Dale Earnhardt Jr. looking forward to 'surreal' moment of Chicago Street Race

For Dale Earnhardt Jr. this NASCAR Chicago Street Race is a major moment for the sport, and he’s going to take it all in. Earnhardt has been checking out the city of Chicago over the last couple of months. The difference between his last visit to the city and now is major. The Hall of Famer expects a successful weekend.

Throughout his career, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been part of a lot of historic moments. Whether in races as a driver or as a team owner. Of course, he’s been adding more of those moments as a broadcaster in this part of his life.

One of the most exciting parts of the race, according to Junior, is the imagery. NASCAR has never had the kind of views a street race brings. He talked on the Dan Patrick Show about the upcoming race and his excitement.

“We’re going to see shots and imagery that we’ve never experienced in NASCAR at least at the top Cup level,” Dale Jr. said. “So, I’m looking forward to that. I just walked out of the hotel this morning and walked down the race track on the way to the TV compound. It feels surreal to be walking these streets – I was here a month ago before the track was even built or there was a barrier up or anything you would recognize at a race track.

It’s so surreal to be walking down the streets now lined with walls and barriers as they prepare for this race. It’s an incredible moment for NASCAR it really is and I believe it’s going to be a big success and I’m glad I’m here for it.”

If you aren’t excited about this race yet, take it from Dale Jr. – you should be.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks about the ‘It’ factor

When you’ve been around NASCAR as long as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his family you learn a thing or two. I’ve never driven anything besides a car on the highway and so I’ll take it from Dale when he talks about racing.

This weekend, everything is brand new. So, it’s going to take a driver that can learn quickly and find the grip and the right path on this course to break free from the field and win this race.

It is something that Dale Earnhardt Jr. simply calls the “It” factor.

“The single greatest skill for someone in racing to possess doesn’t even have a name,” Earnhardt Jr. said to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “It’s called the ‘It’ factor. It is the ability for you to become one with the car. You can feel and know exactly what kind of grip you’re dealing with as you go through a corner and you’re able to know exactly what all four tires can deliver. It allows you to be able to push the car right up to the very limit of what the tires can do.

“You go through a corner in a blink, but for the most amazing talents, that corner is a series of hundreds of processes of sensing grip, sensing the delta and the movement of the car and sensing loads in all four corners of the car and centrifugal forces and momentum. There’s all these little sensors popping off as a driver goes through the corner. For the greats, all of that stuff just feels natural and comes so easy. They can get the car to the very limit, corner after corner after corner.”

Which driver is going to show everyone they have what it takes to figure out this Chicago Street Course?