disruptions and unfinished races.

NASCAR cuts costs and events for this year’s Chicago Street Race..

This summer, fans will see a smaller, more streamlined version of the event. Gone is the full weekend concert lineup that once included big-name acts. Instead, the Zac Brown Band is the sole performer currently announced, scheduled to play after the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, July 5. It’s a sharp shift from previous years, where rain forced cancellations and left crowds waiting on performances that never happened.

The race course itself remains the same: a 12-turn, 2.2-mile track winding through Grant Park and shutting down major roads like DuSable Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue. But the infrastructure supporting the event is being reduced. The massive Skyline suite structure that previously overlooked the start and finish line near Buckingham Fountain has been scrapped. In its place, a concert stage will be built, cutting down the footprint and the time needed to set up and tear down the course.

Last year’s race was a challenge from start to finish. The inaugural event in 2023 was hit by record rainfall, leading to canceled shows and shortened races. In 2024, while the weather held out for Saturday’s race, the main Cup Series event on Sunday was cut short again, this time by rain delays and falling darkness on the unlit street course.

Those back-to-back experiences forced NASCAR to reconsider how the weekend was structured. This year’s Cup Series race is scheduled to start earlier, at 1 p.m. on Sunday, aiming to finish before the usual afternoon storms roll in. It's also moving off network television, shifting from NBC to cable on TNT, another notable change in visibility for the event.

Ticket prices are also coming down. General admission for a single day now starts at $99, down about a third from last year. Premium reserved seating has seen cuts of nearly 50%. Even the highest-tier seats at the Fountain Club are slightly less expensive, dropping to $1,300 for the weekend compared to $3,000 last year for the top-tier Skyline suite.

This shift comes in the final year of a three-year contract with the city that started under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. NASCAR’s agreement with the Chicago Park District requires a $605,000 permit fee this year, plus a $2 charge per admission ticket and a share of food, beverage, and merchandise sales. There is an option to extend the deal for two more years, but no announcement has been made about whether that will happen.

Last year’s race brought an estimated $128 million into the city’s economy and attracted over 53,000 unique visitors, according to Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism agency. Media coverage of the event generated another $43.6 million in value for Chicago. Even with those figures, the actual experience on the ground, marked by delays, cancellations, and frustration, left NASCAR facing pressure to adjust its plans if the event was going to hold its place on the city’s summer calendar.

Part of this year’s effort is aimed at reducing the disruption for nearby neighborhoods and businesses. By downsizing the buildout and shifting the concert stage, NASCAR says it can shorten the setup and breakdown timeline, which has been a point of concern for residents in the area.

While the event is still months away, these early changes signal a pivot toward a more focused race weekend, with fewer extras and lower costs, designed to finally deliver a full race without the weather and logistical headaches of the past two years. Whether that’s enough to satisfy fans and the city remains to be seen.