NASCAR Chicago Street Race Will 'Pause' In 2026 With Hopes Of 2027 Return

There's been a lot of talk lately about the NASCAR Cup Series having too many road and street races, and it looks like there could be one less on the schedule next season as the organizers of the Chicago street race — the Grant Park 165 — have announced that the event will not take place in 2026.

The event organizers posted a statement on social media announcing the decision; however, they expressed hopes that NASCAR's first street race could return as soon as 2027.

"Thank you for all that you have done to make the NASCAR Chicago Street Race one of the most iconic events in global sports," the statement reads.

"Following the success of the first three years, the Chicago Street Race will hit pause in 2026 to afford us the time necessary to work collaboratively with the City of Chicago to explore a new potential date and to develop a plan that further optimizes operational efficiencies, with a goal to return to the streets of Chicago in 2027."

Man, I'm not going to lie, I'm bummed out by this.

I like road and street racing and think the Next Gen car works pretty well for this on the right circuits (the full COTA layout that F1 uses ain't it, for example). I know not everyone digs them, but I thought that this was a pretty cool "spectacle" event for NASCAR, but maybe street racing isn't part of the plans for the series moving forward.

The race debuted in 2023 with the inaugural running being won by then-NASCAR newbie Shane van Gisbergen in what is easily the biggest gambling L of my entire life. The second I heard he was going to be in that race, and most people still had no clue who he was, I was like, "Watch out for van Gisbergen, because his Supercars experience will give him an edge," and I was right.

Had I listened to myself bet on him to win at that time, I could've made some serious scratch. But, alas, I did not.

I'm a dope.

Van Gisbergen won this year's race in Chicago as well, while Alex Bowman won in 2024.

It'll be interesting to see what NASCAR decides to slot into that first weekend in July, though it should be noted that before the street race announced it wasn't happening in 2026, there were rumblings of a NASCAR return to Chicagoland Raceway.