Roads remain closed days after NASCAR race, disrupting Chicago business and tourism
Grant Park in the summertime is usually full of life. People walking to the lakefront, crowds chattering, tourists taking photos of the Chicago skyline, car horns blaring in the near distance.
But this week, the park was quiet — except for the beeping of forklifts and slow work of construction crews. Roughly four and a half miles of streets in and around Grant Park were closed to the public for three weeks as the third-annual NASCAR Chicago Street Race took over downtown.
Although the race itself was over by the time the 2025 National Association of Hispanic Journalists conference began at the Chicago Hilton, attendees who tried to explore the park nearby were rerouted by security guards who informed them the area remained closed.
The street race — the only race NASCAR hosts through city streets — runs for two days. This year, the race took place on July 5 and 6. But road closures began on June 25 and are expected to continue through July 14.
As crews cleaned up the concrete barricades, metal fences and risers that helped define the race track last week, Chicagoans wondered if the event would return again next year. Last year, the city estimated the race generated $128 million and brought in 53,000 visitors, a boost to Chicago’s revenue. But local businesses along the race route said this week that they have seen foot traffic grind to a halt and struggled to bring in business during the last three weeks.
When asked whether the event was likely to come back, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson told The Latino Reporter that he had “no comment.”
Chicago taxpayers in 2023, the first year the race was held here, shouldered an estimated $3.5 million in police overtime, road repairs and security staffing, according to the Chicago Tribune. The city issued a statement last year saying that the 2023 race generated nearly $109 million.
Vendors, street performers, food trucks and other entrepreneurs who rely on foot traffic said this week that they lost critical income during the event.
Mike, a part-time security guard from Lyell, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, said on Wednesday that he has a hard time believing that Chicago residents see a benefit to hosting the race. Mike, who declined to give his last name, was not authorized by his employer to speak to the press.
With a neon orange vest on his chest, Mike shooed tourists away from the intersection as they attempted to circumvent the maze of closures.
It was not clear whether Mike and his crew would be back again next year. Negotiations between the city of Chicago and NASCAR are ongoing.
Paul C. Fisher is a rising senior at Newberry College. Paul has a passion for storytelling and intends to cover policy. He wants to distill complex legislation into easy to digest information for his audience. Reach him at pcfisher16 [at] gmail [dot] com.
