What you need to know before NASCAR's Chicago Street Race

The stars of NASCAR are set to race on the streets of Chicago — the circuit's only street race of the season — for the second time this weekend.

With the Grant Park 165 Chicago Street Race far and away the most unusual race weekend on the schedule, here's what you need to know.

The basics: Start times, TV networks, race lengths

The Xfinity Series and Cup Series will take to the city streets this weekend. Both series will have a 50-minute practice session on Saturday, as well as a qualifying session to set the field.

The Xfinity Series field will put on the first show of the weekend, with Cole Custer looking to defend his 2023 Chicago win.

On Sunday, the Cup Series field will be looking to deny Shane van Gisbergen's repeat bid.

Saturday Schedule (All times Eastern):

• NASCAR Xfinity Series Practice, 10 a.m. (USA Network, NBC Sports App)
• NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying, 11 a.m. (USA Network, NBC Sports App)
• NASCAR Cup Series Practice, 12:30 p.m. (USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
• NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying, 1:30 p.m. (USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
• NASCAR Xfinity Series The Loop 110, 3:30 p.m. (NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Sunday schedule:

• NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165, 4:30 p.m. (NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

The NASCAR Xfinity Series race will be composed of 50 laps around the 2.2-mile street course. Meanwhile, the Cup Series race will consist of 75 circuits.

Impact of the race

Why, you may ask, is NASCAR so keen on holding a race that is a logistical nightmare ? Shutting down city streets on a holiday weekend may not sound like a great idea, but it could pay off in the long run.

Holding a race in a major market such as Chicago — especially if the market likes the race and latches onto the idea — could bring major returns, both monetary and in terms of boosting NASCAR's popularity.

Last year's Chicago Street Race was the second-most-watched race of the season behind the Daytona 500. With this year's Daytona 500 being postponed to Monday, Chicago has an outside chance to be the most-viewed race of 2024.

Per The Weather Channel, the current forecast calls for a slight chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday. NASCAR officials must pray to the racing gods that rain stays out of the picture because the event cannot be delayed or postponed past Sunday afternoon.

Who are the favorites?

With weather conditions expected to be drastically different over the weekend than they were in 2023 — a deluge plagued last season's race — nobody knows what to expect as far as the racing product on what should be hot and slick city streets.

Shane van Gisbergen won last year's race on a rainy day, but the warmer weather and sunny skies will make for a race weekend where driver skill should be on full display.

In the Xfinity Series race, nobody will be viewed more favorably than van Gisbergen, who won the inaugural Cup Series event in Chicago last year.

His Kaulig Racing teammate, road-course ace AJ Allmendinger, can never be counted out. Neither can defending Chicago winner and Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer, who is looking for his first win of 2024.

In Sunday's Cup Series race, van Gisbergen is once more being billed as one of the favorites. Look to Toyota to try to spoil his repeat bid, however. The trio of Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick ran up front in last year's race.

Chevrolet will also have the Hendrick contingent of William Byron, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, as well as Allmendinger making a guest appearance in a third car for Kaulig Racing.

The key to predicting the winner of Sunday's race? Throw the 40 drivers on the entry list into a hat and cross your fingers. The favorites for the race can be repeated over and over, but Sunday's race will be one of the biggest unknowns in the Cup Series in a long time.