CHICAGO — During the runup to NASCAR’s first street race in downtown Chicago, Julie Giese walked through the site twice a day.
While making sure everything was on schedule, she also tried to carry along the moment.
“There’s a lot of moving parts and pieces, and it’s easy to get lost and caught up in all of that,” said Giese, a longtime racing fan who was appointed track president for NASCAR’s daring Chicago venture last August. “But what we need to remember is ultimately we’re putting on something that is the first time that this sport has ever done. And that’s incredibly special.”
The historic moment arrives this weekend, when NASCAR holds a Cup Series street race for the first time as part of its 75th season. The second-tier Xfinity Series will run the The Loop 121 on Saturday, and the top circuit takes over for the Grant Park 220 on Sunday.
It was quite an adventure to get to this point, especially when it comes to setting up for the event in the heart of a busy city in a relatively short period of time, which caused some headaches for commuters and tourists with road closures and parking restrictions in the area.