The Chicago street race on Sunday was a successful event despite the dicey weather. Shane van Gisbergen won it yet again. And, with two Cup Series and two Xfinity Series wins at Chicago, the track has seen the Kiwi stand atop the podium four times now in three years. However, there’s no clarity if NASCAR will return to the Windy City next year. There are rumors about a potential street race in San Diego that might sway NASCAR’s interest. But, it seems like the Chicago City administration is willing to work out a deal to sign the extension.

Initially, when the race was in talks to be announced, there were multiple concerns by the residents about the practicality of the event. Their concerns included the major road closures, the noise, and potential dangers arising from the race to local residences. However, that sentiment has changed with NASCAR’s third visit, and the local leaders are pitching in to get a two-year extension provided they get a date moved away from Fourth of July weekend.

Adam Stern from Sports Business Journal shared an update on the same on X. While the mayor, Brandon Johnson, had been mute on making any official comments, his adviser, Jason Lee, shed light on the discussion happening behind the scenes. “Certainly, there is interest in seeing if it can work on another date, just because of some of the challenges that the 4th of July weekend present. There’s also just logistical concerns relative to our emergency management personnel, including law enforcement. That’s a weekend where we want to have a lot of people out, a lot of our officers out across the city.”

It has to be noted that Chicago is a big market for NASCAR, and without the street race, they won’t have a presence in the region. While there are rumors about reviving Chicagoland, there are no official updates yet. Denny Hamlin, the co-owner of 23XI Racing, explained how big the Chicago race weekend is for his team. “It’s a very important partner city. McDonald’s, obviously, is headquartered there. You have the Jordan brand for obvious reasons, and then it was an important one for Robinhood as well.”

Fans wouldn’t mind Chicago dates being swapped with Atlanta weekend

A fan came up with a potential solution to the problem, stating, “I was wondering the same thing. If they want to keep the street race but change the date, just swap it with Atlanta.” This could give the summer Daytona vibes for Atlanta if it’s shifted on the 4th weekend. Another fan backed this up by stating the historical significance of Atlanta over Chicago for the independence weekend: “Plus, it’s one of the original 13 colonies. Neither Florida nor Illinois can boast that.”

Up until 2020, NASCAR raced at the Daytona International Speedway during the Independence Day weekend. However, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 was moved to an August date as it served as the regular season finale. Fans have been asking about a traditional oval event for this date, but so far, they have had to be content with the Chicago Street course. Although NASCAR isn’t likely to change the Daytona date, fans feel that Atlanta could fill up that void.

While the above solution means that the race would be shifted out of the city, another fan proposed a solution within the city: “Chicago loves everything about the race… except the date. Grant Park was already a mess on the 4th weekend before NASCAR showed up; now, it’s a nightmare. Shift it to later in the summer. May even result in a totally dry Cup race, for once!” A summer race would indeed take the weather problems off the organizers. After all, last weekend was the first instance where the Cup race wasn’t hampered by untimely rain showers.

With the talks about San Diego hosting a race also coming into motion, one fan suggested shifting it early in the year: “They could do it earlier in the year or in August or even put it in the playoffs. If they go to San Diego I think they could make it part of the west coast swing at the beginning of the year and put Atlanta on the 4th.” Talk about having two many street/road course events, this fan thinks that NASCAR can manage two street circuits, provided they are tactfully placed on the schedule.

Finally, one reaction had the perfect solution for not just Chicago, but other tracks as well. The fan mentioned a three-way swap of these races: “Chicago Street Race in the Atlanta spot on the schedule (end of June, week before 4th of July), Atlanta then swaps with Daytona as the regular season finale. Daytona goes back to July 4th weekend.” This will not just solve problems for Chicago, but also for the Daytona-Atlanta swap that’s been the talk around due to Atlanta bringing more thrill in its races lately.

Do you think the Chicago race should be moved from the 4th of July week? If yes, where? Let us know in the comments.