LOS ANGELES – Julie Giese, president of the Chicago Street Course, is at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum for this week’s Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum – open to picking up any tips for NASCAR’s first summer street race also on a temporary circuit as with The Clash this Sunday, February 5 (8 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“Definitely going to apply “best practices” to Chicago,” Giese said, offering a smile.
She reports that all work is moving forward in Chicago – where the race has official office space now – in preparation for the downtown event. The 2.2-mile racecourse will run around famed Grant Park alongside Lake Michigan.
The event is being promoted as a two-day music and racing festival with major music acts – The Chainsmokers, Miranda Lambert, The Black Crowes and Charley Crockett – performing full concerts during the race weekend in addition to the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on July 1 followed by the NASCAR Cup Series on July 2.
Giese said the logistics schedule for the months leading up to the race is up-to-date and on point. The efforts for this first-of-a-kind event also include educating the community, working with city leaders and making sure the entire Chicago area knows “what [the race] will look like” in its first-ever edition.
Giese was integral in leading the “Daytona RISING” re-imagination of the sport’s most famous venue Daytona International Speedway in 2016 and served as president of Phoenix Raceway which was renovated and remodeled in 2018.
She said the Chicago community has been helpful and enthusiastic.
“There is a tremendous amount of excitement and it’s been really fun,” Giese said. “It’s a big city but the outreach every day, I’ve met with people who tell me so-and-so wants to be a part of this. The networking has been tremendous.
“The more you talk to people and the more you help them understand what we’re going to do and what it means for the city of Chicago with $113 million dollars of economic impact, it gets them excited. It’s going to be very cool. It’s going to be a very special moment for the city of Chicago.”
Source: Holly Cain | NASCAR Wire Service
