Dale Earnhardt Jr. was full of 2027 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule news this week. After revealing that he’s hearing that the Cup Series will return to Naval Base Coronado in 2027, Dale Jr. had another return to the schedule.
And a 2026 race that is not likely to return. That dubious distinction goes to the track of this weekend’s Cup race, Chicagoland Speedway.
“Chicagoland ought to be pretty badass,” said Earnhardt Jr. “I’m excited. I heard ticket sales aren’t going well.
“And I guess Chicago Street Course is coming back. So, I don’t know if Chicagoland stays.
“I’m nervous.”
Ticket sales were the same issue 7 years ago
NASCAR is returning to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend after a 7-year hiatus. Earnhardt Jr. bemoaned the fact but pointed to lagging ticket sales in today’s NASCAR economics.
“We haven’t even gotten it back yet. We already lost it. You know, [ticket sales is] probably why we stopped going.
“I mean, you can look at the races and go, ‘Hey, man, that’s awesome. Why did we stop going there?’ But, man, if it don’t sell tickets, if the land is more valuable, used as anything else.
“If the tickets aren’t selling. I mean, if it’s selling out, it would have never left.
“So that’s probably if it doesn’t stay on the calendar. That’s why.”
If it’s one-and-done, it’ll still be badass
Regardless of the future, Earnhardt Jr. is fired up for the challenge Chicagoland presents the Next Gen car. He’s expecting fireworks from the action on this July 4th weekend; nothing screams freedom like 670 horsepower on an old racing surface with the potential for drivers to ‘bust their ass.’
“And that’s tough because it’s what we should expect? It’s a badass racetrack. They’ll be racing from the apron to the wall. And it’s got some really nasty bumps and difficult things that are going to be really hard for the Next Gen car.
“Challenging for the Next Gen car. So I’m sure we’ll see some accidents or some guys busting their ass. Especially, there’s a tunnel bump in three and four that’s pretty bad.
I think it’ll be pretty badass. I’m looking forward to it.”
Qualifying for Sunday’s race, eero 400, will get underway on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET and be televised on TruTV. The race will be Sunday at 6:00 p.m. ET on TNT.
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