From street course to weather, NASCAR drivers expect the unexpected in Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) – The drivers are getting set for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race.
On a normal NASCAR weekend, they'd practice on Friday, but that won't happen until Saturday along with qualifying for Sunday's Cup race and there's also an Xfinity race on Saturday.
CBS 2's Jori Parys caught up with a couple of Cup drivers competing Sunday and it sounds like they're expecting the unexpected.
There are so many unknowns for the 37 drivers making history in the Grant Park 220, taking on a course that's truly a first-of-its-kind. But what they do expect is the 2.2-mile track, and its 12 turns with 90-degree corners, to be both challenging and a spectacle for fans.
"There's no runoff. There's no room for errors," said NASCAR driver Ross Chastain. "So in talking with drivers that have run street races before with these tight walls, that's the biggest difference. Virtually you can go and prepare and attack and crash on simulators but when you get in the car, it's going to all close in."
Driver Jenson Burton added, "The speeds won't be extremely high, but when the barriers are that close, it feels unbelievably fast and it feels like [the walls] are narrowing on you throughout the race. So it's a challenging track and you got to throw the bumps into it. You've got the overpasses. It's going to be tough for us to learn in 50 minutes [of practice] to have confidence in the car and the track to push it and brake where we think we can brake and where we think we have to brake because one little lock up and you're in the wall. It's not like you have a safety net like you have on most road courses."
If the new surroundings weren't enough, drivers are also aware of how any expected weather would impact their decisions behind the wheel.
"The oils from a road car, which will be on the track, you won't have an issue with in the dry, but as soon as it rains, it becomes slick," said Button. "Bumps make it more difficult in the wet. There's no runoff so if you want to lock up and you're in the wall, it's exactly the same as in the dry, but it's more likely to happen because there's so much less grip. Racing in the wet … will be nuts. It'll b pretty crazy."
Button also said the first thing he noticed upon arriving in Chicago was the humidity, but barring any downpours, drivers are ready to add rain to the list of the unexpected.