NASCAR has named a veteran racing executive to oversee its first-ever street race in Chicago as it gears up for a Lollapalooza-like festival at Grant Park for next July Fourth weekend.
A separate sports car race is scheduled for July 1, and NASCAR plans to host a concert after both races to create a festival experience similar to other events held at Grant Park, such as Lollapalooza. But Giese acknowledges the Chicago Street Race Weekend is unlike anything NASCAR, or the city, has seen.
The proposed course will start on Columbus Drive in front of Buckingham Fountain, an area that will also serve as the pit road. From there, drivers will go south to Balbo Drive and then jog east toward Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Heading south along the lake, drivers will turn west on Roosevelt Road, working back north on Columbus Drive in a rough figure eight that will take in a piece of South Michigan Avenue before reaching the start/finish line.
Giese, who grew up on a family dairy farm in central Wisconsin, will be relocating to Chicago later this year from Arizona, where she led the $178 million modernization of Phoenix Raceway. The 21-year NASCAR veteran was previously at Daytona International Speedway in Florida, where she was involved in the $400 million redevelopment of that racetrack.
F1 or bust.