| | | | | | | | | | Chicagoland Speedway | Feel The Need For Speed |
| | Joliet, IL An unexpected hit with major NASCAR and IRL events, the Chicagoland Speedway is truly a unique track - it is one consecutive curve. This speedway can seat up to 75,000 people and usually sells out months before the races are even held. The straightaway opposite of the start/finish line has an obvious bend to it. The track hosts several races such as the NASCAR/Nextel Cup Series, NASCAR/Busch Series races, USG Durock 300, and the USG Sheetrock 400, just to name a few. The Chicagoland Speedway is also known as a “cookie cutter” track. The tri-oval superspeedway features not only a 1.5 mile D- shaped track but also a quarter-mile drag strip and a half-mile dirt oval track. The first driver to drive into the victory lane in 2001 was 2006’s Champion Jimmie Johnson. The next day Kevin Harvick won the speedway’s first Cup event.
Talk of building the track arose in late 1995 after an informal meeting between Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George and Bill France. Unfortunately, Illinois annexation laws prevented them from taking the land and the project was suddenly ceased. Over time the demand for racing in Chicago began to flourish, and in 1998 the state of the art facility Route 66 Raceway was opened. An overnight success, talk of building a 1.5 mile track, this time adjacent to the Route 66 Raceway, came up once again. In 1999, after Raceway Associates was created, drivers Dale Earnhardt, Eddie Cheever Jr., and Scott Goodyear announced the construction of the 930-acre speedway, and in 2000, the Chicagoland Speedway was unveiled. Race fans can find the popular track several miles south of Joliet, Illinois just southwest of Chicago.
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