While the NASCAR nation is gearing up and ready to head to Chicago for the much-awaited Grant Park 200, NASCAR’s first-ever street course venture is certain to test even the best of the best. And drivers have expressed their concerns and skepticism about NASCAR’s $50-million-worth grand event. Recently, the Ally 400 winner Ross Chastain shared his thoughts about the street course and its hidden dangers lurking in the shadows, almost siding with his bitter rival Kyle Busch.

Moreover, after Team Penske‘s Ryan Blaney got a feel of what it feels like to hit a concrete barrier head-first last week in Nashville, Blaney puts across the daunting task of adapting to a fresh street course in simple terms, saying, “It’s going to be a tough weekend.”

Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney get real about Chicago, exposing the dangers of the tight 12-turn street course

With just hours left for the much-awaited street race at Chicago, NASCAR nation is steaming towards NASCAR’s first-ever street course in its glorious 75 years of high-octane racing. The drivers are about to take on the 12-turn 2.14 miles of narrow city lanes and are all zoned in for Sunday’s race as even the slightest miscalculation can have deadly consequences.

According to NBC’s Dustin Long, the Trackhouse Racing Team star, who is riding the hype following his clinical performance at Nashville, also chimed in, “The moment that I break traction, I am not going to wonder if I am going to hit the wall for very long, because the wall is right there,” reflecting on the narrow lanes of the course.

While Chastain revealed his mindset going into the race, saying, “So, that has been the biggest thing mentally is trying to balance aggression for lap time and (the) penalty of overstepping that aggression and hitting the wall.”

This year’s Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney, who just got off a horrific crash underlined, “It’s going to be a tough weekend.”

The #12 Ford driver added, “The only thing I would like to see different is some runoffs in those 90-degree corners, if you overshoot one you have a kind of a bailout place. So I think you’ll see guys kind of hesitate at some of those corners to begin with, but once you get more confident in it, you’ll be going pretty good.” 

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Last week, Kyle Busch opened up about the deadly risks the tight and narrow track possesses. While Busch casually called it a “tight spot,” the veteran is indeed aware of the dangers and risks the course has on offer, as he said, “Survival…it’s going to be a survival race.”

“Bad boy” Busch details about the dangers lurking in the shadows while Chase Elliott mentions it as “rough”

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As NASCAR is embracing its first-ever street race along with its younger fanbase, drivers certainly got to adapt to the slippery, tight lanes of Grant Park to go down in history as the first to conquer NASCAR’s maiden street course. Though this is indeed a great opportunity for the sport to showcase its adaptability, drivers on the other hand will have a limited 50-minute window to practice, get a feel of the course for the first time, and adapt before the qualifying race.

Speaking to the media last week, 2-time Cup champ Kyle Busch details the dangers of the course. He said, “It’s really rough. It’s bumpy. It’s slippery. There’s some corners that are very challenging.. some blind ones at that.” Busch later on methodically dissected the course, exposing the narrow lanes and flowing corners.

“When you’re going around the Bean on the left-hander, that’s really, really slippery and there’s a huge bump going through (turn) nine before you get into (turn) 10. The wall in (turn) eight, before you go around the left-hander, is, to me, really narrow over there,” said the 39-year-old. 

WATCH THIS STORY: Kyle Busch dissects every flaw in NASCAR’s big venture coming next week 

While Elliott, widely acclaimed for his talent on road courses, did not shy away from expressing his honest thoughts. He said, “It’s going to be different. From my understanding, the surface is pretty rough. A lot of 90-degree corners. I’m sure it’s going to be very hot. All those things certainly are a factor, but we’ll dive in next week and go to work.”

With just hours to go for the race, drivers certainly need to be on the edge at all times to even have a shot for the top sport. Especially for Elliott who is yet to have his first win of the season while Busch is eyeing his 4th win.