NASCAR: Series eyes more street races

–by Mark Cipolloni–

NASCAR is already holding talks with other cities about possible new street races, NASCAR Senior VP Ben Kennedy told Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal.

“By no means does that mean that we’re going to add a bunch of street races to the schedule, but having a couple on the schedule each year is something we’re thinking about.”

What does this mean for IndyCar that prides itself in doing street races?

Could NASCAR take over the streets of Long Beach for example?

NASCAR still planning for three year deal on Chicago Street Course

Where does NASCAR go from here? Theoretically, it should be back to Chicago next summer — as the sanctioning body originally struck a deal with the city to hold this race for three years.

The political environment in Chicago, where a new mayor was recently elected, has made it less than fully clear whether Chicago intends to stick with the original plan. But for his part, [NASCAR SVP/Racing Development & Strategy Ben] Kennedy said that NASCAR is preparing to return next year and that intends to see out the contract. He said, “Our plan right now is to continue to plan for an event next year and commit to the three-year term. That was kind of our plan from the start. We’ll have a number of learnings coming out of this and will huddle (with city leaders) shortly afterward, but everything we’ve been thinking about so far is to stay on that length.”

Still, despite the plan to return to Chicago for the coming years, NASCAR is already having conversations with other cities domestically and internationally about bringing a street race there, Kennedy confirmed. He said some of the interest has been inbound. Kennedy: “I always appreciate when people reach out with new ideas.”  Sports Business Journal