For the past three years, Columbia students have turned the roar of NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race into a runway, developed a mobile app and activity book and helped bring the sounds of the race to local fans. But with NASCAR pulling the Chicago race from its 2026 schedule, the future of these student collaborations is now uncertain.

 

NASCAR announced this week that the race will move to Naval Base Coronado in San Diego next summer. Just days earlier, NASCAR said it would “hit pause” on the Chicago race in 2026, with plans to work with the city to “explore a new potential date,” aiming for a possible return in 2027. 

 

“This event was designed to not only bring our sport to new places for the first time, but to also support the city by celebrating the best of Chicago on a global stage.” Julie Giese, the Chicago Street Race president, said in a statement. “We’re proud to have done just that in our first three years and look forward to the next chapter of racing.”

 

The race, which transformed Grant Park into a high-speed circuit each July for the past three years, has served as a learning lab for Columbia’s fashion, user experience, graphic design, programming, audio arts and journalism students. 

 

This year, School of Fashion students hosted a post-race pop-up runway show. Students used recycled materials supplied by NASCAR to create their runway looks. Judges awarded prizes from $500 to $1500 to the winning students.

 

Alum Aaron Nelson, who graduated in 2012 with bachelor’s in arts management, sang the National Anthem at the NASCAR street race this year.

 

With a front row seat, the college also hosted a viewing party each year to watch the cars race by on South Michigan Avenue, which was part of the 2.2 mile, 12-turn course primarily around Grant Park.

 

In the past, students also created family-friendly interactive digital activities and a print publication, as the Chronicle previously reported. Journalism and photojournalism students had the chance to build portfolios with live event coverage of a unique sporting event in the city, opportunities that will now move out of reach unless the race returns. 

 

Areanna Whittington, who graduated in May 2025 with a bachelor’s in interaction design, worked on the audio played during the 2023 Chicago Street Race with other students, faculty and alumni. Whittington said the opportunity gave her insights she wouldn’t have learned in the classroom.

 

“That experience made me feel genuinely prepared for the professional world and gave me a major confidence boost,” Whittington said. “It also gave my teammate and me a clear advantage, both in skill development and portfolio strength.

 

Jo-Nell Sieren, assistant professor of instruction in the School of Design, was part of NASCAR collaborations for two years, first through two classes she taught in the former Interactive Arts and Media department, and this year as Agency Columbia director.

 

“It’s an exciting time,” Sieren told the Chronicle in an email. “I’ve seen other programs like fashion and advertising, where faculty are actively building strong relationships and creating unique opportunities for students to collaborate with clients.”

 

Columbia’s relationship with NASCAR Chicago was mutually beneficial as NASCAR opened many opportunities for students in the UX/UI Design program, which held “several meetings with the NASCAR Chicago team for review and feedback at every stage. The students pitched concepts aimed at creating interactive, family-friendly activities,” Sieren said 

 

The collaboration between the School of Fashion and NASCAR began after Colbey Reid, director of the School of Fashion, met Giese at the college’s annual GALA in 2024. 

 

Giese shared her vision of connecting NASCAR with fashion, and students in the spring “Fashion Lab Practicum” helped shape the concept and explore how the two industries could intersect.

 

Reid said working with NASCAR as a client brought excitement to students.

 

“Students kept saying, ‘we’re having such a good time,’” she said in an email to the Chronicle. “That is what stood out — students happy to be working on their creative practices in the middle of the summer, just for the thrill of it.” 

 

The project not only allowed students to think outside the box about fashion’s connection to sports, but also offered hands-on collaboration with photography students, who gave the pop-up show a “paparazzi” energy, she added.

 

“Everywhere the models and designers went, they had a paparazzi! This was everything for creating a hip, buzzy, slightly kitschy vibe at a structurally low-fi pop-up fashion show,” Reid said.

 

Additional reporting from Kate Larroder.

 

Copy edited by Vanessa Orozco