Concerns raised over NASCAR Chicago race as contract deadline nears

Further concerns have been raised over the upcoming Chicago Street Race, as it enters a crucial year.

NASCAR will return to the streets of the Windy City in July for what could be the last running of the event, albeit with options to extend the race's three-year contract into 2026 and 2027.

Locals have complained about the impact of the race since its inception in 2023, with weeks of disruption as the track is set up and torn down before and after the running of the race.

NASCAR are attempting to minimize the disruption caused to the local area, but residents have told CBS Chicago that they're still braced for the area to be impacted in a real way.

NASCAR unclear on future of Chicago race

Locals attended a community meeting on Wednesday to explain their concerns to the local police department, and also to NASCAR Chicago. Long-time resident Paul Wasserman old CBS: "It's really tough on the neighborhood during NASCAR.

"Occasionally when there's an event going on down here, you get like a bad day or maybe a bad night for like a Beyoncé concert [at Soldier Field] or something, but this is like that, but for however long NASCAR goes on."

NASCAR anticipates 25 days of disruption between course setup and teardown, including the two days of racing, and Julie Giese of NASCAR Chicago said: "We have been working very hard to minimize those disruptions. We're going to continue to get better at this."

As for the future of the race going forward? "Again, right now, our focus is on this year's event. We have those option years. We'll have those conversations."

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