More at stake for Joliet than NASCAR racing at Chicagoland Speedway

Chicagoland Speedway brought big-time racing to Joliet in 2001, but that shine to the city's image is at risk.

NASCAR announced this week there will be no races in Joliet next year, making two years in a row without racing.

Chicagoland Speedway put out a statement saying racing at its sister track, Route 66 Raceway, also is is called off for 2021 and made no promises beyond that for either track.

"It's really sad," said Jen Howard, president of the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry. "It was something special we had, so it's a blow to the community and the city."

It also will be a blow to hotels, restaurants, bars, gas stations and other businesses that could count on extra money from the track. Chicagoland Speedway and the Route 66 Raceway have not been a year-round source of revenue. But big-racing weeks also have been big weeks for surrounding business.

"It definitely is going to hurt," said Dan Scott, president of the Will County Lodging Association and regional manager for the Posh Hospitality hotel group.

The two weeks that NASCAR and National Hot Rod Association races were in town were two of the biggest for the hotel business in Joliet and surrounding towns.

"It really overflows the hotels," Scott said.

Whether the cancellation of the 2021 season at Chicagoland Speedway is a COVID-19 interruption or the end of big-time racing in Joliet is an unanswered question but a worrisome one.

"The overall impact for Joliet and Will County as a whole is not good," said John Greuling, president and chief executive officer for the Will County Center for Economic Development.

Chicagoland Speedway has been part of the package in promoting Will County as "a place to live and work and play," he said.

"That particular venue attracted a lot of people who wouldn't come to Joliet and Will County but for that," Greuling said.

NASCAR race weeks typically attracted people from the Chicago region, neighboring states and beyond as fans traveled with the races.

But NASCAR numbers have been waning in recent years. And, limits on social gathering during the COVID-19 pandemic raised the prospect of few people coming to town until the virus is under control.

"Let's face it, NASCAR is going to have to make some very tough decisions in the next few years on what that sport is going to look like," Greuling said.

Chicagoland Speedway has been in the process of seeking Joliet approval to develop warehouse space around the track.

Joliet wasn't the only track where that was happening, Chicagoland Speedway President Scott Paddock told the Joliet Plan Commission in August. NASCAR was working with a developer on similar projects at 16 tracks across the country.

The commission recommended against the project, echoing a policy laid out by the City Council to limit warehouse development after approving NorthPoint Development's plan for the Compass Global Logistics Hub.

Chicagoland Speedway also met resistance when it presented the plan to the City Council Economic Development Committee.

Councilman Larry Hug, who chairs the committee, said it was unlikely the cancellation of racing had any connection to the fate of warehouse development outside the track. But he said Chicagoland Speedway has put the proposal on hold for now.

"If you can make money at a race track, you're not going to stop making money at a race track because you can't build warehouses around it," Hug said.

As to whether there will ever be racing again at Chicagoland Speedway, Hug said, "I don't want to speculate."