As a toddler, Jacque Herrera was heading to Chicagoland Speedway to observe the celebrities of NASCAR rip across the 1.5-mile oval in Joliet, Illinois.
She will get to relive these glory days in a brand new method now as Herrera was launched as common supervisor of Chicagoland Speedway on Tuesday, slightly below eight months earlier than NASCAR makes its triumphant return to Will County for Fourth of July weekend 2026.
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The chance comes with nice duty, Herrera acknowledged in a Tuesday teleconference with NASCAR.com, however it’s also coupled with a robust sense of satisfaction for a girl who was born and raised in Chicago.
“Being a lifelong NASCAR fan attending races as a child with my dad, I went to Joliet so many occasions on the weekends with my aunts and cousins, spending the weekends on the market,” Herrera mentioned. “So Joliet could be very close to and expensive to my coronary heart. And simply to see it sort of come full circle, by no means in my wildest desires did I count on a bit woman from Chicago that used to attend the races turn out to be the GM of Chicagoland Speedway.”
These reminiscences as a bit woman come flooding again to her now. Herrera, the self-proclaimed tomboy amongst her two sisters, recollects her first expertise on the observe when Tony Stewart gained on a day she and her father went to the race by themselves. Forgotten sunscreen left her burnt in the summertime solar, however “that was truly in all probability one among my finest reminiscences with my dad.”
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“It was simply thrilling to see, being there as a younger child, seeing all of the race followers my first race and really seeing what racing was about,” she mentioned. “My dad had all the time talked about it. He had been to some races with out us and with a pair buddies, and all of us grew to become die-hard NASCAR followers rising up.”
Years later, Herrera returns to Chicagoland as NASCAR heads again to the 1.5-mile tri-oval for the primary time since 2019 however with loads of expertise beneath her belt as well. Herrera spent the final three years as Director of Group Relations for the Chicago Road Race, fostering relationships throughout the metropolis that linked each her and NASCAR to native leaders and organizations across the space.
These experiences, she mentioned, will probably be invaluable as she transitions that focus to the Joliet property.
“One of the vital necessary elements of my job,” Herrera mentioned, “is attending to know and construct these relationships with the local people, with metropolis officers and completely different departments and simply see and take heed to the those that reside on this space as properly. See what’s working, what’s not working. How can we higher ourselves? Higher what we’re doing locally, how we are able to implement new initiatives, both with partnerships with Chicago Public Faculties, or After College Issues or anybody that we’re working with.
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“To see these youngsters turn out to be race followers, I feel that’s in all probability the very best a part of my job — mainly being on the market serving the neighborhood that we race in and ensuring that we are literally having an affect locally.”
kyle busch celebrates a chicagoland win in 2018
Earlier than her time with the Road Race, Herrera held the same function as Director of Group Engagement at Tapestry 360 Well being along with time as Director of Exterior Affairs and Communications at Humboldt Park Well being. There, her groups labored in authorities relations, public data, advertising and marketing and occasion administration.
However the frequent thread for Herrera has all the time been neighborhood, a staple ingrained in her by her upbringing.
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“My mom is from the south,” Herrera mentioned. “That southern hospitality of all the time simply ensuring everybody appears like household as quickly as they step within the door, as quickly as you have got a dialog. I’m additionally Mexican, so I feel lots of that comes from my tradition. Whereas we’re used to giving handshakes, I’m very very similar to a ‘hug and a kiss on the cheek’ sort of individual. Even when I first met you, I imply, we’ll be finest associates.”
NASCAR’s return to Joliet is about for July 3-5, with ARCA Menards Sequence racing slated for July 3, O’Reilly Auto Elements Sequence racing on July 4 and the Cup Sequence headliner on July 5. There may be work to be achieved across the facility, however Herrera is optimistic about what’s to come back.
“The property’s already in good situation,” Herrera defined. “We do have our group — shout out to Daybreak (Martin) and Collette (Nelson) at Chicagoland. They’re already beginning to make these updates and renovations, after which we’ve lots of work forward of us within the coming months, weeks, days.”
Finally, Herrera’s hope is that she will help ship households attending NASCAR races at Chicagoland the identical experiences that formed her life as a toddler within the grandstands years in the past. Her purpose?
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“To make it the very best race a NASCAR fan has ever attended,” Herrera mentioned. “On the core of it, that’s precisely what I would like. I would like any individual that walks via our doorways to stroll away and say, ‘That is the very best rattling factor I’ve ever achieved,’ and stroll away with pondering, ‘I’m going to return to a NASCAR race,’ or ‘I’m going to go to a different race.’ Simply to have them come expertise NASCAR, come out to Chicagoland and see that, hey, this can be a badass occasion.”
Tickets at the moment are out there for buy for NASCAR’s return to Chicagoland Speedway over Independence Day weekend on July 3-5, 2026, that includes the NASCAR Cup Sequence, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Elements Sequence (beforehand NASCAR Xfinity Sequence) and ARCA Menards Sequence at or 855-796-7223.
