Planning and construction Failed proposals in 2013. The original plan for the Motorsports Alliance was to build a track on DuPage Airport land; however, the proposal was scrapped due to heavy public opposition. In December 1996,
DuPage Airport officials began hearing proposals of the construction of a potential racing facility on land owned by the airport. Out of three proposals, the one chosen by the airport's board was a intermediate oval funded by the Motorsports Alliance, a partnership between
International Speedway Corporation (ISC), the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and
Menards. Initial plans for the $50 million proposal included seating capacity for 40–80 thousand and an opening date in 1999. The proposed racetrack quickly faced opposition; by February 1997, numerous anti-racetrack groups were formed, including in
West Chicago and
Geneva. Two months later, the plan was killed after numerous factors, including increasing public opposition, concerns about the track's environmental impact, and disagreements between DuPage Airport officials and the Motorsports Alliance in lease revenues made the location unfeasible. In August 1997, the Motorsports Alliance announced plans to pursue a location in either
Plano, Illinois, or northwest
Indiana. By February 1998, the proposal was narrowed to Plano; however, by January 1999, the plan was scrapped in favor for a proposal in
Joliet, Illinois.
Joliet proposal On January 6, 1999,
The Charlotte Observer reported that the Motorsports Alliance was seeking to annex in Joliet, with a hearing scheduled on the 19th for its approval. The location was later revealed to be a plot of land northeast of the
Route 66 Raceway, with the owners of Route 66 Raceway partnering with the Alliance's proposal. On the 19th, the Joliet City Council unanimously approved the $100 million, 75,000-seat project. Within the month, the Motorsports Alliance spurred efforts for the plot of land to be included into the Des Plaines River Valley Enterprise Zone for a tax break worth up to $10 million over 10 years, which was fully approved four months later. In response to local residents' concerns regarding traffic, in February, the Alliance promised to invest $3.7 million towards nearby road improvements. In May, the Alliance announced plans to start construction in the summer of 1999 and open sometime in 2001. That same month, the Alliance and Route 66 Raceway owner
Dale Coyne formed a joint company named Raceway Associates to run the facility, with the Alliance owning 75% and Coyne owning 25%. Two months later, NASCAR executive
Mike Helton confirmed discussions about adding a potential
NASCAR Winston Cup Series to their schedule for the 2001 season. By August,
earthmovers began preparing the land for groundbreaking.
Construction Groundbreaking on the facility occurred on September 28, 1999, with NASCAR driver
Dale Earnhardt appearing as a
dignitary. On May 8, 2000, track officials officially confirmed the addition of the facility to both the
NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the
Indy Racing League (IRL) for 2001; additionally, the track was also formally named as the "Chicagoland Speedway", with
Joie Chitwood III being named as the general manager of the track. By September 2000, construction on the facility was "more than half done" according to
Southtown Star writer John Debberstein, with the track itself being described as a oval with 18.5° of banking in the track's turns, 11° of banking on the frontstretch, and 5° of banking on the backstretch. The first tests done on the facility were conducted on October 26, with drivers
John Andretti and
Scott Sharp driving a NASCAR Cup car and Indy-car, respectively. On February 1, 2001, the only construction fatality occurred when worker Ehren Brandau fell while installing windows to a skybox. By the end of its construction, the entire facility cost approximately $130 million (adjusted for inflation, $).
Operating years Chicagoland Speedway officially opened to the public on July 12, 2001, for practice sessions for the
2001 Tropicana 400, a Cup Series race. The track's first race, a
NASCAR Busch Series (now called the Xfinity Series) race, was run two days later with
Jimmie Johnson winning the first race at the track. A day later, the Tropicana 400 was run, with
Kevin Harvick winning the first highlight race at the facility. The track's first Indy Racing League (now called the IndyCar Series) occurred on September 2, with
Jaques Lazier winning the event. A year later, the track recorded the closest finish in IndyCar history, with
Sam Hornish Jr. winner over
Al Unser Jr. by 0.0024 seconds. In 2003, Matthew Alexander replaced Chitwood as the general manager of Chicagoland Speedway. The following year,
SAFER barriers were installed throughout the entire outside perimeter of the track at a cost of approximately $1.5 million. In February 2007, ISC bought out Raceway Associates for $102.4 million, taking full control over both Chicagoland Speedway and Route 66 Raceway. A month later, Alexander was promoted to president of the speedway. the $17 million installation was completed in time for the
2008 LifeLock.com 400. In 2009, Alexander stepped down as president of the speedway, with Craig Rust replacing Alexander. Rust's tenure was brief; he stepped down in September 2010 and was replaced by Scott Paddock four months later. In the 2010s, the track underwent two seating capacity declines due to attendance declines: one in 2013 that decreased capacity to 55,000, and one in 2019 that decreased capacity to 47,000. Also in 2019, the facility was bought out by
NASCAR when the sanctioning body bought out ISC.
Vacant years and return of NASCAR Although a NASCAR Cup Series race was scheduled in 2020, the race was canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, plans were made to convert of the facility's parking lots into warehouse storage; however, the plan faced opposition from the Joliet City Council Economic Development Committee and was rejected by the Joliet Plan Commission in August. In September, NASCAR announced that all three national series would not return to Chicagoland Speedway for the 2021 season, leaving the track with an uncertain future. Paddock resigned as president a month later. The track was left widely dormant in the following years after NASCAR's departure. In 2022, the track was used to store vehicles awaiting computer chips from the
Ford Motor Company in the midst of the
2021 global semiconductor shortage. The following year, the
SuperMotocross World Championship announced that they would host races at the facility for their 2023 season. The event ran in September, becoming the first motorsports event at the facility in over four years. On July 30, 2025,
The Athletic reported that the Cup Series was expected to return to the facility in 2026 following the removal of
a race at the
Chicago Street Course. The series' return was officially announced a month later, with NASCAR scheduling Cup Series, O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and ARCA Series races on Independence Day weekend of the 2026 NASCAR season. The Cup Series race is scheduled to be the first Cup Series race at the facility since 2019. In November, Jacqueline "Jacque" Herrera, previously the director of community relations for the Chicago Street Course, was appointed as the general manager of the track. == Events ==