Chicagoist: Friday Night Lights at Chicagoland Speedway

Stephen

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 11:06:03 -0600

Guest #6: You really don't know anything about this speedway or NASCAR, do you? Chicagoland Motor Speedway has three major races there (IRL, NASCAR, and ARCA), and the NASCAR event has always been sold out with every seat filled. Coupled with weekly events at the attached Route 66 Raceway, they have racing going on there pretty much every weekend. And great attendance at all events. I agree it's probably not the biggest attendance draw in the Chicagoland area (the Cubs just set that mark this year), but I think you'll find the TV ratings are substantially higher than you'd like to imagine. I know it must be hard for you to accept that a NASCAR fan may actually live nextdoor to you, or be your boss, but deal with it.

guest

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:30:56 -0600

"Nascar is a bigger draw to more people around chicagoland than any other sport." Yeah, because a car race that runs in front several thousand empty seats at a 75,000-seat venue for it's *lone event of the year* certainly outweighs the 5.5 million people our local baseball teams draw, the 63,500+ that are at Soldier Field ten times per year (come rain, sleet or snow), the sellout crowds at the United Center every night for the Bulls, the 81,000 at ND six times every fall, etc., as well as the local TV ratings for those sports that dwarf the numbers locally for NASCAR. Give us a break already. We're not downstaters. We don't like NASCAR. Which is fine. Most of us don't want to live in the South.

guest

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:39:47 -0600

guest #3; despite your thoughts, you are simply wrong. Crawl outside your 'cultured' hole of Chicago and you will find another place. Nascar is a bigger draw to more people around chicagoland than any other sport. Just try to go to a race there.

Stephen

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:23:08 -0600

I've been to a few races out there, and yes I'm a rabid NASCAR fan... the heat out there when the current USG race is scheduled is completely unbearable. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the race under the lights! Guest #3, I'm curious where you found the ratings for NASCAR race broadcasts in the Chicago market?

guest

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:05:35 -0600

NASCAR's statement can be boiled down to: "No matter how much we try to pretend otherwise, no matter how many special sections we purchase in the two dailies, no matter how many celebrities we drag into town, Chicagoans *still* don't care about a bunch of Southerners driving around in a circle 50 miles south of the city and the ratings for NASCAR in the Chicago market are still abysmal, so we might as well try to boost our national TV numbers by moving the race to prime-time..." I can't say I blame them. The race was never going to be any higher than the #4 local sports story on race weekend (behind the Cubs game, Sox game, and countdown to Bears' training camp), so why keep spending money to double-down on a bad hand?

The Curmudgeon

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:55:47 -0600

USG Sheetrock!!! Yeah!!!!! AWESOME PRODUCT!!!! The world just continues to get more and more pathetic with each and every day that passes.

guest

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:27:12 -0600

No Lights At Chicagoland Motor Speedway!! How could they desecrate such an historic venue with lights, blasphemy! Has anyone thought about just installing lights on the cars?