NASCAR Chicago Street Race roads closed after BUCKLING in heat ahead of Cup Series event

Some Chicago roads have been closed ahead of schedule for the upcoming NASCAR Street Race in the city.

The race isn't set to take place for more than a week, but extreme heat in Illinois led to pavement on Columbus and Balbo drives, both set to feature on the course, buckling.

The Chicago Department of Transportation confirmed that parts of the roads were closed Wednesday night for road crews to work on repairs, closing off Columbus nearly a week before its scheduled closure for the race.

The initial schedule had Columbus closing on June 30th from Jackson Drive to Roosevelt Road, while Balbo would have been shut down from Michigan Avenue to Columbus from the 27th.

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NASCAR Chicago Street Race in peril

While the roads would presumably have needed fixing in any case, the extended shutdown could anger locals further, for an event which many in town already object to – and which is in the last year of its contract, with options to extend into 2026 and 2027.

That may move the needle more than expected given the current status of the street race, with build-up and tear-down for the race lasting the best part of a month and centering on an already busy 4th July weekend.

A community meeting was held last month for concerns to be explained to the local police department, and also to NASCAR Chicago. Long-time resident Paul Wasserman told 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."

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