The 12-turn, 2.2-mile street course will take the Cup and Xfinity series through the city with the start/finish line and pit road placed on South Columbus Drive, near the iconic Buckingham Fountain.
The course will run through Grant Park and approach the northern edge of Soldier Field, home of the NFL’s Chicago Bears. The track will also run along Lake Michigan on South Lake Shore Drive.
It’s no surprise NASCAR’s newest venture has its share of detractors – both in the local community and those who think stock cars have no business racing city streets in general – but Autosport gathered some unique perspectives on what may lie in store for competitors and fans this weekend.
This is veteran Kevin Harvick’s final full-time season in the Cup Series and the future Hall of Famer has been a part of many of NASCAR’s new ventures.
Harvick has been a vocal advocate for NASCAR and track owners to transform Cup races into bigger “events” and sees Chicago as the perfect example.
“I look back at the Busch Clash last year at the L.A. Coliseum and, before we left for that race, everybody thought it was going to be a complete joke and we thought we were going to look like complete fools, but it was probably the best event of last year,” Harvick said.
Source: Autosport