CHICAGO — Saturday reflected the highs and lows, but also the pros and cons, to everything NASCAR is working to accomplish this weekend on the Streets of Chicago.
On one hand, the industry was feeling both accomplished and marveled in the moments leading up the Xfinity Series race after a largely successful day of practice and qualifying for both marquee NASCAR divisions. Sure, there were a couple of crashes throughout the day, but the track came across as challenging but not unreasonably so.
It’s a legitimate race track built within the confines of Grant Park.
There was nothing spectacular about the racing during the first stage but there was also nothing to suggest that the intensity wouldn’t ramp up by the end either. Sure, the cautions lasted way too long but that was the case when this event was held at nearby Road America in Wisconsin last year too.
Everything was going well, and it seemed like attendees were having a good time, and then came the thunder and lightning … somewhere. Per NASCAR regulations, if lightning is detected within eight miles of the venue, cars must be brought down pit road and fans will be asked to clear the grandstands for at least 30 minutes.
This strike was eight miles to the southwest and this is where everything went wrong on Saturday.
The Xfinity Series Loop 121 was still three laps short of halfway, the point where races are considered official and not subject to postponement, and that’s when the decision was inexplicably made to complete the remaining laps on Sunday morning before the Cup Series race.
It’s puzzling because fans were reporting via social media that venue staffers were issuing an evacuation as if the event had been postponed before that decision was officially decided. A NASCAR statement did not offer much in terms of clarity.
“Due to the potential for continued lightning strikes and in the interest of public safety and caution, the facility needed to be evacuated. NASCAR had hoped to resume activities, but not until city officials allowed fans to return to the grandstands. The forecast for lightning extends into the next several hours, forcing NASCAR to postpone the completion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race until tomorrow morning.”
The common consensus on Saturday night was that the Chicago Parks requirement is a complete evacuation of the grounds until the threat of lightning has passed.
Daniel Hemric, who won the Xfinity Series championship in 2020, didn’t fully understand why the race wasn’t completed.
“I really enjoyed it and just stinks to lose this energy we had due to the rain and lighting,” Hamric said before looking around.
“Or whatever this is.”
It’s worth noting that rain never fell the rest of the afternoon into the evening hours nor did storms containing lightning strikes approach the eight-mile radius. Worse yet, the event canceled the Saturday night concert featuring the Chainsmokers, a draw equal or even surpassing the race itself.
There were no shortage of attendees to the Chicago Street Race that purchased tickets purely to see the Chainsmokers.
Even worse is that the forecast for Sunday is considerably worse than the one that postponed the remainder of the Xfinity Series race. In fact, the start of the Cup race has been moved up an hour to 4:05 CT just to buy NASCAR an extra hour of window time to complete the weekend.
It’s still unclear what would happen if both races or even just the Cup race were to not get in on Sunday. NASCAR has to be out of town by Sunday night and the city streets have to be returned to normal by Monday morning.
The races can be run in the rain, on wet weather tires, but lightning could create complications just as it did on Saturday night.
It has written an unfortunate chapter in what was shaping up to be a successful event for NASCAR and the Chicago economy. From an on-track product standpoint, drivers seem to genuinely like the track layout and Cup contenders said they are looking forward to the Grant Park 220.
“It’s a lot of fun,” says 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson. “It’s fun just because of how close you are to crashing. It makes our jobs fun and intense. There’s no room for error.
“You can run off a lap that you’re really proud of, and someone comes up behind you and they’re half a second faster, and you’re like ‘holy shit.’ There’s a lot of speed to be found out there because I can put 90 percent of a lap together and then I miss one corner and I’m .7 off and it was because of that one mistake.
“That’s fun for us.”
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Preece says he ‘loves it,’ and how it challenges drivers.
“I wish I was faster right now but I’m enjoying it,” Preece said. “I know I could go back out there right now and find more speed. It makes me want to go out there.”
Maybe the forecast improves for Sunday and the story can be about a really good race and how that salvaged the weekend. NASCAR has a lot riding on this event, the efforts to create a blueprint that can be applied to any downtown setting and not just Chicago, and a combination of the weather and a policy disparity between itself and the city threatens to unravel this inaugural attempt.
While this weekend has created multiple narratives — from both a sporting and business standpoint — for why it makes sense for NASCAR to try this event concept, leaving the confines of a purpose-built facility means giving up a degree of autonomy to the city in which a race takes place.
And right now, the policies implemented by the city just do not make a lot of sense to its guests and is creating a complication in advance of the main course.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.