The Fourth of July weekend is always an exciting time, and since 2023, the excitement has been turned up another notch. That’s because NASCAR is heading up north for the third annual Chicago Street Race, the Grant Park 165! Get all the information you need to watch the race live on Sunday, July 6th, 2025.
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Grant Park 165 Race Information
Date & Time: Sunday, July 6 at 2 p.m. ET
Course: Chicago’s Grant Park area, 12 turns
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Distance: 75 2.2-mile laps (165 miles)
How to Watch: TNT, Max
How to Watch the NASCAR Chicago Street Race Live
Fans can tune into the CW, truTV and TNT to get all the weekend racing action, from practice sessions to the final lap.
Specifically, NASCAR-lovers should tune into TNT at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 6th to watch the third NASCAR street course race in history. Fans can also tune in to stream the Grant Park 165 live on Max.
For DIRECTV customers, find truTV on channel 246, TNT on channel 245 and your local CW station here.
NASCAR Chicago Street Race Weekend Schedule
This weekend is one of the newest, biggest and most thrilling weekends of the entire NASCAR Cup Series season. Not only will your favorite Cup Series drivers take to the streets of Chicago to battle it out for victory, but there’s a ton of other activities going on that you can also enjoy from home! Satisfy your need for speed throughout the weekend by also watching the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday, July 5th, leading up to the Cup Series showdown on Sunday.
Check out the schedule below which includes what channel to tune into to ensure you don’t miss a moment of the action-packed racing weekend.
Saturday, July 5th Schedule
| Time | Series | Event | Network |
| 10:30 a.m. ET | Xfinity Series | Practice | CW App |
| 11:30 a.m. ET | Xfinity Series | Qualifying | CW App |
| 1 p.m. ET | Cup Series | Practice | truTV |
| 2 p.m. ET | Cup Series | Qualifying | truTV |
| 4:30 p.m. ET | Xfinity Series | The Loop 110 | CW |
Sunday, July 6th Schedule
| Time | Series | Event | Network |
| 2 p.m. ET | Cup Series | Grant Park 165 | TNT, Max (Streaming) |
What’s Different About the Grant Park 165 Race?
The Grant Park 165 is unlike any other NASCAR race for a variety of reasons, the biggest of which you’ll find below.
In-Season Challenge
To inject more excitement into an already thrilling NASCAR season, the league unveiled a new initiative in 2025: the NASCAR In-Season Challenge. This competition spans five races broadcasted live on TNT, with drivers vying for a $1 million prize. It features a 32-driver, single-elimination format, where the top finisher in each matchup progresses to the subsequent round.
How Was the In-Season Challenge Bracket Seeded?
Three seeding races took place at Michigan International Speedway (June 8), Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez (June 15) and Pocono Raceway (June 22). Drivers were ranked based on their best performance in these events.
| Seed (1-16) |
Driver | Seed (17-32) |
Driver |
| 1 | Hamlin | 17 | Keselowski |
| 2 | Briscoe | 18 | Byron |
| 3 | Buescher | 19 | Cindric |
| 4 | Bell | 20 | Jones |
| 5 | Elliott | 21 | Berry |
| 6 | Gibbs | 22 | Allmendinger |
| 7 | Blaney | 23 | Reddick |
| 8 | Bowman | 24 | Suárez |
| 9 | Wallace | 25 | Logano |
| 10 | Larson | 26 | Hocevar |
| 11 | McDowell | 27 | Haley |
| 12 | Nemechek | 28 | A. Dillon |
| 13 | Chastain | 29 | Stenhouse Jr. |
| 14 | Smith | 30 | Gilliland |
| 15 | Preece | 31 | Gragson |
| 16 | Busch | 32 | T. Dillon |
The first In-Season Challenge race took place on June 28th at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), in which half of the original 32-car field were eliminated, leaving the following to compete head-to-head at the Chicago Street Race:
| Seed | Driver | vs. | Seed | Driver |
| 17 | Brad Keselowski | vs | 32 | Ty Dillon |
| 15 | Ryan Preece | vs | 31 | Noah Gragson |
| 8 | Alex Bowman | vs | 9 | Bubba Wallace |
| 23 | Tyler Reddick | vs | 26 | Carson Hocevar |
| 5 | Chase Elliott | vs | 12 | John H Nemechek |
| 6 | Ty Gibbs | vs | 22 | AJ Allmendinger |
| 20 | Erik Jones | vs | 29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 3 | Chris Buescher | vs | 14 | Zane Smith |
The higher-finishing driver in each matchup will move on to the next challenge. After the Chicago Street Race, the second of five In-Season Challenge races, drivers will compete at Sonoma Raceway (July 13), Dover Motor Speedway (July 20) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 27) until only one is left standing as the In-Season Champion.
History
The Grant Park race is one of NASCAR’s newest, with the inaugural Grant Park event taking place in 2023.
Over the holiday weekend, Cup Series drivers will enter a type of race different than they’re used to for the third time: a street race. Rather than racing around a four-turn, oval racetrack, Cup Series drivers need to channel their inner F1 driver and rethink their strategy for a less predictable race format on the streets of the great city of Chicago.
Past Chicago Street Race Winners
The first-ever Cup Series winner of the Grant Park race (previously called the Grant Park 220) was three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen. Behind van Gisbergen by 1.259 seconds was No. 31, Justin Haley, followed by Chase Elliot in third.
In 2024, the race concluded with Alex Bowman coming in first place, with Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs close behind (2.863 seconds and 2.930 seconds, respectively).
Course Layout
The following map lays out what the street race course will look like, provided by NASCAR Chicago:
The 2025 race will follow the same 12-turn, 2.2-mile loop that passes by many of Chicago’s most well-known attractions and landmarks for a total of 165 miles.
Fans will watch as drivers speed down iconic streets like Columbus Drive, Michigan Avenue and along DuSable Lake Shore Drive, with a stunning view of Lake Michigan.
Some of the landmarks you can expect to see include Buckingham Fountain, Art Institute of Chicago and the start and finish line of the Chicago Marathon.
Chicago Street Course Safety Measures and Preparations
Hosting a race in one of the busiest cities in the country calls for some serious measures to keep drivers and fans safe. Based on the first race, the organization tweaked some things to make the day go more smoothly for drivers, fans and local residents.
According to Chicago Street Race, the 2.2-mile course is ready for action:
“The 2.2-mile course will be fully enclosed by a barrier & fence system widely used by street courses across the world. It’s comprised of a series of concrete blocks with a fence attached to the top. This temporary barrier system is approved by the FIA, the worldwide governing body of motorsports.”
Investing in Chicago
A key motivation for introducing the street race in Chicago was to expand NASCAR’s presence into new regions across the country. However, NASCAR also understands the importance of contributing to the communities they join. To achieve this, NASCAR Chicago operates a full-time office throughout the year, engaging with the community alongside local partners.
They have invested over $5 million in community-driven initiatives, collaborating with organizations such as the Special Olympics of Illinois, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Park District and more.
Watch the Grant Park 165 on DIRECTV
NASCAR’s third annual Chicago Street Race is coming up quickly, and it’s not an event you want to miss. DIRECTV customers can catch the race broadcast on Sunday, July 6, 2025, at 2 p.m. ET on TNT.
And if you’re looking for more NASCAR content, stick around.
Learn more about DIRECTV’s NASCAR coverage now.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Grant Park 165?
The Grant Park 165 is the second annual NASCAR Chicago Street Race taking place Sunday, July 6th at 2 p.m. ET.
Where can I watch the Grant Park 165?
The Grant Park 165 will be broadcast live on TNT on Sunday, July 6th.
Who won the 2024 NASCAR Chicago Street Race?
Alex Bowman
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