Ryan Blaney says Chicagoland Speedway 'deserves' to have a Cup Series race

Ryan Blaney wants NASCAR to return to Chicagoland Speedway, a track that is located 45 minutes outside of Chicago. While speaking to Bob Pockcrass of Fox Sports, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Champion explains why he wants to head back to Chicagoland.

“Joliet deserves to have a race back at it,” Blaney said. “I definitely think the track we need to revitalize. If we’re revitalizing tracks, let’s revitalize Chicago. You start with that one. The other ones I don’t have too many opinions about.”

Blaney’s comments come a few weeks before he and the other Cup Series drivers compete in the Chicago Street Race which is located in the heart of the Chicago. NASCAR is in the second year of a three-year contract of the organization having the Chicago Street Race.

Chicagoland Speedway was the home of the NASCAR Cup Series Camping World 400 from 2001 to 2019. The 2020 race was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The race was then dropped from the 2021 schedule.

“With the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule unveiling, came the unfortunate news that Chicagoland Speedway will not be part of that lineup,” Chicagoland president Scott Paddock said at the time, per Racer. “In addition, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Gander Trucks and ARCA will also not be returning to Chicagoland Speedway in 2021.

“The move away from NASCAR racing at Chicagoland Speedway is one of many changes reflected in the 2021 schedule, and by no means a reflection of the support our fans have demonstrated. Rather, it is a desire and an important step for the industry to incorporate new markets and new courses into the schedule, and expand the variety of competition.”

Ryan Blaney has had some tough luck this year

Blaney is having a solid 2024 season as he has earned six top-10 finishes and four top-five finishes. However, the 30-year-old is still looking for his first win of the season after winning three races in 2023. One of the tough breaks for Blaney happened at Gateway earlier this month when he ran out of gas while having the lead during the final lap.

“They [Austin Cindric and his team] were great, they did a great job,” Blaney said at the time, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “Yeah, happy for that team, I mean obviously, bummed for us. Just the nut shots keep coming here this past month.

“Hopefully, it straightens itself out just proud of the effort have to figure out what happened there if we thought we had more fuel than we did. It’s not like we left it short on purpose, just thought we had more. So we’ll have to figure it out, dig into that, but proud of all of Team Penske today.”