NASCAR is beefing up its sponsorship of next month’s Chicago Street Race with the addition of Arby’s.

The fast-food chain was announced as a “founding partner” Wednesday of the third annual race around the pop-up Grant Park course during the Fourth of July weekend. Arby’s joins Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and Xfinity as major sponsors of the event.

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“This marks an exciting moment for our brand in the world of motorsports, with one of the most dynamic and groundbreaking events in racing,” Jeff Baker, chief marketing officer at Arby’s, said in a news release. “Nothing goes better with NASCAR than one of our delicious Arby’s sandwiches, and we can’t wait to bring the meats to the streets for race fans and Arby’s fans in Chicago and beyond.”

Arby’s, which is new to NASCAR, is replacing Chicago-based McDonald’s as a major sponsor of the street race.

In addition to race weekend visibility and promotions, Arby’s is offering chances through June 22 to win tickets to the Chicago Street Race at 47 restaurants in the city and suburbs. The unique event on the NASCAR calendar features an Xfinity Series race on July 5, and the nationally televised Grant Park 165 Cup Series race on July 6.

The announcement comes as NASCAR and the city are gearing up for a more streamlined race weekend event with a smaller concert lineup, downsized hospitality buildout, reduced ticket prices and an accelerated setup/breakdown schedule.

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Southern rockers the Zac Brown Band, scheduled to perform after the Xfinity Series race, are the only musical headliners on the bill for year three. But NASCAR is planning to add a miniature golf course and other family-friendly activities to the festivities.

The Grant Park 165 on Sunday is scheduled to start at 1 p.m., 2½ hours earlier than last year, in the hopes of finally finishing the race, which was shortened by inclement weather the first two years. The Cup Series broadcast is also moving from NBC to cable channel TNT.

Tickets, which went on sale in January, are less expensive this year. Single-day general admission passes start at $99 — a third less than last year — while premium grandstand reserved seats are priced at a nearly 50% reduction. Children 12 and under are free both days, with an accompanying adult.

The Chicago Street Race will once again feature a 12-turn, 2.2-mile course through Grant Park, down DuSable Lake Shore Drive and up Michigan Avenue, which will be closed off and lined with fences, grandstands and hospitality suites. But a relocated concert stage will replace the Skyline, a mammoth temporary structure along Columbus Drive that last year housed the most expensive suites overlooking the start/finish line at Buckingham Fountain.

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Street closings for the buildout have been reduced to 18 days. The first shutdown is set for June 19, with all streets to be reopened by July 14.

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NASCAR is in the third and final year of an inaugural agreement with the city to host the Chicago Street Race, a deal struck during Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration.

Last year, the race generated $128 million in total economic impact and drew 53,036 unique visitors, according to a study commissioned by Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism arm.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

Denny Hamlin has revealed that he and Michael Jordan’s NASCAR team almost had a very different name to 23XI Racing before the pair have taken NASCAR to court

Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan are currently locked in a legal dispute with NASCAR to retain the charter status of their team, 23XI Racing. But it has now emerged their team could have had a very different name.

Their lawsuit against the racing circuit suffered a setback this week when a federal court denied their temporary injunction, casting doubt on the charter status of 23XI Racing for the remainder of the year. The team initially sued NASCAR for claiming an excessive share of the earnings, with their lawyers labeling NASCAR as “monopolistic bullies”.

Drivers Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick have both been in agreement responding to the situation publicly, while Hamlin addressed his exodus fears last week before winning in Michigan and creating an awkward situation with Jordan and his legal team in the aftermath.

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Hamlin and Jordan teamed up to establish 23XI Racing in 2020. In his latest ‘Actions Detrimental’ podcast, Hamlin disclosed that the team almost had a completely different name.

The duo eventually settled on 23XI, with 23 being a tribute to Jordan’s iconic number and 11 referencing the No. 11 Toyota Camry that Hamlin drives (currently for Joe Gibbs Racing).

“We were doing renderings and all this stuff, but you know, on all the gear like it was 6XI,” Hamlin added. “6XI was our team name for a while, but I just, I was like, eh, let’s change. Let’s rethink.”.

The plan was to use the number six to reference Jordan’s total NBA Championships before eventually going for a different approach. While they settled on a name and have had success on track, the situation they are facing remains uncertain.

“We are committed to running this season as an open team if required, even before the injunction decision,” Hamlin declared, even after a federal appellate panel ruled in favor of NASCAR.

“We are disappointed by today’s ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and are reviewing the decision to determine our next steps,” expressed Jeffery Kessler, attorney for 23XI and Front Row Motorsports, aligning with 23XI.

“This ruling is based on a very narrow consideration of whether a release of claims in the charter agreements is anti-competitive and does not impact our chances of winning at trial scheduled for Dec. 1.

In an earlier segment of the podcast, Hamlin talked about clinching the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, marking his third win in the 2025 Cup Series season. He’s currently trailing behind Kyle Larson, who leads the standings.

Daniel Suarez believes the NASCAR Cup Series debut in Mexico City will open a “whole new world of opportunities” in regards to driver sponsorships — with one multibillionaire already getting involved in the inaugural race.

This weekend, NASCAR will travel to Mexico City for the first Cup Series points race held outside the United States since 1958. Suarez — the sole Mexican-born driver to ever win a NASCAR national series event — is relishing the opportunity to race in front of his home crowd.

For the historic race, Suarez has secured a special sponsorship deal with Telcel, a Mexican wireless telecommunications company. The business is a subsidiary of America Movil, whose owner Carlos Slim Helu ranks as one of the richest people in the world with a net worth of approximately $93.8 billion.

“For many years, I never had a sponsor deal with a company from Mexico because I wasn’t racing there,” Suarez explained. “So right now that we’re going to be having an event down there, it opens a whole new world of opportunities and that’s great, not just … obviously for me, but for the entire sport.”

Suarez has struggled mightily this year, as the No. 99 Chevrolet driver sits 28th in the points standings entering Sunday’s race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Despite the growing pressure to perform and replicate his success from a season prior, he asserted that the heightened expectations are nothing new to him.

“It’s not the first time that I’ve been in this position,” Suarez said. “Definitely the first time with the Mexico race, but it’s not the first time that I’ve been in the position that we have to win or in the position that we have a contract negotiation in the middle [of the season].

“It’s definitely a distraction. I won’t sit here and tell you that it doesn’t really matter. I’m trying to be as smart as possible and to put all this stuff on the side and just do my thing on the track.”

Time is of the essence for Suarez to secure a Cup Series victory and punch his ticket to the playoffs — especially given the fact that he does not have a contract locked in for the 2026 campaign.

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Regardless, Suarez insisted that he wouldn’t let the outside noise take away from this special race weekend in his home country. “The Mexico race is something that I’ve been hoping and waiting on for many, many years, and I’m not going to let anything else from outside take that week and that moment from myself,” he said.

“We have to just continue to put one foot in front of the other and continue to move forward. I think that in Trackhouse, we have found some decent speed in the last few weeks, so that’s promising, and hopefully we can continue to move in that direction.”

NASCAR star Chase Elliott will pilot a new look No. 9 car later this month for the Cup Series Saturday night race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with the Hendrick Motorsports driver showing his class to the tune of half a million dollars.

The 2020 Cup Series champion, who recently apologized to the state of Michigan and made a very telling comment before being told “enough is enough” by his frustrated fans after the FireKeepers 400,is set to continue his partnership with NAPA and Hendrick Motorsports to collaborate with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta via his foundation for the ninth edition of its “DESI9N TO DRIVE”.

Launched in 2017, the program, which has been supported by the Chase Elliott Foundation, has raised and donated nearly $500,000 to ‘Children’s’ over the first eight years since its inception.

Come June 28th, Elliott’s Chevrolet and uniform will feature a design from a pediatric cancer patient at ‘Children’s’ with fans also being given the opportunity to win the 29-year-old’s gear from the race via an online sweepstake.

They will also have the opportunity to have a meet-and-greet experience with Elliott with all donations made via the sweepstakes fundraiser benefiting the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of ‘Children’s’, which opened last fall on a new hospital campus.

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“Every year, the DESI9N TO DRIVE program reminds me why I love what I do,” said Elliott in a Hendrick Motorsports statement.

“These kids pour their hearts into their artwork, and getting to meet them and see their creativity up close is incredibly inspiring. Partnering with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and NAPA at my home track always makes this one of the most meaningful weekends of the season.”

Elliott also confirmed his new scheme for later this month was created by 11-year-old cancer patient Rhealynn Mills. Posting on X, Elliott wrote: “#Desi9nToDrive is back for year No. 9 at Atlanta on June 28th! My @NAPARacing Chevy and @alpinestars race uniform features a Dream Big-themed design by 11-year-old cancer patient Rhealynn Mills!”

The 11-year-old was diagnosed with Metastatic Osteosarcoma after picking up a softball injury back in October 2022, which led to Mills needing 19 surgeries on her right leg, which was ultimately amputated.

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She now hopes to return to the softball field now she has been fitted with a prosthetic leg.

Emily Schneider, NAPA’s Senior Director of Marketing added: “It’s a privilege to once again team up with Chase and his foundation to support the incredible work being done at Children’s.

“We’re excited to unveil the inspiring designs on the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet and are proud to play a part in driving awareness and support through this year’s sweepstakes.”

Travis Carter passed away on Tuesday, June 10, following a brief stay in hospice. Carter was 75 years old.

Carter had an exceptional career in the NASCAR Cup Series, which lasted more than 30 years. Throughout his tenure, the once aspiring race car driver served in a multitude of roles, including pit crew member, crew chief, and team owner.

As a crew chief, Carter reached the top of the mountain twice in the NASCAR Cup Series.

In 1973, the then 24-year-old Carter was selected by the DeWitt Racing team to serve as the crew chief for Benny Parsons. What resulted from that hire was one of the most consistent seasons in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series for a driver.

While Parsons won just one race that season, which came at Bristol in July, an impressive string of consistent finishes, including 15 top-fives and 21 top-10s through the 28-race season, allowed Parsons to overcome seven DNFs to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Carter would spend three seasons as the crew chief for Parsons, and together, the duo also won the 1975 Daytona 500.

After a fourth-place finish in the championship standings with Bobby Allison in 1976 and a part-time effort with Dave Marcis in 1977, Carter split crew chief duties for Cale Yarborough’s No. 11 Junior Johnson & Associates race team with Tim Brewer in 1978.

Carter would collect his second NASCAR Cup Series championship during that 1978 season, which marked the third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship for Yarborough, which stood as an all-time record until Jimmie Johnson’s five-consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship streak from 2006 to 2010.

In all, Carter won more than 30 races as a crew chief to go along with his two championships.

Late in the 1990 season, Carter would form his own racing team, Travis Carter Enterprises. Over 13 years as a NASCAR Cup Series team owner, Carter’s race cars nearly started 500 races (493), and while he didn’t have any wins to show for his efforts as a team owner, Carter’s No. 23 team came dangerously close to victory lane on several occasions with Jimmy Spencer behind the wheel in the 1990s.

Carter’s team faced an uncertain future after Kmart, his team’s primary sponsor, filed for bankruptcy early in the 2002 season. The 2003 NASCAR Cup Series season would mark the final season for Travis Carter Enterprises.

The race team recorded 17 top-five finishes, 58 top-10s, and six poles. Spencer finished 14th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings in 1998, which was the best-ever point standings finish for any driver under the Travis Carter Enterprises banner.

The legendary crew chief and longtime successful team owner is survived by his wife Linda, son Matt, daughter Kim, and grandchildren Levi, Charlie, and Emma.