NASCAR raced through the streets of Chicago over the weekend, which NBC turned into a multi-day lovefest for Chicago and NASCAR, not necessarily in that order.
Perhaps you have heard that Chicago has a reputation for shooting violence? Obviously not from watching the broadcasts. But, I wondered if the magic of NASCAR had cured that violence problem, at least for one weekend. The early answer is a resounding no.
The New York Post reported, in an online story last updated at 6:13 p.m. Sunday, three killed and 27 wounded in shootings already in Chicago this past weekend.
But didn’t those race cars look impressive spraying water on the wet streets as they raced along Lake Michigan?
Meanwhile, in other parts of town, it was lead being sprayed.
I’ve been to Chicago numerous times in the past to cover sporting events. The Big Ten used to hold its preseason football media days there, too, so I’m a bit familiar with the city layout.
But, in reality, all one needs is some Jim Croce song references about avoiding the South Side, “the baddest part of town.”
NASCAR took a cue from that and stayed against the lake and well north of the worst areas of Chicago.
The fact that rain wiped out more than one-half of the Xfinity race, and forced the Cup race to be delayed and then shortened due to darkness, was not considered to be a downer.
This was NASCAR’s first attempt at racing in city streets, something long familiar to fans of Formula One (Monaco) and IndyCar (Long Beach, Detroit, Nashville and St. Petersburg, among others).
The history aspect was played up large. As was the fact that a New Zealand driver, making his first NASCAR start, won.
It got me thinking about how we could lure NASCAR here, since we are a leading tourist destination with our trails and rivers. We also have the crime and rain associated with Chicago, at least this past weekend.
Alas, the James Mayer Walking Trail, while only slightly more narrow than some parts of the Chicago track, borders the baddest part of our town, Moxham. Our race would need to be staged in Richland or Geistown for safety reasons.
But this would be a great opportunity for the tourist types to oil up their economic impact estimate machines. The Chicago counterparts are mere pikers by comparison.
Imagine, Chicago hosted a national event, over a holiday weekend, with several races and accompanying big-time concerts on the slate, national television coverage, not to forget huge crowds of visitors with inflated hotel prices, yet predictions were for a relatively modest $113 million impact.
We bring some bikers to town for a few days and our economic impact estimate predictably comes out at $20 million give or take.
Obviously, Chicago is doing something wrong. Besides tolerating the shooting violence, that is.
Sam Ross Jr's site 