When NASCAR left Chicagoland Speedway in 2019, many people thought the track was gone for good. Small crowds made it seem like the track had no future. But that story completely changed in 2026. After a massive comeback race, NASCAR bosses are now eager to return to Illinois in 2027. According to Dale Earnhardt Jr., they were amazed by how many tickets were sold.
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Dale Jr.’s biggest Chicagoland Speedway fear vanished in just one weekend
Before the race weekend, Dale Jr. was not sure the track’s return would work. On the Dale Jr. Download podcast, he admitted he was worried about bad ticket sales.
“Chicagoland ought to be b—-s; I am pretty excited… I heard ticket sales aren’t going well. And I guess Chicago Street Course is coming back. So I don’t know if Chicagoland stays. I am nervous. We hadn’t even gotten it back yet… We already lost it,” he said.
Those concerns made what happened a few days later even more surprising. Junior admitted he couldn’t believe what he was hearing before the green flag even dropped.
“So, I talked to Steve O’Donnell, and they absolutely want to go back to Chicagoland,” he explained. “He told me on Thursday, he’s like, ‘Hey man, it’s looked like we might be sold out.’ I was like, ‘No s–t.’ I heard all these bad things about ticket sales, and how in the hell did we get to a sellout?”
The surprise was not just the sold-out crowd. The weekend had heavy rain and muddy parking lots. But Sunday’s Cup Series race gave NASCAR exactly what it wanted.
Fans enjoyed the on-track product. Drivers loved the old, bumpy track. Junior noted that nearly every driver he spoke to said the same thing: bring Chicagoland back in 2027.
The numbers proved the hype was real. NASCAR said fans traveled from all 50 states and 31 different countries to watch the race. Even better, 59% of the ticket holders were at their very first NASCAR event. This was a huge success for a forgotten track. It was also a massive chance for the sport to grow.
NASCAR bosses clearly got the message.
“Looking at a potential sellout on Sunday, which is fantastic, so that market remains very important to us, be it a street race or on the oval [in 2027],” NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said, via Adam Stern.
NASCAR COO Ben Kennedy echoed that optimism. He told the Chicago Tribune that the region is strong enough to potentially support both Chicagoland Speedway and the Chicago Street Course beginning in 2027.
But there are obstacles in the way of that. In the past, NASCAR has had trouble holding two big races in the same city in one year. Fans often pick one race over the other because tickets and travel cost too much. This hurts crowd sizes for both races.
In addition, NASCAR’s 36-race schedule is currently full. Keeping Chicagoland would likely mean dropping or rotating another track on the calendar. Despite these hurdles, Chicagoland Speedway is in a much better spot today. A packed stadium, tons of new fans, and high praise from drivers make a very strong case.
The 2027 schedule is not yet set. However, Chicagoland’s epic comeback proved that the track still belongs.