Chicagoland Speedway
is a speedway in Joliet, Illinois, USA, southwest of Chicago. The speedway is actually located several miles south of Joliet proper, just off Illinois Route 53 between Joliet and Wilmington, Illinois. It currently has a capacity of 75,000 people. Since its inaugural season in 2001, the Chicagoland Speedway has become an unexpected and significant draw for major NASCAR and IRL events, often selling out major races months in advance.
The speedway itself is known to be one of NASCAR's infamous "cookie cutter" speedways, due to the fact that it resembles many other 1.5 mile downforce racetracks that resemble a D-shape in the NASCAR racing series. Although it may have the stigma of being a "cookie cutter" D-shaped oval, Chicagoland is unique in that it is one continuous curve, as the backstretch has a noticeable bend to it.
Chicagoland hosts the September finale of the IndyCar Series, the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300, as well as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (LifeLock.com 400) and Nationwide Series (Dollar General 300) races once a year in July.
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CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY TICKETS
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History
From 1999 through 2000, the Chicagoland Speedway was built adjacent to the older
Route 66 Raceway.
In 2001, Chicagoland hosted their inaugural events, with
NASCAR's Busch (Now Nationwide Series) and
Winston Cup (Which then became NEXTEL Cup Series and now Sprint Cup Series),
ARCA RE/MAX Series, and
IRL IndyCar Series races making up the initial schedule. These series continue to run at Chicagoland Speedway annually through 2007.
On
September 11,
2005,
Ryan Briscoe was involved in an enormous crash at Chicagoland Speedway, breaking both clavicles among other injuries. He was released from the hospital on September 19 and following some initial treatment in the USA, moved to the specialist Formula Medicine facility in Viareggio, Italy, for the bulk of his rehabilitation. It took 8 weeks for Briscoe to recover from the injuries he sustained in the crash. His official web site announced his return to the USA on November 14, 2005. Following the incident Ryan was nicknamed "Briscoe Inferno"
On
September 25,
2007, speedway officials announced the installation of lights for the
2008 season. With this new addition to the 1.5-mile, D-shaped oval, Chicagoland Speedway will become only the tenth Sprint Cup facility (five each with Speedway Motorsports and ISC tracks) able to hold night racing. The NASCAR race weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in 2008 will feature two night races - the Nationwide Series race on Friday, July 11, followed by the Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday, July 12.
On
September 9,
2007,
Logan Gomez won his first career
Indy Pro Series (now Firestone Indy Lights) race by only .0005 seconds, or three inches over that year's champion
Alex Lloyd. This was officially recorded by
Guinness World Records as the closest finish in professional motor racing history.
On July 11th, 2008, Chicagoland Speedway held its very first night race, the Nationwide Series' Dollar General 300, which was won by Kyle Busch. The next day, July 12th, the Sprint Cup Series raced under the lights in the Lifelock.com 400, which was also won by Kyle Busch, making him the only driver to win the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races in the same weekend, as well as being the first and only driver so far to win under the lights at Chicagoland Speedway.
Current races
- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - LifeLock.com 400
- NASCAR Nationwide Series - Dollar General 300
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series - Starting in 2009
- IRL IndyCar Series - Peak Antifreeze Indy 300
- IRL Firestone Indy Lights - SunRichGourmet.com 100
- ARCA Re/Max Series - Chicagoland ARCA 200
Records
IndyCar
| Type
| Distance
(miles / km)
| Date
| Driver
| Time
| Average Speed
(mph / km/h)
|
Qualifying
(1 lap)
| 1.500 / 2.414
| September 6, 2003
| Richie Hearn
| 0:00:24.521
| 223.159 / 359.140
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Race
(1 lap)
| 1.500 / 2.414
| September 8, 2002
| Buddy Rice
| 0:00:24.422
| 224.064 / 360.596
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Race
(200 laps)
| 300.000 / 482.803
| September 10, 2006
| Dan Wheldon
| 1:33:37.266
| 194.828 / 313.545
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Closest Finish
- September 7, 2008 - 0.0033 seconds [1] - Helio Castroneves over Scott Dixon (IRL Record)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
| Type
| Distance
(miles)
| Date
| Driver
| Time
| Average Speed
(mph)
|
Qualifying (Fastest Lap of 2)
| 1.5
| July 8, 2005
| Jimmie Johnson
| 0:00:28.701
| 188.147
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Race Record (Avg. Speed)
| 400
| July 14, 2002
| Kevin Harvick
| 2:55:37
| 136.832
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NASCAR Nationwide Series
| Type
| Distance
(miles)
| Date
| Driver
| Time
| Average Speed
(mph)
|
Qualifying (Fastest Lap of 2)
| 1.5
| July 8, 2005
| Ryan Newman
| 0:00:28.964
| 186.438
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Race Record (Avg. Speed)
| 300
| July 14, 2007
| Kevin Harvick
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| 135.611
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See also
- List of NASCAR race tracks