DOWNTOWN — NASCAR stated Friday that it could not carry its Chicago Avenue Race again subsequent 12 months, however left open the potential of reviving the race in 2027.
Friday’s announcement got here simply weeks after the Chicago Avenue Race accomplished its third Independence Day weekend occasion on the streets of Downtown, marking the top of a three-year contract with the town.
NASCAR Chicago Avenue Race organizers stated in a social media publish Friday afternoon that the race “will hit pause in 2026 to afford us the time essential to work collaboratively with the Metropolis of Chicago to discover a brand new potential date and to develop a plan that additional optimizes operational efficiencies” and that it had a “aim” to return to Chicago in 2027.
“Collectively, we’ve got constructed and grown an expanded neighborhood of followers that consists of longtime NASCAR fanatics and first-time racegoers from across the globe, and for that, we’re immensely grateful,” the assertion continued.
A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Workplace stated Friday that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration appreciated NASCAR’s “dedication to the Metropolis of Chicago and their dedication to persevering with their neighborhood engagement efforts, significantly their help of STEM schooling for our metropolis’s younger folks.”
“We sit up for resuming discussions round a possible return of the NASCAR Chicago Avenue Race in 2027,” the assertion stated.
Metropolis officers are taking a look at dates exterior of the busy Independence Day weekend to suggest for a potential summer time 2027 occasion to attempt to reduce the pressure on legislation enforcement across the vacation weekend.
This 12 months’s racing weekend marked the primary occasion not spoiled by thunderstorms, not less than for probably the most half. The final two years of NASCAR’s Chicago races had been marred by wet circumstances, with torrential downpours canceling and shortening occasions and races in 2023 and rain delaying the 2024 Grant Park 165 NASCAR Cup Sequence Race.
Even then, drivers crossed the end line on this 12 months’s second and last race day with about quarter-hour to spare earlier than rain began to return down. NASCAR issued an alert on the end of the race, cautioning followers of incoming extreme climate and directing them to go away Grant Park.
Introduced in 2022 by then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the phrases of the contract included three assured years in Grant Park with a potential out accessible to the Park District if it supplied written discover not less than 180 days earlier than the following race between 2023-2025.
The contract allowed for a potential two-year extension for 2026 and 2027. NASCAR is reportedly contemplating a road race occasion subsequent 12 months in San Diego, although it’s unclear if such an occasion would preclude an analogous race from taking place in Chicago.
The race has a two-day capability of 100,000 folks. NASCAR has repeatedly declined media requests for attendance and ticket gross sales, telling Block Membership it doesn’t publicize these figures.
The inaugural 2023 sequence attracted over 79,000 attendees — in need of the 100,000 attendance prediction — and generated $109 million in financial exercise and $8.3 million in native and state taxes, in response to an financial influence report.
The 2023 road race generated $119,899 for the Park District along with a $500,000 allow payment, which some critics say is simply too low of a payment to make use of the park to the extent NASCAR does. The $119,899 included 15 % of web commissions on concessions and merchandise, plus $2 per admission ticket, in response to NASCAR’s contract with the Park District.
The Park District acquired a bigger payout the next 12 months, amassing $220,552 in income along with the $550,000 allow payment. The rise was due partially to the next fee fee — 20 % of web gross sales from concessions and merchandise. Johnson additionally secured a further $2 million for the town by way of a separate handshake settlement earlier than agreeing to carry the race again for 2024.
The 2024 race generated $128 million in complete financial influence for the town and $9.6 million in state and native tax income, in response to final 12 months’s financial influence report.
This 12 months, NASCAR is predicted to pay the Park District $605,000, plus $2 per ticket offered and 25 % of web gross sales from meals, drinks and merchandise.
The Chicago Tribune reported Friday that, in a letter to the mayor, NASCAR stated it was pausing the race as a result of it wanted extra time to reschedule the occasion and cut back the buildout and breakdown time of the pop-up racecourse in response to issues expressed by metropolis officers.
“Our aim is for the Chicago Avenue Race to return in 2027 with an occasion that additional enhances the expertise for residents and guests alike, as we work collectively in the direction of a brand new potential date, shorter construct schedule, and extra tourism attracts,” Julie Giese, NASCAR Chicago Avenue Race president, stated within the letter, as reported by the Tribune.
Ald. Invoice Conway (thirty fourth) issued an announcement Friday expressing disappointment “that negotiators haven’t been capable of transfer this occasion off the July 4th weekend — particularly given how NASCAR has supplied Chicago the chance to shine on the world stage.”
“Over the previous two years, NASCAR has made significant efforts to scale back disruptions for residents and companies alongside the race route, streamline setup and takedown, and preserve open strains of communication with our neighborhood,” Conway stated. “I hope events return to the desk with a dedication to creating this occasion work even higher for Chicago, each logistically and financially.”
Reporter Melody Mercado contributed.
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