Summer street races bring more inconvenience than excitement

This summer, the busy streets of downtown Chicago will be packed with racing cars and cheering crowds, bringing both excitement and disruption to many students. Students say the unique NASCAR street races on July 1-2 around Grant Park in downtown Chicago will be inconvenient as starting June 25, major streets like Columbus Drive, Michigan Avenue and DuSable Lake Shore Drive will be closed to prepare for the races.

The ​​International Motor Sports Association will race on July 1 and the NASCAR Cup Series race will occur on July 2. 

People commuting on July Fourth weekend will be negatively affected by the street closures, and those who live near Grant Park are also upset, including sophomore Marko Nagel, who lives in the South Loop.

Marko thinks the races are a great way to bring people to the city but put those who already live there in a tough situation.

“If I want to get anywhere now, I’m going to have to walk outside of my area before I can drive anywhere,” Marko said.

The streets around Marko’s building will be closed, filled with race cars and fans who have bought tickets to the races.

With a two-day general admission cost starting at $261, students who plan to watch the race will most likely be watching online or from a building nearby.   

Sophomore Sofia Picciola, a Kenwood resident, is also unhappy with the inconvenience that the races will cause, but she will be watching the race with her grandpa on a friend’s balcony that overlooks the downtown course.

“I really want to spend time with my grandpa doing something that he’s interested in as well,” Sofia said.

While she will enjoy watching the race without facing the disruption of living nearby, Sofia is not looking forward to the difficult commute.

“It’s going to be really difficult to get in town, and I don’t know too much about how it will affect traffic, but it’s definitely an inconvenience,” Sofia said.

Like many students, Sofia recognizes both the pros and cons of this new NASCAR event.

“One of the pros is that it’s cool to have a race car event in Chicago on a street that we drive on, and the con is that it’s really bad for traffic and messes up the entire flow of the city,” Sofia said.

Like Sofia, junior Austin Kim finds the race interesting but significantly inconvenient. 

“I think that it is certainly exciting,” Austin said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before, but I also have volunteering that makes me take roads around there, throughout that time, so it would be quite a hassle to drive around that.”

For someone who follows NASCAR, sophomore Iain Chu expects this untraditional race to be cool and entertaining, but knows its side effects, including road closures, will be brutal.

“Three weeks is kind of a lot, especially in downtown Chicago,” Iain said. 

Iain understands why the city agreed to this race, but is unsure if it was a good idea.  

“The city of Chicago does need money, too,” Iain said. “I get why the city of Chicago is doing it. I don’t know if it’s smart.”