The NASCAR Chicago Street race is “going to be a two-day festival”


The NASCAR Chicago Street race is “going to be a two-day festival”

Bubba Wallace driving the No:23 car in Chicago after the official announcement of the Chicago Street Race (Credits: IMAGO/ USA Today Network)

The premier stock car division is set to host its first street course race event in 2023.  The 2.2-mile, 12-turn street layout in Downtown Chicago will offer fans and drivers a never-before-seen experience of NASCAR racing. Cup and Xfinity series drivers will compete at this track. The Xfinity event is scheduled for July 1 and the cup event is on July 2.

NASCAR officials are in for an organizational and logistical nightmare at Chicago. The political backlash over hosting the event in an area that is infamous for its rough neighborhoods is also a big concern. That’s the major reason why NASCAR entrusted the event to Julie Giese, one of the most respected track officials in the organization, to make it a reality.

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The former president of Phoenix Raceway, which hosts the NASCAR season finale, has already started overseeing the execution of the Chicago Street race. The organizers are planning to host a two-day festival with the event. Concerts consisting of A-list artist has been planned and the event will be systematized by Four Leaf Productions, one of the top names in concert organization.

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We want Chicago to be a very different experience. It’s going to be a two-day festival. This will be one of the first times we’re having full music concerts as part of the experience. When we fold in concerts, it’s usually an abbreviated show as part of the pre- or post-race. In Chicago…you have races each day and full concerts with ‘A-list’ talent each night,” Julie Giese said.

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NASCAR hopes to create something out of nothing in Chicago

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Chicago Mayer along with Bubba Wallace and NASCAR officials in the announcement of the latest Chicago street race (1)

Julie Giese has a blank sheet of paper in front of her to build the Chicago Street race. She told NBC, “I think the most fun for me is that this is a blank sheet of paper. We’re building this from the start. There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity, getting to create something as we’re doing it,”.  

NASCAR is hoping to deliver an unexpected final race product in Chicago. She said, “Street races have been done, but this is the first time NASCAR has done it. We’re pushing ourselves to think outside the box, to be creative, to create something our fans and the city of Chicago haven’t seen before,”.

Julie Giese feels positive about the manpower she has to organize the event. She said, “We’re putting it together piece by piece. We’ve surrounded ourselves with individuals from Four Leaf Productions who have tremendous knowledge of Chicago and putting on events in Chicago. And we have a great team in-house that has built tracks and worked on the operations side, and we’re getting started putting all that together,”.

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