JOLIET, Ill. (WLS) — NASCAR will return to the Chicagoland Speedway for the 2026 Fourth of July weekend.
The announcement was made on Wednesday. The NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and ARCA Menards Series will be in Joliet next year.
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NASCAR owns the thousand-acre property a few miles south of downtown Joliet, but it’s been six years since they raced there. Joliet officials are excited to welcome them back next summer.
“This is a fantastic homecoming for Joliet and the entire region,” Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy said.
Drivers start a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Sunday, June 30, 2019.
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
NASCAR last competed at the Chicagoland Speedway in 2019, before the pandemic shut down operations.
It was one of the highlights of summer for Joliet for a number of years. NASCAR would bring 100,000 fans and huge television exposure to the town for race weekend.
Since they last raced there in 2019, Joliet officials say they have been working behind the scenes to convince them to come back.
“They wanted to get back here,” Mayor D’Arcy said. “It’s a great area, great venue, and I’m sure they’ll bring big crowds.”
The track, which NASCAR owns, has seating for 47,000 fans in the grandstand and tens of thousands more in the infield and surrounding the track with campsites.
“We want to find a way, even though we’re not going to be in downtown Chicago, to bring a lot of those fans, and a lot of to your point, a lot of new consumers that have never had a chance to experience NASCAR before and bring them out to Joliet next year in 2026,” NASCAR Executive VP Bob Kennedy said.
The dates of the races in Joliet are the same weekend NASCAR has run the street race in downtown Chicago for the last three years.
The ARCA Menards Series Race will be on Friday, July 3. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event will be on Saturday, July 4. The Cup Series race will be on Sunday, July 5.
Chicago’s first ever NASCAR street race was hosted in 2023. Last month, the company announced it would not return to downtown Chicago for 2026, but plan to return in 2027.
NASCAR said it needed “to explore a new potential race date… and to develop a plan that further optimizes operational efficiencies,” saying its “goal is for the Chicago Street Race to return in 2027.”
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Joliet Mayor D’Arcy says he’s a NASCAR fan and attended the Joliet races when they were here.
“This really is gonna be perfect timing to have the race come back here,” D’Arcy said.
The mayor says the 2026 race will coincide with the opening of a new $20 million Joliet City Square downtown, which will also bring new restaurants to town.
Next summer, Joliet will also take part in national celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Route 66. It should bring a lot of visitors to town. filling up the hotels and restaurants.
“It really fills up our town,” D’Arcy said. “We have so much fun, and it’s a great economic development for the community.”
NASCAR’s commitment to Joliet is for one year at this point, but the mayor here says he’s hoping it’s the first of many more years.
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