After two years of rain-soaked July Fourth weekend events, could the NASCAR Chicago Street Race be heading west to eternally sunny San Diego?

The Athletic reported Wednesday that NASCAR and the Southern California citys sports tourism commission are in negotiations to hold a race on the streets of San Diego in 2026.

A NASCAR spokesperson declined to comment on the unconfirmed report, while the San Diego Sports Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Chicago is set to host the third annual street race July 5-6 on a pop-up course in and around Grant Park, completing an inaugural three-year agreement with NASCAR. The deal, struck during former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration, includes a two-year renewal option.

We continue to have positive conversations with the city of Chicago, and right now, we’re focused on making 2025 the best event yet, a NASCAR spokesperson said Thursday.

A spokesperson for Mayor Brandon Johnsons office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. The city, which had an annual 180-day exit clause after the first two races, committed to this year’s event in August.

Adding a San Diego street race next year does not necessarily affect the future of the Chicago Street Race.

Most NASCAR tracks range from a quarter-mile to 2 05-mile banked ovals, but the Florida-based sanctioning body for stock car racing holds several events at road courses, including Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in Sonoma, California, and at Watkins Glen in New York. NASCAR might similarly be building its portfolio of urban street races, with Chicago paving the way.

The Chicago Street Race has nonetheless had its challenges in the first two years, including pushback over the disruption and street closures to set up the 12-turn, 2.2-mile course through Grant Park, down DuSable Lake Shore Drive and up Michigan Avenue.

This year, NASCAR has streamlined the buildout and reduced major street closings to 18 days, starting with the shutdown Thursday of Balbo Drive from Columbus Drive to DuSable Lake Shore Drive. All streets are scheduled to be reopened by July 14.

But the biggest issue facing the first two street races was inclement weather.

In 2023, the inaugural Fourth of July weekend event navigated record rainfall that curtailed races, canceled concerts and left fans soaked. The first Cup Series street race also garnered a huge national TV audience with Chicago as a rainy backdrop, averaging nearly 4.8 million viewers during a four-hour broadcast on NBC.

While clear skies prevailed for last year’s Xfinity Series race on Saturday, the nationally televised Cup Series race on Sunday was once again shortened when rain delays forced officials to call the race after 58 laps as darkness fell on the unlit street course.

Last year’s race generated $128 million in total economic impact and drew 53,036 unique visitors, according to a study commissioned by Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism arm.

This year, the Grant Park 165 main event on Sunday is scheduled to start at 1 p.m., 2 05 hours earlier than last year, in hopes of finally getting the race to the finish line. The nationally televised broadcast is moving from NBC to cable channel TNT.

If the San Diego Street Race comes to fruition for 2026, whether as a competitive event or supplanting Chicago, the forecast for a dry run is likely much brighter. San Diego, which is considered to have among the best year-round climates in the nation, averages less than 10 inches of annual rainfall, according to National Weather Service data.

The Windy City is far wetter than Southern California. Chicago averages closer to 40 inches of annual precipitation, with a record 3 to 7 inches of rain hitting the city and flooding the street course during the first Cup Series race in 2023.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

在经历了连续两年被雨水浸透的独立日周末赛事后，NASCAR芝加哥街道赛是否会西迁至永远阳光明媚的圣地亚哥？

据《The Athletic》周三报道，纳斯卡赛车（NASCAR）正与南加州圣地亚哥市的体育旅游委员会进行谈判，计划于2026年在圣地亚哥街道举办一场赛事。

美国纳斯卡赛车协会发言人拒绝对未经证实的报道置评，而圣地亚哥体育委员会周四也未能立即回应记者的置评请求。

芝加哥将于7月5日至6日在格兰特公园及周边搭建的临时赛道上举办第三届年度街道赛，标志着与美国纳斯卡车赛（NASCAR）为期三年的首轮合作协议圆满完成。该协议在前市长洛丽·莱特富特任期内达成，包含可续约两年的选项。

美国纳斯卡车赛（NASCAR）发言人周四表示："我们与芝加哥市的沟通持续取得积极进展，当前正全力筹备2025年赛事，力求打造迄今最精彩的盛会。"

芝加哥市长布兰登·约翰逊办公室的发言人周四未立即回应置评请求。该市在前两届赛事后设有年度180天退出条款，但已于今年8月承诺继续举办本届活动。

明年新增圣地亚哥街道赛未必会影响芝加哥街道赛的未来。

大多数NASCAR赛道为1/4英里至2.5英里不等的倾斜椭圆形赛道，但这家总部位于佛罗里达州的赛车管理机构也会在公路赛道举办多场赛事，包括得克萨斯州奥斯汀的美洲赛道、加利福尼亚州的索诺玛赛道以及纽约州的沃特金斯格伦赛道。NASCAR可能正以芝加哥为试点，以类似方式拓展其城市街道赛事的版图。

尽管如此，芝加哥街道赛在前两年仍面临诸多挑战，包括因赛道设置导致的交通中断和街道封闭引发的反对声浪。这条全长2.2英里（约3.54公里）、包含12个弯角的赛道贯穿格兰特公园，沿杜萨布尔湖滨大道向南延伸，再折返至密歇根大道。

今年，纳斯卡赛车赛事（NASCAR）优化了筹备流程，将主要道路封闭时间缩短至18天。首阶段封闭将于周四启动，涉及从哥伦布大道到杜萨布尔湖滨大道的巴尔博车道。所有道路预计将于7月14日前恢复通行。

但前两场街道赛面临的最大问题是恶劣天气。

2023年，首届美国独立日周末庆祝活动遭遇了创纪录的降雨，导致比赛缩短、音乐会被迫取消，观众们也被淋得浑身湿透。作为首场杯赛系列街头赛事，尽管以阴雨连绵的芝加哥为背景，仍吸引了全美大量电视观众——在NBC电视台长达四小时的转播中，平均收视人数达到近480万。

去年周六举行的Xfinity系列赛正值晴空万里，而周日全国直播的杯赛却再度因降雨中断。由于赛道无照明设施且夜幕降临，赛事官员在58圈后被迫宣布比赛提前结束。

根据芝加哥旅游局下属机构"选择芝加哥"委托的一项研究显示，去年的赛事共产生1.28亿美元经济收益，并吸引了53,036名独立访客。

今年，格兰特公园165赛事周日的正赛将于下午1点开始，比去年提前2.5小时，希望能顺利完成比赛。全国电视转播将从NBC移至有线频道TNT。

若2026年圣地亚哥街道赛能成功举办——无论是作为独立赛事还是取代芝加哥站，其试运行的天气前景显然更为乐观。根据美国国家气象局数据，被誉为全美全年气候最佳城市之一的圣地亚哥，年均降水量不足10英寸。

风城芝加哥的降雨量远超南加州。该市年均降水量接近40英寸（约1016毫米），在2023年首届杯赛系列赛期间，更是创下了单日3至7英寸（约76至178毫米）的降雨记录，导致街道赛道严重积水。

rchannick@chicagotribune.com