Editorial note: Downtown Chicago has had a near epidemic of street racing recently (see “More deaths tied to drifting and street racing”), so this will likely only serve to encourage the situation. Brilliant, Lori.
Tickets went on sale this week for the first-ever NASCAR Chicago Street Race, a 2.2-mile course around Grant Park over the July Fourth weekend in 2023. The priciest option is for temporary skyboxes above the pit road, shown in an artist’s rendering, where tickets for the President’s Paddock Club cost more than $3,000 each. (NASCAR/Chicago Street Race)
The NASCAR Chicago Street Race, which is set to transform Grant Park into a pop-up urban racecourse during July Fourth weekend, is hoping to get some traction this week with the opening of its Chicago office and the launch of ticket sales.
NASCAR anticipates 100,000 attendees will descend on Chicago for its first-ever street course event, which will include two days of racing, concerts and other festivities.
Tickets will not come cheaply, however. On Tuesday, NASCAR began selling two-day reserved tickets starting at $465. Two-day general admission tickets, which start at $269, will go on sale a couple of months down the road.
Premium club seats run a lot higher. At the top of the list are temporary hospitality suites perched above the pit road, where tickets for the President’s Paddock Club cost more than $3,000 each, according to the NASCAR Chicago website.
“It’s a temporary hospitality structure very similar to what you would see at a golf tournament,” said Julie Giese, 45, a veteran NASCAR executive named president of the Chicago Street Race. “Those are two-day experiences, all inclusive of food and beverage, with access to the concerts and the races.”
Giese said the ticket pricing for Chicago is comparable to other NASCAR races, including the permanent hospitality suites at facilities such as Daytona International Speedway in Florida, where she was previously involved in the $400 million redevelopment of that track.
Read more here.
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