Chicagoland 2004 Ncar
Chicagoland. (Sherryl Creekmore/NASCAR photo)
NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Nuggets: Chicago Street Race Nears Reality

July 7, 2022

Last weekend at Road America the prevailing question hanging over the NASCAR races at the 4-mile road course was: How long is this going to last?

Would NASCAR continue to visit the Wisconsin track, or as has been indicated in multiple reports, will NASCAR soon be using its date on the calendar to race on the streets of Chicago?

According to a report by The Athletic, we might have the answer soon.

Via a public records request, The Athletic obtained a letter from the city of Chicago to NASCAR that endorses the concept of a street race for a three-year span beginning in 2023.

The letter was addressed to Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing development and strategy. 

The Athletic reported that no contact has been signed yet, but that an announcement is expected on July 19.

If the deal is completed, it would result in the first NASCAR Cup Series race on a street course. The NASCAR Xfinity Series took part in street races at Mexico City (2005-’08) and Montreal, Quebec (2007-’12).

Denny Hamlin Gets Coke For Atlanta

For much of his NASCAR Cup career Denny Hamlin had one sponsor, FedEx. 

But over the last two seasons, Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota has had other companies appear on it. Now Hamlin, a member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family, will have a Coca-Cola paint scheme for the first time.

On Wednesday, Coke revealed the scheme Hamlin will have in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which is Coke’s home track.

Unfortunately for Hamlin, history isn’t on his side.

While Coca-Cola has been a longtime sponsor in NASCAR, it has been almost 50 years since a Cup Series car that had Coke as a primary sponsor — on the hood — has been to victory lane. 

It last occurred in 1975, when Bobby Allison won the Southern 500. Since then, Coke has been to victory lane in the Cup Series, albeit as an associate sponsor. Kyle Larson won twice in 2017 when Coca-Cola was located on his rear quarter panels.

Winning Records

With Tyler Reddick’s win Sunday at Road America, there have been five first-time winners this season in the Cup Series. That ties the series’ Modern Era record that was also set in 2001, 2002 and 2011.

Road America also produced the NASCAR Cup Series’ 13th different winner of the season — tied with the 2002 season for second-most winners through 18 races in the Modern Era. That trails behind the 2003 season with 14 different winners. The most winners to finish a 26-race regular season in the Cup Series during the Playoff Era (2004-2022) is 15 different winners in 2011. The record for different winners in an entire season in the NASCAR Cup Series is 19 different winners and it has happened four times (1956, 1958, 1961 and 2001).  

Logano In SRX Booth

The crossovers between NASCAR and the Superstar Racing Experience continue to grow. 

It was announced Thursday that Joey Logano will be a guest analyst for CBS’ broadcast of the SRX season finale on Saturday, July 23 at Ohio’s Sharon Speedway.

Logano has been seen plenty in the Fox Sports booth as a driver analyst for the NASCAR Xfinity Series races.

Logano’s Team Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney, will be competing in the race at Sharon, along with his dad, Dave Blaney. The Blaney family is a co-owner of the dirt track.

TV Ratings

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Road America took a hit in the ratings department. As the first scheduled Cup race on the USA Network, the July 3 race only drew in 1.930 million viewers. That’s compared 3.078 million last year, when the race was held on the main NBC network.

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