Craftsman Truck Series '09 Schedule Brings Truck Race To Chicagoland

Only a month after Chicagoland Speedway hosted NASCAR's top two series for a first of it's kind evening for the track's night races, Chicagoland got a major lift in its schedule. In 2009, the one and a half mile track will host a truck race in August, replacing the second Atlanta race on the schedule.

Bringing a track to the upper Midwest may not have happened had Bill France and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George never met in late 1995 to discuss the opportunity to build a track in area of the U.S. that was rich with racing history.

Location was key and they looked at a plot of land near DuPage airport, but due to high real estate cost there attention moved to a small farming land in Plano, Illinois. Due to annexation laws the site was quickly nixed and the plan quickly stalled.

Soon after Joliet raceway opened up the Route 66 raceway drag racing strip, officials recommended building the speedway on this same site. Soon the project was approved by state legislature and the construction began.  

In May 2000, with Mike Helton and drivers Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton and Kyle Petty on hand, the track was officially announced.

Jimmie Johnson went on the win the first event held at the track winning the Tropicana 300 for the Busch (now Nationwide) Series debut at the track and Kevin Harvick went on to win the  Tropicana 400 with the Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) series.

In 2007 NASCAR released the 2008 schedule and Chicagoland Speedway had been approved for it's very first night race at the track for the top two series.

Chicagoland Speedway released this statement soon after the  release;

"We are very excited to announce the addition of lights to Chicagoland Speedway for the upcoming 2008 season," said Matthew Alexander, president of Chicagoland Speedway. "Night racing is one of the most thrilling experiences for fans to be a part of, and now we will be able to bring that type of buzz and exciting atmosphere to our facility for fans to enjoy."

"Other NASCAR tracks with lights have experienced tremendous success when hosting night races and we anticipate similar results at Chicagoland Speedway. This is an exciting step for the growth of racing in the Chicago market." Alexander said in closing,

What a moment for racing in Chicagoland. After the installation of lights at the track last fall, workers began prep for the race in July.

This past July, Chicagoland hosted its first night race for the Nationwide series where Kyle Busch continued his dominance winning the inaugural event. The next day Kyle took it to the Sprint Cup field and swept the inaugural night race, padding his series leading win total.

One concern is how Chicagoland Speedway sells it's tickets. They group them so by purchasing tickets for the Cup race in July, you are purchasing tickets for the IRL, ARCA and Nationwide series races throughout the year.

Will prices increase? Will they change the procedure with tickets sales to accommodate those who particularly want to attend one race? It’s early and I am sure these are all things they are looking at.

Chicagoland Speedway had been hoping to add the truck series for some time to their already strong lineup of racing for the Midwest audience.

"When a Truck race became available, Chicago had -- for some time -- been wanting one," Helton said. "It makes sense for that series to be in that market area, as well. We're glad that it worked out for '09.

"It's just a matter of balancing out what we think is the right place, the right time, availability and what's good for the NASCAR community as a whole. When we decided to put the Truck Series event at Chicagoland and the Nationwide Series in Iowa, it came after a good deal of thought process."

It doesn't hurt that the inaugural Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series night races sold out this year and with Indy Car's IRL races recently being confirmed, they too will race under the lights in 2009.

This is a great opportunity for the track and the fans to showcase why racing in the Midwest is still very strong and allowing up and coming drivers in all series a chance to shine under the lights.

With NASCAR's move to bring truck racing to Chicagoland, it will offer a another opportunity for race fans to come to our local track and check out the nation's best drivers as they battle it out under the lights.

quote and credits/ www.nascar.com and www.chicagolandspeedway.com