The NASCAR Chicago Street Race is still more than a week away, but Mother Nature is already burning up the track.
The heat dome that descended on Chicago last weekend with unrelenting 100-degree temperatures caused buckling pavement on stretches of the pop-up race course, forcing the city to close some streets ahead of schedule to repair the damage.
On Wednesday evening, the city shut down Balbo Drive from Columbus Drive to Michigan Avenue, which was originally scheduled to close Friday. It also closed Columbus from Jackson Drive to Roosevelt Road – five days ahead of schedule – to allow work crews to repair another pavement buckle.
The rest of the course is “holding up fine” and the street closings ahead of the July Fourth weekend race event will remain on schedule, a NASCAR spokesperson said Thursday.
Chicago is not alone in navigating this summer’s new road hazard. The oppressive heat and humidity, which have brought triple-digit temperatures across the Midwest and East Coast in recent weeks, have caused the pavement to buckle on roads in a number of states. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation, for example, reported 50 pavement buckles on highways across the state last weekend.
Likewise, the Illinois Department of Transportation posted an online warning Monday to “be on the lookout for pavement failures” on roads through the state because of the prolonged high temperatures.
Meanwhile, a video of a car going airborne in an Evel Knievel-jump over a heat-induced pavement buckle in Missouri went viral this week. That is certainly something NASCAR wants to avoid when its 200-mph race cars hit Chicago streets next week.
Chicago is set to host the third annual street race July 5-6 on a 12-turn, 2.2-mile course through Grant Park, down DuSable Lake Shore Drive and up Michigan Avenue.
This year, NASCAR has streamlined the buildout and reduced major street closings to 18 days, starting with the shutdown last week of Balbo from Columbus to DuSable Lake Shore Drive. All streets are scheduled to be reopened by July 14.
The July Fourth weekend event includes an Xfinity Series race on Saturday and a Cup Series race on Sunday, both of which will put Chicago on the national TV stage.
This year, the Xfinity Series Loop 110, which features mostly younger up-and-coming NASCAR drivers, will be broadcast Saturday, July 5 on the CW Network and local affiliate WGN-TV. The Grant Park 165 main event will air Sunday, July 6 on cable channel TNT.
In 2023, the inaugural Fourth of July weekend event navigated Canadian wildfire haze and record rainfall that curtailed races, canceled concerts and left fans soaked. While clear skies prevailed for last year’s Xfinity Series race, the Cup Series race was once again shortened when rain delays forced officials to call the race after 58 laps as darkness fell on the unlit street course.
What role the weather plays in this year’s race, besides the heat-buckling pavement, remains to be seen. July Fourth weekend forecasts call for a high temperature of 80 degrees and, of course, scattered thunderstorms on Saturday.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
