Monday, Mayor Brandon Johnson wouldn’t say what would happen with the NASCAR Chicago Street Race. The race didn’t draw many people, and some people were upset that hundreds of police officers were sent to Grant Park during a historically dangerous holiday weekend.
At a news gathering at the headquarters of the Chicago Police Department, the mayor spoke out against the fact that over 100 people were shot in the city over the Fourth of July weekend. But Johnson and Larry Snelling, the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, weren’t sure if they would move the NASCAR event to a different weekend. Johnson instead blamed Lori Lightfoot, who was his predecessor, for the event’s time.
“It’s clear that those dates were passed down to us.” “We will keep looking at how this NASCAR weekend can best help the people of Chicago,” Johnson told reporters. “However, no choice has been made about which weekend is best because, let me put it this way: our job is to make sure that every weekend in Chicago is as safe as possible, whether it’s a holiday weekend or a weekend for someone celebrating their wedding anniversary.”
Lightfoot got a three-year deal for a NASCAR street race to happen every year in Chicago, but she lost her reelection bid before the first race on July 4 of last year. But this summer, the Johnson administration chose to keep things the same instead of changing the race for the second year in a row.
The mayor’s growing support for the race—he even showed up to it dressed as a race car driver—shows that he is trying to balance the needs of downtown businesses with his promise to help neighborhoods that don’t have many rights. It might be a good idea to support a big event like the one that brought good press to Chicago last year, when pictures of the skyline were praised for their beauty.
He’s in a tough spot, though. Progressives who don’t like Lightfoot and are a big part of Johnson’s base were very against the race idea when it was first announced. And a study on last year’s NASCAR race showed that it didn’t do nearly as well for the economy as was hoped.
Snelling also talked about NASCAR at the news conference on Monday. He said that a lot fewer police officers were pulled away from the areas to work at the event in and around Grant Park this July than they were last time.
The top cop said, “We had a lot fewer officers at that event this year.” “We know that there was enough security for that event that we didn’t need as many officers.” That was able to be cut back this year, and it will stay that way.
When asked for numbers or estimates to back up that claim, Thomas Ahern, a spokesman for the Chicago police, said, “We do not disclose the number of officers deployed for any events or operations.” When the Tribune showed him a summary of a conversation between former CPD Superintendent David Brown and Ald. Brendan Reilly, in which Brown did say how many cops he planned to send to NASCAR in 2023, Ahern said he would get back to them later.
Reilly, 42nd, asked Brown at a budget hearing for the Police Department in 2022 how many cops were sent to the Lollapalooza music festival that summer. Brown replied, “A little over 800,” and then said it was “quite possible” that the same number of cops would be sent to the NASCAR race.
Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, said he thought the big event downtown didn’t do enough for his Southwest Side ward.
Lopez, who often says bad things about Johnson, told the Tribune in a statement, “Big events are great, but they come and go.” “Chicagoans stay.” This government would be smart to keep that in mind.
Ald. Lamont Robinson, whose 4th Ward includes parts of Grant Park, said that cops are already busy on July 4, so the city should think again about when NASCAR is coming to town.
He said, “I do think we should start over with the weekend.” “That holiday puts a lot of stress on CPD.”
One thing that hasn’t been answered is when and if NASCAR will pay the city back the $2 million that was used to pay for extra public safety and roadwork. The Johnson administration got that promised payment in what looks like a deal done over a handshake, since the administration said it doesn’t have any records of a written agreement.
The Tribune says that the city got $620,000 for the $3.5 million it spent to host the race last year.
Johnson was asked if he was sure that NASCAR would pay the city what it was due. He said, “That’s my comptroller’s job.” I don’t just pick up checks from people all over the city. That’s something our accountant does really well. When it comes to the general economic benefit, we’ll be looking into it again, and then we’ll make a decision.
NASCAR has to pay the city a flat $2 million and also send $550,000 to the Chicago Park District 90 days before the event. They also have to pay the agency $2 for each ticket sold and 20% of all net sales of food, drinks, and souvenirs.
The contract that the Lightfoot administration made ends in 2025, and the NASCAR race is now set to happen again over the Fourth of July weekend. The Park District will have to pay an extra $605,000. Also, they will get a 25% cut of all sales from restaurants. But either party can back out of the deal “for convenience” with at least 180 days’ notice, and NASCAR has 90 days’ notice as well.
Inside 90 days of the end of next year’s race, NASCAR can also ask to extend the deal for two more years, until 2027.
NASCAR paid the Chicago Park District $620,000 for the 2023 race. This included a base fee of $500,000 to turn the streets around Grant Park into a 2.2-mile course and a cut of ticket, food, drink, and merchandise sales worth $120,000. In addition, NASCAR said it paid the city and county $1.8 million in entertainment taxes for the tickets that were sold.
NASCAR saw the weekend as more of a festival than just a race, with bands and shows. Most of it went off without a hitch. The sunny, warm weather leading up to Sunday was a good sign, and the thought of the rain that delayed the race last year wasn’t really a worry. After that, it started to rain again.
By the time Alex Bowman’s purple Chevrolet crossed the finish line, most of the seats were empty. Huge crowds left Grant Park as the racing stopped for almost two hours because of rain, taking with them a lot of the event’s excitement.
As the day went on, race managers had to cut the race short.
Also, Ald. Pat Dowell, Third, said she was going to leave early. She did say that this year’s event was “much better organized,” though. She said that fewer roads were closed, the city got more money for police overtime, and companies run by minorities were given a lot of help.
Dowell’s ward on the Near South Side includes parts of Grant Park. She said that this year, she didn’t hear many comments from people about the race. A poll she did after the first race last year showed that her voters liked the event but wanted it to happen on a different weekend. This is something she might try to change.
She said she hasn’t decided yet if she thinks the race should happen again next year. She said she wants to see the business reports first before making a choice. But she saw people happy and thought the event made people feel “good about Chicago.”
She said, “It looked like people were having fun and spending money.” “I just want to know how the city did.”
