NASCAR star Denny Hamlin talks importance of Chicago audience and major schedule dilemma

Joe Gibbs Racing star Denny Hamlin has argued that the Chicago audience is very important for NASCAR, and that there should be one, if not two, races in the Chicago area on the schedule.

Hamlin made the comments ahead of Sunday's eero 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, which marked the first Cup Series race at the track since 2019.

In recent years, NASCAR has instead raced on a street course around the streets of Chicago, but that event was removed from the schedule in 2026 after three seasons.

However, reports have suggested that the street course could soon return, which leaves NASCAR facing a scheduling dilemma: race on the streets of Chicago, race at Chicagoland Speedway, or both.

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Denny Hamlin on Chicago's importance to NASCAR

Hamlin, for one, believes that the sport must be racing in the region at least once per season, if not twice.

“I think it’s an important audience for us," Hamlin told the media when quizzed on how the sport can continue to grow in the Chicago area. "Even when we came here for the test, there were three cars with no logos on them and it was warm, there was probably 500 people in the stands.

"When I say 500, that’s in the middle of the day all during the day for eight hours watching three cars and maybe one car on the track at one time. There’s not much to see, but they’ve been wanting for us to get back into this area.

"I think this region is very important for us and we need to keep this region on the schedule once if not twice. This racetrack is going to race so well tomorrow that it will be hard to say lets just take it back off the schedule, but they’re up against it. There’s only so many slots and certainly can’t have more.

"I think that this racetrack races really well and if you look they did a great job getting it ready for us to be here. It feels like Kansas and looks like Kansas. They added a few coats of paint to it and now we’re ready to go race.

"So it’s hard to leave a track like this that has some wear and character off the schedule going forward and I appreciate Ben (Kennedy) and his team putting it back on the schedule after all of these years.”