Where Did the Chicago Street Course Succeed in NASCAR, Compared to the Growing Pains of the Las Vegas Street Circuit?

The 2023 season has been one of a few firsts in the motorsport scene. NASCAR played host to its first street race in its 75-year history. Meanwhile, Formula One is paying a visit to the Las Vegas Street Circuit for the very first time in 40 years. Admittedly, Formula One is no stranger to street tracks, with the likes of Monte Carlo, Marina Bay, Baku and so many more having a place in the calendar. The latest ones to join the party are the Miami International Autodrome and the Las Vegas Street Circuit.

This past weekend, the Formula One paddock made landfall in Vegas. Looking at what initially happened during the weekend, it looked like a recipe for disaster. To recap, the event had onboarded a runaway hype train, and that train was gathering speed with each passing week. Meanwhile, in the stock car arena, NASCAR’s first-ever street race was also gaining a fair amount of hype and excitement.

What are the challenges with street circuits?

Street races are self-explanatory. Instead of permanent race tracks, local authorities construct temporary tracks within city limits. One of the biggest issues here is that the cars are very loud, and most non-motorsport fans don’t appreciate the screaming V6s and V8s. Additionally, since these circuits are constructed in the city itself, some roads need to be closed, which is inconvenient. Naturally, whenever a new street race is announced, there are legal hurdles, which include appeasing local residents.

Earlier this year, the Chicago Street Course was under threat because of concerns from the locals. In the end, as the date of the race drew closer, trepidation increased until the race finally kicked off. What complicated matters even further, was that the race was held on a damp track, that saw the event shortened by 25 laps. However, the entire weekend was relatively glitch-free, and the drivers were reasonably happy.

It is kind of strange that NASCAR managed to host its first street race successfully with minimal fuss. Meanwhile, Formula One has been doing it for decades, and yet managed to fail at the basics initially. Now, it isn’t to say that the Chicago race was smooth sailing either. Aside from the residential concerns, a few drivers aired their worries about the race track as well. Kyle Busch confessed that when he drove around the track on iRacing, he was apprehensive of some corners, which he felt were really tight.

Busch told Autoweek, “You’re coming down this straightaway and there’s another straightaway there, but the ground, the road is separated with a wall in the middle and there’s cones that are blocking off where they don’t want you to go, so I thought that was weird. I’m like, just extend the wall, but maybe they don’t want to extend the wall because they need areas for safety crews to get out. I’m not the scientist on that. It just seemed weird when you’re coming around the corner and you’ve got to miss the end of a wall.”

Other than that though, many drivers had positive things to say about the street course.

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Where did it all go wrong for Formula One?

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When Formula One reached Las Vegas, the hype was through the roof. However, there were some major red flags in the buildup to the grandiose event. Firstly, during the construction phase, there were attempts to obstruct the view of people who had not paid for tickets. Later, it transpired that the tickets themselves were quite expensive. Then came Friday practice, and the nails to the coffin kept on coming.

The opening practice was halted after just eight minutes, due to a manhole cover that was not welded properly. As it happened, Carlos Sainz was the unlucky driver to test that theory, and so did Esteban Ocon. Owing to that, the first practice session was canceled while FIA officials inspected the entire track to ensure that there was not a repeat of the same. This also meant that the second practice session had to be delayed for a while. On the bright side, it did allow Scuderia Ferrari enough time to repair Sainz Jr’s car.

As if things could not get any worse, the second practice session kicked off at 2:30 AM local time. Furthermore, all the spectators were shooed out of the grandstands and fan areas for the second session, citing a 1:30 AM curfew. In essence, the F1 drivers drove in front of empty grandstands, and it looked like a scene out of the COVID-era races.

The second practice session also lasted for 90 minutes, so by the time it ended, it was almost 4:00 AM. What annoyed the fans was the fact that they were compensated with $200 vouchers to use in the F1 stores. Their fury is understandable because they effectively lost a full day’s worth of F1 racing, and only got $200 vouchers for their troubles.

What issues did the NASCAR race in Chicago face?

Austin Cindric highlighted the lack of run-off area on the street circuit. The 2022 Daytona 500 race winner cited the example of the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. Over there, there is plenty of run-off for the drivers to correct any mistakes. Unfortunately, a street track does not afford such a luxury, as the proximity of barriers is much closer. Of course, many drivers found this out the hard way when they wrecked in practice and qualifying.

Of course, massive projects like this require significant funding. As it happens, NASCAR spent over $50 million on the Chicago Street Course project. According to reports, part of those funds went to significant course infrastructure, including repaving some areas and welding down manhole covers.

While there were still some complications, like the weather, one can argue that it only made the race more exciting. Fortunately, after the first-day debacle, Formula 1 too had a smooth FP3, Qualifying, and arguably a great race.

While the Monégasque, Charles Leclerc, took pole for the race, it was the Dutch Lion, Max Verstappen, who got his elbows out during the Grand Prix and conquered the day. Although the Ferrari driver couldn’t win the first Las Vegas race, he still managed to be the driver of the day for most probably the stunning move he made on Sergio Perez on the last lap to take P2 away from the Mexican. Which among the two was the better and more exciting race for you?

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