NASCAR MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 19, 2022

Ben Kennedy

Lori Lightfoot

Press Conference

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: Thank you to the media for joining us. Welcome to today's post press conference Zoom availability with Ben Kennedy and Mayor Lori Lightfoot, mayor of the city of Chicago.

We had an exciting press conference today, big announcement of the Chicago street course next year on July 2nd, 2023.

Maybe we'll just start off, Ben, with you. Talk about a quick overview of your thoughts of today, the big announcement, all the work that went into this exciting announcement.

BEN KENNEDY: Yeah, thank you. A monumental day for the sport of NASCAR. We'll be celebrating our 75th anniversary next year and we'll be having our very first street race in our sport's history here at downtown Chicago.

Really such a special day. A big thank you to the city of Chicago, certainly Mayor Lori Lightfoot here, Cara Bachman at the Sports Commission, everyone that helped bring this to fruition.

It was another vision that our team had a couple years ago, and it's so great to see it here for the announcement.

THE MODERATOR: Now to you, Mayor. Onstage you mentioned it perfectly: this is the sports city, amazing sports city. What does it mean to have NASCAR join the ranks of the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, Bears, so many others?

LORI LIGHTFOOT: I think there's going to be a tremendous amount of excitement. We already saw that today by passers-by joining the earlier announcement that the NASCAR Nation is going to gravitate towards Chicago. First-of-its-kind road race in the city of Chicago. They're going to be passing by very iconic parts of our city, including Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain, Soldier Field, Millennium Park, the list goes on and on.

I think this is going to be an opportunity to showcase the city on an international stage. We are extraordinarily excited. Hats off to NASCAR. They've been tremendous partners, Ben and his mom and the whole NASCAR team. We are really super excited for July 2023.

THE MODERATOR: I'm showing a fly-over of the course that we'll see in actuality, in reality next July. Ben, Mayor, I will leave it up to you to maybe give us some perspective of what we're watching, the turns, passing zones, some of the iconic landmarks that we'll be flying through.

I will share my screen and start rolling the video.

BEN KENNEDY: I can jump in, and Mayor, certainly feel free to add some light to it as well.

Yeah, the setting is downtown Chicago, right in the heart of Grant Park. We're just going to do a quick fly-through here. Going south down Columbus. Buckingham Fountain off to the left. Off to the right, a lot of suites and hospitality areas we're going to create.

This is where pit road is going to be, on the right, the racing groove on the left. Make a left onto Balbo, a right onto Lake Shore. Then we're heading south down Lake Shore. Stage to the right. They're going to make a right around Roosevelt, then we'll come back up on Columbus.

I'll say it, when we head northbound here on Columbus, it's going to be our widest portion of the track. Seven lanes wide. I think a lot of passing zones there. The entire Chicago skyline as a backdrop, which is certainly going to be something remarkable.

I think we're jumping ahead, so now we're on Balbo. We're going to make a right back onto Michigan here. The half circle, which is Congress, connects to Ida B. Wells, and then the cars will cross back to Michigan again. They'll make their penultimate turn here onto Jackson, then come up on their final corner which will bring them back to Columbus and the start/finish line. A 2.2 mile 12-turn course in the heart of Chicago.

We'll probably fly through some of the hospitality areas here. Still in design and working on what this would look like. These aren't the final renderings.

A two-story structure that our team has been taking a look at, a lot of hospitality options in and around here. Also suites and grandstands on this side. A lot of GA areas spread out around the park.

Really want to make it a mobile-friendly venue and event, really something special for our fans. I think the track will put on just a tremendous race.

LORI LIGHTFOOT: If I can jump in. I think what you've seen in this kind of virtual tour provides not only I think great sight lines for our iconic Grant Park, but what I also envision is not only fans taking advantage of the stands that are going to be set up, but you're going to see viewing parties that are going to be hosted in a lot of these downtown highrises and hotels.

I think the opportunities for viewing, but also the opportunities for our hospitality industry, to really benefit from this great race are going to be off the charts.

So we're excited and I think it's nothing that's happened before in the city of Chicago. I think it just opens up the innovation and boldness that NASCAR has really become known for.

Again, it's going to be a tremendous partnership.

THE MODERATOR: You clearly get NASCAR. That's exactly right. Beautiful.

We'll open it up to questions to the media.

Q. The video made the roads look very smooth. Is everything going to be repaved? What other construction would need to be done prior to the event? Do any of the medians or anything need to be removed or altered?

BEN KENNEDY: That's a good question, Bob. We've certainly been working with some of the different city departments on what this would look like, CDOT in particular. We've had our design, development and competition folks look at the surface. We have had one of our asphalt experts look at the surface as well.

I would say I thankfully had the opportunity to drive around the park earlier today. The roads are in really good condition. I think there will probably be a few small improvements that will need to be made.

For the most part I think it will be in really good shape. With our Next Gen cars and the way they've been designed, we'll certainly be able to take on the streets well.

Q. Could you give some specific reasons as to why this location and this layout made the most sense, whether it's the footprint, backdrop...

BEN KENNEDY: I think for us, and we looked at a handful of different locations around the city of Chicago, Grant Park was one that came to mind almost instantaneously. You think about how iconic that park is, Buckingham Fountain, all the special and iconic shots of the city skyline and monuments around that park. Certainly a very special place.

It just so happened that we were able to create a course on iRacing with our partners and be able to actually test it in the summer of last year with our Cup drivers to get feedback on the course. Thankfully the feedback was really positive from a racing perspective.

I think it will offer many different passing zones. I think it's a perfect setting for it. The city puts on some amazing events down in Grant Park. Great to be just another one on that list.

LORI LIGHTFOOT: I would just add, first and foremost, we needed to obviously work with NASCAR to make sure that the location that was picked made sense for the driving and the drivers.

But from our perspective, as Ben just said, we put on big events in our downtown, particularly around Grant Park, on a regular basis all throughout our spring, summer and fall. We know how to do this.

We'll be working hand and glove with NASCAR to make sure that the experience is safe but also incredibly enjoyable for the fans.

If you know anything about the city of Chicago, you probably know our tremendous lakefront and icons like Grant Park and Buckingham Fountain. I'm looking forward to showcasing our fantastic city on a global stage. We're going to do everything we can to make sure that this race is a love letter to the city of Chicago.

Q. Ben, you looked at other locations. Were there any outside downtown, close to choosing, or...

BEN KENNEDY: No, we looked at a handful of them. I would say, again, Grant Park is really a no-brainer for us. Again, with the great city streets that Chicago has to offer, the number of events they've had here. You think about the aerial shots when NBC covers this event next year, flying over Lake Michigan, flying over Grant Park, having that iconic Chicago skyline as a backdrop, it's going to be nothing like anyone has ever seen before.

A great city to be in for our first-ever street course race and I can't think of a better location in the city of Chicago than Grant Park.

Q. The IMSA race, is that a WeatherTech race, Michelin...

BEN KENNEDY: Good question. Working very closely with John Doonan and their team. It will be one of the eight IMSA sanctioned series. Not sure exactly what that series is going to be.

No, it's going to be a great addition to the weekend schedule.

Q. What is the cost for the city to pay for this event?

LORI LIGHTFOOT: We'll be working out the details on this with NASCAR. Once we have those specifics we'll be happy to share them with you.

I will also say this, kind of corollary to your question of what are the benefits to your city. While this is a first of its kind, we don't have hard numbers yet, an event like Lollapalooza has a more than $300 million impact. We expect this to be a substantial financial benefit to the city and particularly for our hotels, our restaurants and other forms of entertainment.

Q. Ben, when did the genesis for this idea come about? When did you start working on it?

BEN KENNEDY: I'd say the genesis for this idea was actually probably sometime around when we came up with the idea of the L.A. Coliseum in the fall of 2019. Kind of had this concept that we'd been working on for a little while, working with (indiscernible) to fruition for the virtual event last year.

I would say the work really started probably a year or so ago. Really over the past 90 days I would say a majority of that work has happened, culminating in today's event.

Certainly a lot of work that's been done. To the Mayor's point, a lot of work we still have to do in site planning, ultimately the different elements of the event.

We'll certainly be working hand-in-hand with the city and the city departments to make sure that we do that, we make a special experience for those attending and for the folks in Chicago, that we have a positive impact here and really kind of just a minimal impact on lifestyle as well.

Q. Mayor, you said you're going to be working with NASCAR to finalize the details. Is there a way this race could not come to fruition next year?

LORI LIGHTFOOT: I don't see that happening. I say that in the context of coming out of a global pandemic. We can't look into a crystal ball and know what's going to happen.

All things being equal, it is full steam ahead. We are very, very excited about this partnership and working with NASCAR and bringing I think this incredibly important opportunity to our residents and really to a global stage.

Q. Mr. Kennedy, what do you tell the folks at Road America? That seemed to be a pretty successful venue, a lot of fans, lot of buzz about that. Now they're kind of left out in the dark, so to speak.

BEN KENNEDY: Yeah, I think that's a fair question. We've had some great racing at Road America, certainly the past few years with the NASCAR Cup Series, much longer than that with the NASCAR Xfinity Series. They've been great partners. We've seen a great turnout from a fan perspective as well. We've seen some great racing there.

That said, it is unfortunate we're not going back in 2023. Just because it's a no for 2023 doesn't mean it's necessarily a no forever. We've got some great partners up there. We'll certainly share more about what other national series' schedules look like in the future.

I think part of the calculus of the decision certainly similar kind of market, as you think about the proximity of the two venues from each other.

Then I think it's also important as we think about the number of types of tracks we have on the schedule. Something that we've heard is kind of the number of road courses, continuing to add road courses on the schedule. It's important that we don't oversaturate ourselves.

I won't say that's the emphasis to the decision. There were a number of things that went into that decision. But certainly really appreciate all that they've done up there, and we'll certainly be in touch with them.

THE MODERATOR: Mayor Lightfoot, I thank you so much with all your time. We're going to let you go. You have a busy rest of the day. Thank you for joining us for so much time starting early why the press conference. Congratulations on this big announcement.

LORI LIGHTFOOT: Thank you. Look forward to seeing you all next year here in our great city.

THE MODERATOR: We'll continue with questions for Ben Kennedy.

Q. It's a radical decision. Sometimes with radical decisions comes pushback from a legacy fan who doesn't know what to make of it. For the skeptics, what you want them to know about why this is not only good for NASCAR but for them as a fan?

BEN KENNEDY: Thanks for your question.

I think when we think about all of our scheduling initiatives, it's a fine balance, right? We want to continue to celebrate the tradition and the legacy that a lot of our events have. Whether it be the Daytona 500, the Coke 600, Bristol night race, Darlington on Labor Day weekend, those are all iconic moments in our schedule.

That said, where there's opportunities for us, L.A. Coliseum being Exhibit A of that, we're going to innovate and be bold.

I think for us, take the Coliseum as an example, being able to do something like that in a downtown location that's fun, that's exciting, that's a little bit different, certainly we had a lot of our avid fans come out which is fantastic, we also had a lot of new fans come out as well.

I think we'll see the same thing here in Chicago. Probably a lot of fans that went to Chicagoland, Road America, might come out and experience the event here in Chicago. Frankly we'll probably also have a lot of new fans as well, folks that may not have been to a NASCAR race before and may want to come to watch racing, see the A list headliners that we're going to have on the stage, or just be able to experience it.

That's all part of our strategic rationale behind it. I think as we think longer term, certainly opens doors for us similar to the Coliseum, to new markets in the future as well.

Q. The Next Gen car has been successful. If Chicago is basically Martinsville with a couple of right turns from looking at it, are you guys getting to a place of confidence after the test at Martinsville and some of the other things that you want to try to not only get ready for that race this fall but for some of the challenges this track could have?

BEN KENNEDY: Yeah, no, I'd say to your point the racing this year, if you look at every metric across the board, whether it's passes for the lead, passes throughout the field, the margin of victory, the delta between first and second, almost every one of those metrics are up significantly or even the highest we've ever seen since we started electronic scoring.

A majority of that has happened at the intermediate tracks. Some of the short tracks have work to do. Steve O'Donnell, John Probst, the R&D center are testing things at Martinsville Speedway. That's certainly a focus of ours both as we think about the existing schedule and putting on the best racing for our fans from now through Phoenix, but as we think about this event next year as well.

I think the Next Gen will lend itself well to the streets of Chicago. But we're certainly going to be working closely with teams, OEs and our drivers to make sure that it really puts on a good race here, certainly alongside Goodyear as well, put on a great race for our fans.

Q. In the mid 1980s NASCAR floated having an LR series, a left-right series. They tabled that probably because of the car. What instrumental role or how instrumental was the role of this Next Gen car knowing it was the correct time to go street course racing for NASCAR?

BEN KENNEDY: That's a great question.

I think the Next Gen car is a big part of that. Certainly we didn't develop the Next Gen car to go street course racing, but the Next Gen car I think is going to perform really well on a street course.

We've seen some decent racing this year on the road courses so far. I think the racing product itself will be very similar to it.

With the kind of ride height that the Next Gen cars have, then the look and style of them actually going around the streets with the relevance that our OE partners developed into them, I think they're going to look phenomenal on the streets here in Chicago, but they're going to put on a great race for our fans as well.

Certainly the Next Gen car has been a huge part of that. I know they will be really, really exciting to watch here in Chicago.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you all for joining today. Ben, thank you for your time. To the media, thank you for your time. Have a great rest of the day.

BEN KENNEDY: Thank you, everyone, for your time.