With NASCAR celebrating its 75th anniversary, a very historical moment is going to be made this weekend at Grant Park 220. It’s the first time in the history of NASCAR racing that stock cars are going to be racing on a street course. The paddock may have camped here for the first time, but did you know that the Chicago street course was already a part of the racing simulators in 2021? 

During an interview with Dan Patrick at his show called “Dan Patrick Show,” NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr revealed how the Chicago Street Course came into reality and why NASCAR decided to include it in the Cup series schedule for 2023. During the conversation, Earnhardt Jr also gave a reality check to the American sportscaster when he talked about being a part of racing. 

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The interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr started with Dan Patrick asking him the reason behind NASCAR choosing Chicago Street Course for the cup series. Earnhardt Jr, being a NASCAR analyst, gave a very logical and business-oriented answer. 

He said, “Well, we used to race at Chicagoland out in Joliet, which is about, I know, 45 minutes an hour away. It’s a great market for us, and NASCAR wanted to get back to the Chicago market.”

In 2021, during the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, NASCAR made an announcement to include an imaginary street course in Chicago, a track for the fifth race of the iRacing series. 

Ever since the announcement, it was speculated the imaginary track would become a reality someday. This speculation was seen to come true when Earnhardt Jr, in the same interview, revealed how the Chicago street course became a reality from an element of virtual reality. 

The former NASCAR racer said, “I think that the way this began to be honest with you, was through the iRacing software, which is a PC video game simulation, whatever you want to call it.” 

Earnhardt Jr also added, “With that product, NASCAR was able to say, hey use you know, use the Chicago streets and build us a street course and then put your customers on there to drive it and race it and give it feedback. And so that’s kind of how this all started.” 

While Earnhardt Jr confirmed that the Chicago street course was first a simulation before becoming a real track, Dan Patrick made a statement that didn’t quite sit well with the former driver. 

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After hearing about the racing simulation that NASCAR used to create the Chicago street course, Dan Patrick went ahead and asked how Dale Earnhardt Jr thought Patrick would perform in such a racing simulation. Earnhardt Jr gave a truth-busting answer to that.

He said, “You’d be, you’d be terrible.”

The JR Motorsport owner also gave told the American sportscaster about the difficulties drivers face while riding in a racing simulator. He compared driving at real tracks to driving in a simulation when he revealed, “You know, I think everybody that gets at a simulator, the one thing that’s missing is obviously the seat of the pants, the feel of driving a real car and grip and the tires and everything being connected to the road that we all knows so well when we drive down the highway. So it takes a while.” 

He further added, “It’s basically you’re, you know, learning how to drive a race car. Missing one critical sensor, right? And once you figure out how to work through that, you get really good at it.” 

Sharing the fun side of the racing in a simulation, Earnhardt Jr said, “But it’s a lot of fun. It’s as close as you can get to driving a real-world race car without having, you know, leaving the comfort of your house and spending, you know, thousands and millions of dollars to compete.”

So now you know that the Chicago street course that racers will be seen driving on for the Grant Park 220 race was once a part of the racing simulation. Talking about the Chicago street course, will you be going to watch your favorite driver from the stand this weekend? 

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