MOORESVILLE, N.C. — While this weekend’s Chicago Street Race featuring the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series is the first street race for a NASCAR national series, it most certainly is not the first time NASCAR stock cars have raced on a street circuit.
According to the SPEED SPORT archives, the NASCAR Winston West Series ran three street course events and one parking lot race during the 1980s.
Two street course races were run during the 1987 season, with a third coming in 1988. As well, Winston West shared the bill with the PPG CART World Series Indy cars racing through the parking lot at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas in 1983.
Run on July 5, 1987, the Spokane (Wash.) Grand Prix was headlined by the Winston West Series with the Budweiser 300 covering 100 laps and 165 miles on the 1.65-mile street course that was laid out around the 1974 World’s Fair.
Roy Smith drove a Ford Thunderbird to victory, beating future Cup Series driver Chad Little by 3.7 seconds. Smith, who was 42, earned $13,340 for the triumph.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Hershel McGriff finished fifth in the 25-car field.
Two months later, the series took part in the Tacoma (Wash.) Grand Prix with Little winning the Armed Forces 200 on the 1.59-mile track with a crowd of 18,000 on hand.
Aboard a Ford Thunderbird, Little finished ahead of Sumner McKnight and earned $13,500, as 27 cars took the green flag. McGriff finished ninth.
The series returned to Spokane the following July 3, with Smith again visiting victory lane. The three-time Winston West champion drove his Ford Thunderbird to victory 3.5 seconds ahead of two-time series champion Bill Schmitt. Smith earned $13,375.
Sports car racer Tommy Kendall finished fifth, while Little was seventh and McGriff came home 16th.
The 1983 race at Caesar’s Palace was run on a 1.25-mile temporary oval laid out in the parking lot at the famed casino. Jim Robinson picked up the victory, with Schmitt finishing second.