#Racing

DuSable Lake Shore Drive is back open. The flooding has, hopefully, receded. The drivers are no doubt thinking about Atlanta.

Yet the Grant Park 220 that took place here in Chicago last weekend is still very much on my mind.

NASCAR's first foray into racing on the streets of downtown Chicago was met with criticism from the public and skepticism from the drivers before the race even took place. Most, if not all, of the drivers sounded a positive tune after being on track. Fans, too, seemed pretty happy with the event.

There’s always a first for everything. In the case of NASCAR’s Grant Park 220, there were a lot of firsts.

Shane van Gisbergen may not have much NASCAR experience -- he was making his first-ever start on Sunday in Chicago at the Grant Park 220 -- but he has plenty of street-race experience. And it showed.

Showed in a big way, as the New Zealand native took home the trophy in the first-ever NASCAR race on the streets of Chicago, which was also the first-ever NASCAR street race.

I remember reporting on the news that NASCAR was coming to Chicago. It was less than a year ago when the news broke. It started as a rumor that I saw bouncing around somewhere, probably on the Tweet machine, and by the time I finished writing the post it was confirmed.

Now I am here, at the event's media center, typing up this post while waiting for the rain to stop so the racing can start.

NASCAR veteran Jimmie Johnson will not be racing in this coming weekend's Grant Park 220 in Chicago after his in-laws were found dead in Oklahoma.

Trust the gearheads taking part in Pikes Peak to come up with vehicles appearing to be ripped straight off the digital pages of PlayStation. Ford, which has been fielding entrants since the Peak’s first event in 1916, is taking to the hill this year in their SuperVan 4.2, a machine with over 1,400 horsepower.

Here's the transaxle breaking, courtesy of friend of TTAC Bozi Tatarevic. This was repaired and the car did finish.

About halfway through Sunday's Indianapolis 500, I looked at the clock and thought "this thing will be over soon. I am going to have more free time today than I expected." How wrong I was.

There are few things on this green earth that get up my nose further than people trying to shove their lifestyle onto others through loud media campaigns. Sure, there are some universal truths to which we should all adhere – be kind to animals, take care of yer children, and don’t anger the Managing Editor* – but loudly pushing ideals ain’t one of ‘em.

The impetus for this mini-rant is the appearance of billboards near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway bearing the phrase ‘Winners DON’T Drink Milk’ as part of an ad campaign by a non-profit organization bent on getting people to stop drinking the stuff.

Today's video of the week is a short one.

In a story coming to you out of your author's hometown, we have a teacher who rented a Toyota Supra on Turo ... to set a land-speed record.

Corporate tie-ups with successful gearheads aren’t new – witness any number of NASCAR sponsorships, for example – but those partnerships often just extend to a few photos of the star holding up examples of the product du jour and mugging for the camera.

That’s why it’s always a good day when the mashup results in a ten-minute film that's arguably better than some of the tripe trotted out by Hollywood. 

As I've stated on these pages before, I am a semi-casual racing fan. Meaning I watch NASCAR and IndyCar and F1 and IMSA here and there, I know most of the big-name drivers, and I understand the basic rules and such for each series, but I don't watch every race or know every driver. I do tend to watch more races this time of year since baseball hasn't yet revved up (oddly matched pun fully intended).

The IndyCar season starts this weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Honda is previewing the hybrid tech we'll see in the series in 2024 with a CR-V-based race vehicle.