NASCAR has long embraced racing on major holiday weekends, and the 2026 season is no exception. Memorial Day weekend featured the iconic Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, while the Cup Series playoffs are set to begin on Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway in September. In between came the Cup Series’ Fourth of July weekend race, the Eero 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. However, unlike the other holiday races on the calendar, NASCAR’s latest Independence Day event has come under scrutiny, with many fans and garage insiders questioning whether Chicago is the right venue for one of the sport’s biggest race weekends.

NASCAR insiders propose a move away from Chicago for 4th of July weekend races

Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi discussed the Chicago weekend on an episode of The Teardown, and according to them, Chicagoland has proved to be nothing too special. Bianchi described it as just “fine” and went on to reveal his preferred choice.

“I don’t think it [Chicago] would be my first choice. My answer is Pocono. Poconi is the family-friendly track that caters to families, and their camping is huge, and because of that, I think there’s a great opportunity to do like a big family blowout… firework shows and barbecues,” Bianchi said.

“Plus, you have the Pennsylvania connection, so it goes back to the colonial days…” he added, providing a fitting argument because it was in Philadelphia, 250 years ago, that the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Gluck, however, took a different approach with his preference. He feels that Atlanta should have the honor, partly because of the atmosphere at the Echopark Speedway, which Bianchi also feels is “NASCAR’s most exciting track.” But that said, Gluck feels that Daytona, arguably the most iconic venue on NASCAR’s schedule, should have the honor of hosting a race in the most special weekend for the country.

Daytona hosted NASCAR’s Fourth of July race from 1959 to 2019, first as the Firecracker 400 and later as the Coke Zero Sugar 400. The event then moved to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for one season in 2020 before relocating to Road America in Wisconsin for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Since 2023, Chicago has hosted the Independence Day weekend race. NASCAR has embraced the market with these changes. But voices like Gluck’s continue to call for a return to Daytona, as it gives the holiday weekend a true crown jewel feel.

Daytona currently hosts both the season-opening Daytona 500 and the regular-season finale in late August. Gluck believes it’s time for the regular-season finale to move elsewhere.

“Daytona is in that regular season finale slot, but the reason it was in that slot in large part was because you needed a last win and in type thing in the old format. Maybe it’s outlived its usefulness in that spot,” he said. “Maybe you could put Atlanta as the regular season finale, package it with Darlington, and you put Daytona back to the 4th, which is the traditional date…”

Gluck and Bianchi aren’t the only ones who feel that way. As clips from the podcast made their way across social media, NASCAR fans quickly joined the conversation. And judging by the responses, many of them agreed that Daytona deserves another shot at hosting the sport’s Fourth of July weekend race.

Fans want Daytona back as their 4th of July race

NASCAR has changed its holiday schedule before, so it would be unfair to say it hasn’t listened to criticism. For instance, the sanctioning body brought Darlington back to Labor Day in 2015 after taking the holiday race away in 2004 and moving it to California in an effort to expand into the West Coast market. That move never really worked, and NASCAR brought Labor Day back to Darlington. Now, many are hoping the same thing happens with Daytona and the Fourth of July weekend.

One fan wrote on X, “They came to their senses and moved Darlington back to Labor Day weekend – someday hopefully they’ll come to their senses and move Daytona back to July 4th weekend where it belongs.”

Some fans also agreed with Gluck’s reasoning that, with the playoff format changing, there’s no longer a need to keep Daytona as the regular-season finale. Under the old win-and-in format, a victory at Daytona could earn a driver a last-minute playoff spot, making the race especially dramatic. With that rule now gone, many believe Daytona can return to its traditional Fourth of July weekend slot without losing its significance.

They said, “Now that win-and-in is gone, having Daytona as a wild card type race at the end of the regular season has much less of an impact, since a driver out of the playoffs can’t win their way in at the last moment. Move summer Daytona back to July 4 weekend where it belongs.”

One fan also highlighted that NASCAR should avoid experimenting and stick to tradition. They wrote, “It needs to be under the lights and something that puts on a show. Boosting a market on July 4th would only work for a year or two, and we’d be right back in the same spot, searching for a new place again.”

Sadly for Bianchi, his choice of Pocono didn’t get too many endorsements, and the consensus was that Daytona was a worthier pick. There were claims, in fact, that the Pennsylvania venue should be removed from the calendar altogether.

“Pocano needs to be totally REMOVED from the series. Stupid shape, location, just close it. Daytona is THE 4th of July Track.”

Whether NASCAR decides to make another schedule change remains to be seen. But if the reaction from fans and insiders is anything to go by, the demand for Daytona’s return to the Fourth of July weekend isn’t going away anytime soon. Just as Darlington reclaimed its Labor Day tradition, Daytona might do the same in the coming years.