Chicagoland Speedway

Chicagoland Speedway is a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosts NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyCar Series, recording numerous close finishes including the closest finish in IndyCar history. The speedway is currently owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

This article is about the NASCAR track in Joliet, Illinois. For the former CART track located in Cicero, Illinois, see Chicago Motor Speedway.

Chicagoland Speedway
Location500 Speedway Blvd., Joliet, Illinois 60433
Time zoneUTC−6 / −5 (DST)
Capacity47,000[1]
OwnerInternational Speedway Corporation
Broke groundSeptember 28, 1999
OpenedJuly 2001
Construction cost$130 million
ArchitectHNTB
Major eventsNASCAR Cup Series
Camping World 400
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Camping World 300
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Camping World 225
SurfaceAsphalt
Length2.4 km (1.5 mi)
Turns4
BankingTurns: 18°
Frontstretch: 11°
Backstretch: 5°
Websitewww.chicagolandspeedway.com/cgi-bin/r.cgi/index.html

History

First discussions of building a major speedway near Chicago took place in an informal meeting between Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George and International Speedway Corporation Chief Executive Officer Bill France, Jr. in late 1995. Together they formed The Motorsports Alliance, a joint company owned by Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation and International Speedway Corporation. By 1995, a major racing facility had been built or was near completion near Las Vegas, Los Angeles and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The Chicago area was an untapped market for motorsports that had potential to be very lucrative.[2] In 1996, the search began for a site to build a speedway somewhere near Chicago. Several sites were considered, and a track was built in suburban Cicero (Chicago Motor Speedway), but eventually attention turned to the Joliet area where George Barr had negotiated to build Route 66 Raceway. Barr convinced Joliet officials to meet with the Motorsports Alliance to discuss building their speedway adjacent to Route 66 Raceway.[3] The success of Route 66 Raceway, completed in 1998, led to the city conducting an impact study of the proposed speedway. The study revealed the new speedway would generate $300 million for the Joliet and Will County region and over 3,000 jobs.

The Joliet city council unanimously approved the speedway on January 19, 1999.[4] Following the approval, the Will County Board extended the Des Plaines River Valley Enterprise Zone in order to give a tax break to the speedway developers. The tax break news also led to the Joliet High School district threatening to bail out of the enterprise zone, but a compromise was reached.[5] In May 1999, The Motorsports Alliance combined with Route 66 Raceway LLC to form Raceway Associates, LCC with Coyne as president alongside George and France.[6]

Raceway Associates revealed the track would be a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) d-shaped tri-oval superspeedway. Joie Chitwood III was named vice president and general manager of the facility. During the announcement, France stated the significance of the new speedway:

The construction of a major league racing facility of this magnitude and quality in the Chicago metropolitan market symbolizes the ongoing transformation of auto racing from a narrowly-focused regional competition to a major mainstream sport. This type of racing will rival the NFL, NBA and Major League baseball for fan and sponsorship involvement. We are absolutely thrilled to be here.

— Bill France Jr.[2]
The IndyCar Series racing at Chicagoland

Architecture and engineering firm HNTB, which has built stadiums and arenas such as the RCA Dome, Los Angeles Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, was selected to lead the design of the facility. Construction management company Bovis Lend Lease headed the construction of the speedway.[7] Construction started in August 1999, with groundbreaking September 28, 1999. On May 8, 2000, in a press conference at Chicago's Navy Pier, the track's name and inaugural events were announced.[2] Construction of the speedway resulted in a few problems. In the summer of 2000, homes near the speedway were flooded as a result of heavy rains and run-off from excavation. In February 2001, a worker was killed after falling from the skybox suites on top of the grandstands.[5] Construction was completed in spring 2001.[2]

The track has seen little expansion since its construction, with the only major addition being the installation of lights around the track in 2008.[8] This was "phase one" of four phases that were originally designed for construction and possible expansion. Phase four would consist of a Bristol type seating capacity completely surrounding the speedway. The Indycar Series ran at the track since 2001, recording three of the top five closest finishes in Indycar history, including the closest in 2002.[9] Despite the close finishes, the speedway announced IndyCar would not return to the track for the 2011 season.[10] The speedway also announced changes to the NASCAR schedule for 2011, with the NASCAR Cup Series race moving to September 16–18 as the first race in the 2011 Chase for the Championship. The Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series also raced the same weekend, in addition, the Nationwide Series had a stand-alone race day on June 4.[11]

On May 14, 2015, Andersen Promotions, which organizes the Indy Lights series, conducted an oval test at Chicagoland Speedway, marking the first time since 2010 any level of the Mazda Road to Indy was at the track. The test was used by INDYCAR officials to give the Dallara IL-15 its first official oval laps.[12]

On January 28, 2019, it was revealed on ISC's 2018 annual report that the raceway's track seating was reduced from 55,000 to 47,000.[1]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, races at the Chicagoland Speedway for the 2020 season were canceled. Shortly thereafter, most of the track employees were laid off. On May 11, 2020, it was leaked that large parts of the land around the track would be sub-developed into a industrial park, leaving the future of the speedway unknown.[13]

Track length of paved oval

The track length is disputed by the two major series that run at Chicagoland Speedway. The NASCAR timing and scoring use a length of 1.50 miles (2.41 km).[14] The IRL timing and scoring used a track length of 1.52 miles (2.45 km).[15]

Races

Former

Track records
RecordDateDriverTimeSpeed/Avg. Speed
NASCAR Cup Series
QualifyingSeptember 14, 2013Joey Logano28.509189.414 mph (304.832 km/h)
RaceSeptember 18, 2016Martin Truex, Jr.2:47:24145.161 mph (233.614 km/h)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
QualifyingJuly 8, 2005Ryan Newman28.964186.438 mph (300.043 km/h)
RaceJuly 10, 2009Joey Logano2:02:10147.340 mph (237.121 km/h)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
QualifyingJune 28, 2019Austin Hill30.572176.632 mph (284.262 km/h)
RaceAugust 27, 2010Kyle Busch1:44:31132.610 mph (213.415 km/h)
IndyCar Series
QualifyingSeptember 6, 2003Richie Hearn24.521223.159 mph (359.140 km/h)
RaceSeptember 10, 2006Dan Wheldon1:33:37194.828 mph (313.545 km/h)
Source:[16]

NASCAR Cup Series records

(As of 6/30/19)

Most Wins3Tony Stewart
Most Top 5s10Kevin Harvick
Most Top 10s12Jimmie Johnson
Starts19Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch
Poles2Jimmie Johnson
Most Laps Led705Jimmie Johnson
Avg. Start++3.0Daniel Hemric
Avg. Finish*6.17Kyle Larson
Avg. Driver Rating**121.00Kyle Larson
[17]Most Did Not Finish++6Joe Nemechek, Mike Bliss

* from minimum 2 starts. ++ Since 2001. ** Since 2018.

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References
  1. Page, Scott (January 27, 2019). "International Speedway Corporation continues to reduce tack seating". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  2. "Chicagoland Speedway". Chicagoland Speedway. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  3. "Chicagoland". Nascar.com. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  4. "Joliet City Council Approves the Motorsports Alliance,LLC and Route 66 Raceway's Plans". All Business. January 19, 1999. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  5. "Chicagoland Speedway Timeline". Joliet.com. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  6. "Article: Motorsports Alliance and Route 66 Raceway Announce Transaction and Land Purchase". Highbeam. May 5, 1999. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  7. "Construction Partner Profiles". Chicagoland Speedway. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  8. "Chicagoland Speedway announces addition of lights". Racewayreport. September 25, 2007. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  9. "IndyCar Sets Record for Entries at Chicagoland Speedway". Chicagoland Speedway. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  10. "Statement Regarding IZOD IndyCar Series Not Returning in 2011". Chicagoland Speedway. September 10, 2010. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  11. "Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide and Truck Series". Chicagoland Speedway. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  14. Chicagoland Speedway at NASCAR.com
  15. 2010 race result on champcarstats.com
  16. "Race Results at Chicagoland Speedway". racing-reference.info. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  17. http://www.driveraverages.com/nascar/track.php?trk_id=4

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