After taking a year off, NASCAR will be back on the streets of Chicago next year, this time around a different holiday weekend than Fourth of July, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Citing sources, the Tribune reports the race would coincide with the Sueños music festival, held in Grant Park around Memorial Day weekend. That means the race could possibly save on set-up time by using grandstands and other spaces already set up for the festival, the Tribune cites sources as saying.
According to the Tribune, NASCAR Street Race President Julie Giese confirmed the organization and city officials were close to an agreement, though a NASCAR spokesperson declined to comment.
The NASCAR Chicago Street Race featured Cup Series and Xfinity Series races from 2023 through 2025 in and around Grant Park during Fourth of July weekend.
The races were hampered by inclement weather every year, which was just a stroke of bad luck, but some city officials and community groups also complained about such a busy part of downtown Chicago being inaccessible for too long during set-up and takedown for the race, right in the middle of summer.
NASCAR declined to hold a Chicago Street Race in 2026, opting for one in San Diego instead. Officials said the event would “hit pause in 2026 to afford us the time necessary to work collaboratively with the City of Chicago to explore a new potential date and to develop a plan that further optimizes operational efficiencies.”
NASCAR kept its Chicago office open, the Tribune reports, and said it hoped to return to the city in 2027.
And there will still be a NASCAR race in Chicagoland on Fourth of July weekend this summer, when the racing circuit returns to the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet for the first time in seven years for the eero 400 on Sunday, July 5.
