NASCAR in Chicago: What is the route?

Map and route of the 2023 NASCAR race in downtown Chicago

Posted: Jul 19, 2022 / 03:57 PM CDT

Updated: Jul 19, 2022 / 05:28 PM CDT

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CHICAGO — Some of the world’s greatest drivers will get their chance to compete on the streets of the Windy City in 2023.

The NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race will take place the weekend July 1 and 2 of next year.

The series and the City of Chicago revealed the route on Tuesday afternoon when they made the details of the event final.

Map of the 2023 NASCAR Race in Chicago

Route of Chicago Street Race

This is the proposed layout for the course which will be used in July of 2023 for this event, which is the first of its kind for NASCAR in Chicago.

The start-finish line along with pit road is proposed to be on south Columbus Drive in front of Buckingham Fountain.
The proposed distance is 2.2 miles with 12 total turns, with drivers beginning the race heading south on Columbus Drive towards Turn 1 – which is a left on East Balbo Drive.
Turn 2 will have the drivers heading south on Lake Shore Drive before exiting onto East Roosevelt Road, where they will eventually end up back on Columbus Drive.
Drivers will make a left at Turn 6 on East Balbo Drive, then a right on Michigan Avenue at Turn 7 before going onto East Congress Plaza Drive, then back on Michigan Avenue.
Turn 11 will be a right onto East Jackson Drive from Michigan Avenue, with the drivers approaching the final right turn back onto Columbus Drive to the start-finish line.

After today's announcement of a NASCAR Cup Series street course race in Chicago, driver @BubbaWallace of @23XIRacing takes his No. 23 machine out for a spin in the city. @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/suh1XQt2cS
— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) July 19, 2022

After the announcement of the race, NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace took his No. 23 car onto parts of the proposed course.

Drivers of an IMSA series that is still to be determined will be the first on the course on Saturday, July 1 before the NASCAR Cup Series Drivers compete on Sunday, July 2.

Full details and tickets at www.nascar.com/chicago

In previous stops in Chicago, NASCAR had only run on oval tracks, most recently Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, who hosted a Cup series race every year from 2001-2019. Soldier Field (1956) and Santa Fe Speedway in Willow Springs (1954) also hosted cup series races in the area.