Chicagoland Speedway, Oval

Chicagoland Speedway is a 1.5-mile, D-shaped tri-oval in Joliet, Illinois, south-west of Chicago, long prized for high-speed pack racing and dramatic photo finishes. The Chicago region had been an untapped market for oval racing until Bill France's International Speedway Corporation and Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss Tony George formed the Motorsports Alliance in 1995 to find a site, eventually settling on land in Joliet next to Dale Coyne's Route 66 Raceway. Joliet city council approved the project in January 1999, groundbreaking followed that September, and the speedway opened in June 2001 with NASCAR and IndyCar events. The track quickly built a reputation as one of the most competitive ovals on the open-wheel calendar, hosting the closest finish in IndyCar history in 2002 when Sam Hornish Jr. edged Al Unser Jr. by 0.0024 seconds, with an equally tight three-wide finish the following year. It served as the IndyCar season finale from 2006 to 2008 before open-wheel racing departed after 2010, leaving NASCAR as the headline draw, complete with lights for night racing installed in 2008. Racing stopped in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and NASCAR removed the venue from its schedule, after which the site was used for vehicle storage and a one-off supercross event while warehouse redevelopment was considered. In a surprise reversal, NASCAR announced in August 2025 that Chicagoland would return to the Cup Series calendar in 2026 following maintenance and upgrades. The D-shaped configuration, with a continuously curving back stretch, helps sustain the close, multi-groove racing for which the track is known.

Operated by: NASCAR (International Speedway Corporation)