Chicagoland Speedway

500 Speedway Blvd.

Joliet, IL 60433

Speedway ticket office 815-727-RACE

1.5 Mile long D shaped Tri-Oval

18 degrees of banking in the corners

Front stretch: 2,400 ft. 11 degress of banking

Back Straight: 1,700 ft. 5 degrees of banking

Track Built: 1999-2001

First NASCAR Race: 2001

Raceway Associates, LLC (Includes representatives from International Speedway Corp (NASCAR), Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Route 66 Raceway)

Jimmie Johnson - 2001 - Busch Series

Kevin Harvick - 2001 - NEXTEL Cup Series

Most of the race tracks built in the last few years all seem to look alike. These so called "cookie cutter" tracks are fine, many provide solid racing. These tracks fail to provide much in the way of character or interesting challenges for the drivers and teams.

Chicagoland's 1.5 mile D-oval is very similar to Kansas which also began construction in 1999 and made its NEXTEL Cup debut in 2001. Another similar track is Las Vegas Motor Speedway which opened in 1998. These tracks truly gave definition to the phrase "cookie cutter race track."

In its own right there's nothing at all wrong with the racing. Chicagoland is a fan-friendly speedway with great sightlines from nearly every seat. Being newer on the schedule Chicagoland hasn't had the opportunity to create its history and differentiate itself from the others. Given time this fine facility will also host some memorable NASCAR moments.