JOLIET, IL – NASCAR took one other step towards finishing its 360 with automobiles circling the monitor for the primary time in seven years for 2 days of testing.
Two championship profitable drivers in returning to a monitor that hosted a complete of 33 races from 2001-19.
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However and would even be fast to boost their arms if the sanctioning physique requested for volunteers to return to their first interim cease, Highway America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, 190 miles to the north.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Ryan Blaney drives previous the primary grandstand throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Ryan Blaney drives previous the primary grandstand throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Denny Hamlin drives previous the primary grandstand throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Kyle Larson drives down pit highway to the storage space throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Ryan Blaney drives by means of Flip 4 throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Denny Hamlin drivers by means of Flip 4 with the Joliet water tower seen within the distance throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Two-time NASCAR champion Kyle Larson speaks with reporters throughout a break within the Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney speaks with reporters throughout a break within the Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Denny Hamlin drivers down pit highway towards the storage throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Denny Hamlin drivers down pit highway towards the storage throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Kyle Larson drives previous the primary grandstand throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Denny Hamlin drivers down pit highway towards the storage throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Ryan Blaney drives down pit highway towards the storage throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
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Scenes from NASCAR tire testing for the return to Chicagoland Speedway
Ryan Blaney drives previous the primary grandstand throughout a Goodyear tire check Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
NASCAR ran 19 Cup Collection races at , and what’s now the O’Reilly Auto Elements Collection raced 24 occasions. However occasions scheduled for the 2020 season have been canceled as a result of COVID-19 pandemic and the NASCAR-owned facility has largely been dormant since.
NASCAR took the Cup Collection to Highway America in for the second division for 11 seasons. Then on the conclusion of that settlement, each collection left for the downtown Chicago avenue circuit.
Each divisions will race at Chicagoland in 2026 on the Fourth of July weekend.
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Larson, the two-time and defending Cup Collection champion from Hendrick Motorsports, and 2023 champ Blaney of Penske Racing spoke to reporters throughout a break on the second day of the Goodyear tire check.
When requested about Highway America and their curiosity in returning, right here’s what they stated:
Kyle Larson (5) races with Chase Elliott by means of Flip 6 in the course of the 2021 Jockey Made in America 250 at Highway America.
Kyle Larson
I keep in mind after I would go there again within the Nationwide [now O’Reilly] days, I imply, followers have been hanging from the bushes watching, and once we went there with Cup, it was form of the identical factor.
I believe freshness of the schedule is all the time good. Like this race, seeing the gang within the stands only for yesterday’s observe was superior. So I’d think about the gang could be huge for this primary time again, and hopefully, we’ll proceed to come back again and we will placed on a superb present.
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There’s solely so many weeks within the 12 months, so it’s onerous to get to all of the tracks.
Ryan Blaney
I really like Highway America personally. I used to be actually excited once they put it on the schedule in ‘21 and ran it for a pair years. …  Then [it] went away, however the folks up there are superior. Enormous race followers. That’s a stunning space. They usually all the time have had a number of collection on the market, whether or not it’s the TA automobiles, us, a pair different issues on the market.
It’s only a enjoyable weekend clearly, and that was a giant racetrack for Menards and that entire household. So I’d love to return there. Primarily for the gang.
I believed the folks, they have been actually captivated with racing, and I do know they have been upset that we didn’t return once we determined to try this. Yeah, that’s a spot that I’d like to revisit in some unspecified time in the future.
