Chicago

The growth of oval racing in North America at the turn of the millennium was amply displayed in the Chicago area where two speedways opened within a couple of years of each other.

The growth of oval racing in North America at the turn of the millennium was amply displayed in the Chicago area where two speedways opened within a couple of years of each other. Chip Ganassi opened the 67,000 capacity 1-mile Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, Illinois in 1999, two years ahead of the rival Chicagoland was ready. Built around an active horse track (Hawthorne), the circuit was very wide with shallow six-degree banking. However, the 2002 Champ Car event only went ahead when CART took over as promoters and the venue soon closed.