June 30, 2019 - Joliet, Illinois , USA: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams take to the track for the Camping World 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois .
June 30, 2019 - Joliet, Illinois , USA: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams take to the track for the Camping World 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois .
When NASCAR returns to Chicagoland on the 4th of July, fans can expect an exciting race that will remind them of racing conditions at another favourite track: the Auto Club Speedway in California.
Having been off the calendar for 7 years, the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, just witnessed three NASCAR drivers and two Auto Parts Series drivers take to the track for Goodyear’s tire test.
Denny Hamlin in the JGR Toyota was accompanied by Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and HMS’s Kyle Larson. The three title contenders were the first cars on the track since the last race in 2019. And that test has drawn parallels with the Auto Club Speedway.
Fontana was a track that aged, making it high on tire degradation, providing exciting racing both on strategy and the close finishes at the end. NASCAR has tried to replicate those racing conditions in Chicagoland, and from its first look, the feedback is good.
Brad Moran, NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director, expressed that both officials and teams are excited to race with the track being well-worn.
”It’s still a little early on, but the track is in good condition. I talked to quite a few teams about it, and everybody’s excited about the surface.”
Moran said that while a lot depended on the tires Goodyear chooses, “We’re almost expecting like an Auto Club-type race on a worn-out surface, If we get anything close to that, Auto Club, towards its end, put out some great racing,” added Moran.
Blaney and Larson Share Similar Excitement
Post testing, Larson said, “It’s just cool. It’s really fast. A lot faster pace than what I remember the old car being here…. It’ll be hot when we come back, so the pace should slow down.”
He found it tricky to find the correct lanes, saying you can run all three. “It’s pretty sketchy. Just trying to find lanes that you think your car can maybe go through will be beneficial.”
Ryan Blaney said, “I thought the surface was at a really good point of like, very well aged, to where we’re going to use the whole track.” He added further, “Tire falloff is going to be pretty big, especially when we come back in the summer.
Blaney said that he remembers some really good races and also said that he was hurt when Chicagoland was taken off the calendar.
You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!
Written by
Debrup Chaudhuri
Edited by
Siddharth Shirwadkar