Chicagoland Speedway Tickets

With the addition of the 75,000-seat, $130 million Speedway, Joliets world-class motorsports complex would form what is now Illinois? largest sporting facility, occupying over 1,300-acres. Dating back to 1895, when the first ever gasoline-powered race was held up-and-down the Chicago lakefront, Illinois has played a significant role in establishing motorsports as one of the most exciting and popular spectator sports in the world. Now, Joliets Chicagoland Speedway/Route 66 Raceway has written a new chapter in Illinois? long and prestigious racing history. The plan to build a superspeedway in the third-largest market in the nation had been rumored for years. Auto-racing executives and major-league sanctioning bodies had long maintained that the untapped market of Chicago was perhaps the most lucrative in the country. The race to build a major speedway in the Windy City took its first step towards becoming a reality during an informal meeting between George and France in late 1995. George had recently created the Indy Racing League, and France was on the verge of taking NASCAR further into the mainstream than anyone could have imagined. The Motorsports Alliance, consisting of George, France, and home-remodeling magnate John Menard, was formed in the spring of 1996 and immediately began considering sites that summer. The quest for the site of Chicagoland Speedway was a long road. The group looked at several locations, including property near downtown Chicago, as well as in all neighboring counties. The first effort to begin the project was to focus on a 500-acre plot of land less than 30 miles from downtown Chicago, near the Dupage County Airport. Faced with constructing a facility that would be able to host NASCAR and the Indy Racing League on a small parcel of land, the trio decided that the extremely high price of real estate would not fit properly into the budget. The Alliance was contacted by several communities that were interested in building the facility and even looked at sites as far west as Rochelle, before turning their attention to the small farm community of Plano, about 70 miles west of Chicago, in the fall of 1997. The proposed track drew strong support from the mayor and City Council members as well as from most of the local residents. With more than 1,000 acres of property under option from two land owners and the backing of the town, the project seemed to be moving along smoothly with only the State's approval for annexation to the city remaining. Unfortunately, Illinois annexation laws at the time prevented Plano from incorporating the land. The project was abruptly stalled. Menard then withdrew from the Motorsports Alliance, citing an increased demand to attend to his business affairs. However, as auto racing's visibility continued to skyrocket, the desire to begin racing in Chicago grew. Then came a call from Dale Coyne, who was raised in nearby Plainfield. He had successfully negotiated with Joliet to build the ultra-modern Route 66 Raceway there in 1997. When it opened in 1998, Route 66 Raceway was the best state-of-the-art facility built for drag racing. The facility was an instant success, not only with race fans and participants, but in Joliet as well.