NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race burst onto the scene in 2023 with all the makings of a game-changer, big city vibes, a 2.2-mile course weaving through Grant Park, and a fresh kind of chaos. But Mother Nature had other plans. Torrential rain turned the weekend into a soggy mess, cutting the Xfinity race to just 25 laps and delaying the Cup race with flash floods.

When the green flag finally dropped, Shane van Gisbergen made history, winning his Cup debut in a shortened 78-lap thriller, despite constant rain interruptions and an overtime restart. It was a wild, wet introduction to street racing, but fans ate it up.

Fast forward to 2024, and the Grant Park 165 didn’t fare much better. Rain delays and heavy clouds forced NASCAR to call it at lap 58 of a planned 75, with darkness creeping in. Alex Bowman snagged the win, holding off Tyler Reddick in another weather-marred showdown. The Chicago course, with its tight turns and concrete barriers, already demands precision, but rain keeps stealing the show, turning races into survival tests.

Now, as the 2025 Grant Park 165 rolls around this Independence Day weekend, fans are bracing for more of the same. Meteorologists are forecasting a 24–50% chance of showers and thunderstorms, with gusty winds thrown in for good measure. It’s like déjà vu; rain slashed both prior Chicago races, and the pattern’s got folks nervous.

Will the weather gods play nice, or is another soggy saga on deck? What’s got fans even more on edge is a historic streak hanging in the balance. The last seven Cup Series races have ended with green-flag runs longer than 25 laps, a feat not seen since the fall of 1998, nearly 27 years ago.

That’s wild in today’s NASCAR, where stage breaks and overtime rules, introduced in 2017, often bring late-race cautions. Eight of the first 17 races in 2024 went to overtime, usually sparked by yellow flags in the final laps. This clean streak, capped by a 62-lap green-flag finish at Talladega, the longest at a drafting track since Daytona in 2004, is a throwback to classic racing, where strategy, fuel, and tires ruled the day.

Right from that Ross Chastain thrilling win at the Coca-Cola 600 to Chase Elliott’s last-lap pass in Atlanta, fans have been treated to some thrilling race finishes. It’s flipped the script on NASCAR’s rep for chaotic, crash-filled finishes, especially at superspeedways like Talladega, where “The Big One” looms large. Fans, broadcasters, and teams are buzzing about this rare stretch of clean racing, but with Chicago’s weather curse lurking, many are holding their breath.

The Reddit crowd’s been vocal, mixing hope with that classic fan superstition about jinxing a good thing.

Fan Reactions to the Chicago Curse

A Reddit post spotlighting the seven-race green-flag streak got fans fired up. One wrote, “Have we really not had to experience an overtime in seven weeks? Welp so much for that now that it’s announcer’s cursed.”

The streak’s rarity, unseen since 1998, has fans marveling, but they’re wary of the “announcer’s curse.” Take Kyle Busch at Texas Motor Speedway, when Kevin Harvick, in the FOX booth, hyped his charge from 26th to third. Right after, Busch’s car snapped loose in Turn 4, slamming the wall and ending his day. Fans know pointing out a streak like this can tempt fate, especially with Chicago’s stormy forecast.

Another fan piled on: “Historic rainfall, hurricane like winds and 25 overtime attempts confirmed for Chicago Sunday.” It’s a tongue-in-cheek jab at Chicago’s rain-soaked history, 2023’s flash floods and 2024’s early finish due to clouds and darkness. The comment plays up the fear that wild weather and multiple overtimes could shatter the clean-race streak, turning Sunday into a chaotic mess of cautions and restarts. Now, fans wouldn’t like to see a fluke winner stealing a playoffs spot with the help of the Daylight clock, which NASCAR might use this weekend.

Then came a shot at the broadcast: “Wait… doesn’t that mean the last one was with Fox? So you’re saying that FOX is cursed?” Fans have been griping about FOX’s 2025 coverage, missed wrecks, shaky camera work, and poorly timed ads. Some jokingly pin the streak’s end on FOX’s knack for bad luck, tying the “curse” to their broadcast woes rather than the racing itself. Surprisingly, the Amazon Prime stint has been a smooth ride and fans have got their hopes up with TNT as well.

Another fan took a victory lap: “That kills that narrative from NASCAR’s haters who doesn’t watch but still talks about it lol.” Critics love to call NASCAR gimmicky, pointing to frequent cautions and late-race pileups. This seven-race streak of clean finishes shuts them down, showing the sport can deliver strategic, drama-free racing that fans cherish, especially when it defies the naysayers.

Finally, one summed it up: “And now it has been jinxed…” It’s the ultimate fan superstition: call out a streak, and it’s doomed. With Chicago’s weather looking dicey and NASCAR’s unpredictable nature, Reddit’s betting this historic run might crash and burn, thanks to the sport’s knack for flipping the script.