NASCAR sets itself up for another logistical nightmare in Chicago

It was a good thing that Shane van Gisbergen became the story in NASCAR's inaugural Chicago Street Course race in 2023, because otherwise it would have been about how inclement weather and city curfews ruined the historic weekend.

Evidently NASCAR forgot about that too, because it learned absolutely nothing and set itself up for the exact same nightmare scenario again this year.

The weekend is still a few days away, and currently the forecast doesn't show a high chance of rain for Saturday and Sunday. That could always change, though, and if it does, NASCAR is in trouble.

Due to the logistics of racing on city streets, it cannot be delayed or postponed past Sunday afternoon ... and the start time is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET

What are we doing here, NASCAR? Even as it is, this gives the race a very tight window before it must be completed, so tight that its distance was already shortened from 100 originally scheduled laps a year ago (which ended up being 78 due to impending curfew following the delays) to 75 this season.

That alone robs fans of what could be at least a full extra hour of excitement, while making the race length among the shortest ever scheduled in the Cup Series at only 165 miles.

Primarily, though, one would think that after the weather issues last season, NASCAR would have built in some more wiggle room in case it rains again. At most tracks, starting in the late afternoon isn't a problem because the race can be delayed (if the track has lights) or postponed.

That's not possible in Chicago, where these streets will need to be made usable for regular vehicles again as soon as possible.

Simply put, NASCAR had better hope that the rain stays away this time around, because there's no feel-good narrative to bail them out of the PR nightmare if it doesn't. van Gisbergen's win a season ago was historic because it was his first race ever in the Cup Series, or at any NASCAR level, for that matter.

He's entered in the event again, but this year he's just another guy who happens to be the defending winner.

Again, currently the forecast isn't calling for a high chance of rain over the weekend, so fingers crossed it stays that way. Yet it doesn't change that NASCAR did every single thing wrong in preparing for such a scenario again, and if worse comes to worst, people will have to answer for it.

The race did not need to be shortened; the start time needed to be moved earlier. Much earlier.