Route 66 Raceway is a

motorsports Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of tw ...

facility located in Joliet,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, which consists of a

dragstrip A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile (1320 feet, 402 m) is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201&n ...

and a dirt oval racetrack. The facility is owned and operated by

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

and is located adjacent to

Chicagoland Speedway Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyC ...

History

The facility was built in 1998, funded by nine local entrepreneurs headed by Indy car owner

Dale Coyne Dale Coyne (born July 8, 1954 in Minooka, Illinois) is an IndyCar Series team owner and former Champ Car auto racing team owner and driver. Driving career Coyne made his CART debut in 1984 at Portland and failed to qualify. He attempted to make ...

. The inaugural season saw 90 days of racing activity between the two tracks. In 1999, ISC partnered with the founders of the facility when it purchased of land adjacent to the facility to build Chicagoland Speedway. The quarter-mile, $20 million drag strip features a four-story, 38-suite complex. The 30,000-seat grandstand surrounds the start line and features 40 rows of fully backed seats. In 2010, the dragstrip was repaved. Also on the facility is a now-defunct , 15-turn road course, a temporary off-road track inside the dirt oval, and a paved driving pad. The dirt oval was shortened to a 3/8 mile facility in 2017, since then the dirt track has seen a resurgence with top-flight series such as the World of Outlaws returning to the facility. However, in 2022 the dirt oval posted a full card of events, including concerts. Then, for no explained reason they removed the concerts and then canceled race events one-by-one about a week before the event was to take place. On-Line tickets have been sold for these events, and there have been reports of people having trouble getting refunds. As of July 27, 2022, onlLine tickets for supposed upcoming events are now not for sale.

Events

The dragstrip hosted a round of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series from 1998 to 2019, and is scheduled to return in 2023. The

AMA Supercross Championship The AMA Supercross Championship (commercially known as Monster Energy AMA Supercross) is an American motorcycle racing series. Founded by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1974, the AMA Supercross Championship races are held from J ...

raced there in 2000 on a Daytona-style course on the dragstrip. The dirt oval track has hosted the

All Star Circuit of Champions The All Star Circuit of Champions (abbreviated ASCoC), officially known as the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 for naming rights reasons, is an American motorsports sanctioning body of winged sprint car racing founded in ...

in 1998, 2018, 2019 and 2021, the

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series The World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American motorsports sanctioning body. The body sanctions two major national touring series. It is best known for sanctioning the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Lat ...

from 1998 to 2002 and later in 2005 and 2017, the

World of Outlaws Late Model Series The World of Outlaws Case Construction Late Model Series is a Dirt Super Late Model touring series currently owned by World Racing Group, and is sanctioned by the World of Outlaws & DIRTcar. The series competes on dirt ovals across the Unite ...

in 2017, the USAC National Sprint Car Championship and USAC National Midget Series from 2001 to 2004, and the latter again in 2019. Route 66 has also hosted

American Flat Track American Flat Track is an American motorcycle racing series. The racing series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including mile dirt track ra ...

and TORC: The Off Road Championship events, as well as monster truck shows and demolition derbies.

References

External links

Official Website

The Dirt Oval at Route 66 Raceway
at The Third Turn {{Coord, 41.4641, -88.0751, type:landmark_region:US-IL, display=title Motorsport venues in Illinois NHRA Division 3 drag racing venues Sports venues in Joliet, Illinois Buildings and structures on U.S. Route 66 Off-road racing venues in the United States