When then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot was pitching a downtown stock car race to a skeptical City Council last summer, she predicted it would be a huge hit with the public. “The level of excitement that I have seen from people, who frankly were closeted NASCAR fans, all across our city, I think is off the charts,” she said.
Lightfoot got more than a few things wrong while in office, but she may have called this one right. Even if many city and suburban residents have no plans to attend NASCAR’s first-ever street race, our research shows that most agree that Chicago will benefit from it.
While the city was erecting grandstands and barricades
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in and around Grant Park for this weekend’s spectacle, we polled a representative sample of city and suburban residents about the race as well as Chicago’s tradition of hosting large-scale outdoor events in the Loop.Here’s what Chicagoans and suburban Cook County residents said.
Overall, people are equally split on shutting down Grant Park and parts of DuSable Lake Shore Drive to create the 2.2-mile race circuit. Four in 10 approve, and 4 in 10 oppose, with the remainder saying they have no opinion. Approval rises to 45% among people 18 to 34 years old, while opposition increases to 46% among people 55 and older.
Fewer people are OK that City Hall rescheduled events such as Taste of Chicago to accommodate the racecourse over the Fourth of July holiday. Only a third approve the city’s decision to reschedule or relocate other events. Support drops to 1 in 4 among 35- to 54-years-olds.
While 70% say they have little inclination to attend the race — ticket prices, which range from $269 to more than $4,000 for the big race on Sunday, may be a factor — more than half of people 18 to 34 and 4 in 10 people of color are interested. Also, for a third of people and almost half of those 55 and up, NASCAR itself doesn’t appear to be the turnoff — they say they don’t like to attend summer festivals or events in Chicago.
Large majorities think NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race will be good for the city. Three in 4 say it will positively affect tourism, and two-thirds think it will also help Chicago attract other major sporting events. While a logistical headache for residents, the real value to the city may rest with the visitors the race attracts.
We won’t know, of course, whether turning the city’s front yard into a racetrack was worth it until the cars and drivers have left Chicago for their next event.
On one hand, two days of national TV coverage showing the Loop skyline and the lakefront in their summer splendor could go a long way toward getting tourists to set aside crime concerns and vacation here. Televised violence or mayhem, on the other hand, would only reinforce perceptions that Chicago is too dangerous.
Regardless, the event is proving that, despite widespread worry about public safety among people who live and work here, the city remains a magnet for out-of-towners. As Julie Giese, president of the Chicago Street Race, told the Tribune last month, almost 40% of tickets have been purchased outside the Chicago area, with sales in 48 states and 12 countries. Critically, this means the event could generate new revenue rather than just diverting dollars Chicagoans would have spent anyway on other diversions. Altogether, NASCAR has forecast that 100,000 spectators will fill Grant Park over the weekend.
And that means money for the city. NASCAR is paying a $500,000 permit fee and giving the city a cut of ticket receipts and sales of food, beverages and merchandise at the track. Based on projected attendance, Chicago and other governments could also receive nearly $9 million in sales and hotel taxes.
As anyone who’s lived here for a while knows, Chicago seems to be one long outdoor festival from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Almost half of city and suburban residents alike groused in our poll that they’re too disruptive to be worthwhile, but 4 in 5 told us that summertime events such as Taste of Chicago and Lollapalooza set Chicago apart from other cities, with 9 in 10 saying these events are an important part of Chicago’s culture.
For the next two years, this nonstop party will include NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race. Here’s a way for Mayor Brandon Johnson to one-up his predecessor: Bring back Taylor Swift. The nearly 200,000 people who filled Soldier Field for her three sold-out shows helped Chicago hotels set an all-time record in booked rooms and revenue. And no one complained about street closures or noise.
Swifties, what do you think?
Will Johnson is the Chicago-based CEO of The Harris Poll, a global public opinion, market research and strategy firm. The referenced survey was conducted online from June 13 to 21 and involved 1,001 Cook County residents age 18 and older.
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