NASCAR’s bringing Chicagoland Speedway back to the Cup Series in 2026, a big win for fans who’ve missed the Joliet oval since its last race in 2019. The Fourth of July weekend will be a tripleheader bash: ARCA on Friday, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday, and Cup on Sunday.

It’s a nod to the sport’s heartland roots, answering fan calls to revive the 1.5-mile track after the Chicago street race got the boot for 2026. But NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell’s got a curveball up his sleeve, hinting the street course isn’t dead yet. This dual-track tease has fans buzzing about what’s next for Chicago’s racing future.

O’Donnell’s Chicago vision

On the Dale Jr. Download, Steve O’Donnell dropped a bombshell: “Well, we’re not going back as it looks right now, so we’re putting some money in there. So we’re not giving up on the street course either. So I think you could see I could see something where you’re doing both. I could see something where you’re swapping but Chicagoland for us.” The street race, launched in 2023 to grab urban eyes, hit snags such as $50 million in setup costs, weather delays, and sagging ticket sales that made it a tough sell.

O’Donnell’s July 2025 chat with The Athletic floated a rotation idea, balancing the downtown course’s buzz with Chicagoland’s reliable setup and lower costs. Fans love the oval’s history, and Illinois chipped in $5 million to spruce it up, signaling Joliet’s ready to roll.

“You know we’re going back to put on a heck of a race and see where we go. You know, I think we’ve come from the last time we were there, right? Our racing was pretty tough. Bring back the Tropicana ball, right? Have that thing cruising around there. But no, we want to go there and it’s going to look good,” O’Donnell added.

He’s reminiscing about Chicagoland’s glory days (2001-2019), when races like Tony Stewart’s 2004 pass or Kyle Busch’s 2018 duel with Kyle Larson drew 75,000 fans. The “Tropicana ball” nods to the old Tropicana 400, a staple of NASCAR’s early 2000s push into big markets.

A $2.5 million renovation in 2025 with new suites, fan zones, and safety barriers sets the stage for a slick return, but O’Donnell’s not ruling out a street course comeback, keeping Chicago’s future wide open.

O’Donnell’s track-swapping tease ties to bigger questions about NASCAR’s racing product, especially as Dale Earnhardt Jr. calls for a Next Gen overhaul on short tracks and road courses.

Dale Jr.’s Next Gen fix for tracks like Chicagoland

On Dale Jr. Download, post-Roval, he said: “I do like the tire, the falloff. That’s like one little thing, but there are so many little things that I wish were different. The tire this weekend, so good. More of that, please. I’ll be honest, this car, I’ve talked in length about this car on this show. Things about the car physically that I just don’t think belong on the car.”

The Roval’s tire wear made racing electric, but Dale Jr. wants the Next Gen stripped down for tracks like Martinsville, not intermediates like Chicagoland. “The underbody and all of that stuff. I would really tear this car apart and strip it down, get rid of some sh-t. I would not touch it in its current form for the mile-and-a-half and stuff,” he said.

The Next Gen’s sealed underbody, built for parity, kills creativity on short tracks and road courses, unlike the loose, wild racing Chicagoland’s 1.5-mile oval thrives on. NASCAR’s boosting horsepower to 750 on short tracks and road courses, but Dale Jr. wants more: ditch the rear diffuser and underbody for a “basic, dull” car you can “beat the shit out of” at places like Martinsville.

“But for the car I’m gonna take to Martinsville, it would be like the unplugged version instead of the full band,” Earnhardt said. His push for a raw, scrappy setup could juice up racing at traditional venues, complementing O’Donnell’s vision to keep fans hooked, whether it’s Chicagoland’s oval or a street course swap.