NASCAR’s Grant Park street races get official names

Chicago’s NASCAR street races at Grant Park finally have official names. The Cup Series race will be named the Grant Park 220 and the Xfinity Series race will be The Loop 121.

The Grant Park 220 will be a 220-mile race with 100 laps run on Sunday, July 2. The Loop 121 will be 121 miles with 55 laps run on Saturday, July 1. To recognize the 220 miles in the Cup Series race, the Chicago Street Race will send 220 local children (ages 6-12) to the Chicago Park District’s Summer Day Camp.

“For the first-ever Cup Series street race in NASCAR’s 75-year history, we are proud to continue to have a positive impact in the Chicago community by sending one local youth for each mile of the Grant Park 220 to the Chicago Park District’s Summer Day Camp,” Chicago Street Race President Julie Giese said in a statement.

NASCAR has previously said the races could add $113 million into the local economy.

The races should also attract many people from out of town — 65% of the expected 100,000 attendees — and fill up downtown hotel rooms and broadcasting scenic parts of downtown across the world to millions.