RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski, driving the No. 6 Makers Wanted Ford Mustang sponsored by Elk Grove Village, stops in pit row to change tires during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street Race. (Photo by Kevin Bowman, submitted by the Village of Elk Grove Village)
The NASCAR Chicago Street Race, featuring Brad Keselowski in the No. 6 Makers Wanted Ford Mustang sponsored by Elk Grove Village, was a wet and wild affair, which Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said gave the village exactly the visibility they were looking for. .
The event reportedly generated the highest television audiences NASCAR has seen in six years. Reports indicate that the event attracted an overall audience of 4.8 million viewers and, towards the end of the race, a peak of 5.38 million viewers.
Elk Grove Village funded two television commercials and a sponsored “mention” by television commentators with the village’s Makers Wanted logo displayed on screen.
The first commercial aired shortly after Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields, the race’s grand commissioner, uttered those most famous words in auto racing: “Gentlemen, start your engines.” Johnson said the ad placement allowed prime-time exposure to the village.
The second commercial came later in the race as the commentators mentioned it near the end after a big pileup on the track.
A screenshot of RFK Racing’s Makers Wanted Ford Mustang, No. 6 NASCAR race car in front of Elk Grove HIgh School, in a nationally broadcast commercial during the NASCAR Chicago Street Race on Sunday, July 2 .
Johnson said Wednesday there have yet to be any signs of interest from those watching the race. He and village officials hope to see another sponsorship, like the village’s sponsorship of the Bahamas Bowl when a top Love’s Travel Stops official watching the game saw an Elk Grove Village ad, which piqued his interest. A few years later, a new prototype of Love’s Travel Stop opened on Busse Road in the village’s business park, bringing tax revenue to the village that Johnson estimates at $1 million a year.
Johnson said that after the race, family members and village employees told him they heard from friends from as far away as the East Coast who said they had seen the Elk Grove Village Makers Wanted ads. In the weeks leading up to the race, village trustees approved an additional $50,000 on top of the $400,000 marketing contract for ads to run nationally during Sunday’s race.
At the end of the late-start race, Keselowski came in 24th place in a field of 37 drivers. Sunday’s race started late due to rain and finished early due to darkness with only 78 of 100 laps completed.
Due to wet pavement, the race was run slower than most other NASCAR races with an average speed of 60.2 mph. The cars started with tires closer to regular road tires while the track was still wet, before switching to “slicks”, which are tires without tread.
The team uniform of the No. 6 Elk Grove Village-sponsored Ford Mustang, driven by RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski, during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street Race. (Photo by Kevin Bowman, submitted by the Village of Elk Grove Village)
In a video posted before the race on Keselowski’s Facebook page, the driver and owner of RFK Racing said: “This is my first time in Chicago. I’m trying to be smart, I don’t want to wreck, it’ll be super easy to get in trouble” on the Chicago course.
There were a number of crashes during the race, including one involving the #6 Makers Wanted early on. For the most part, including the one in which Keselowski’s car got stuck between two others, the cars involved in Sunday’s crashes suffered minor damage and, in most cases, continued to race.
Elk Grove Village has a two-year sponsorship with Keselowski’s RFK Racing and marketing company Banner Collective with an option for a third year.
The Makers Wanted No. 6 has appeared at several pre-race events and was most recently seen at Tuesday’s (July 4) KC and Sunshine Band concert and fireworks at the Rotary Green.
Kids race in the #6 Makers Wanted RFK Racing NASCAR Race car mini cars at Elk Grove Village Cares’ fifth anniversary event in June. (Tom Wessell/Newspaper Photo)
The Chicago Street Race, centered in and around Grant Park, was the first to take place on existing city streets in NASCAR’s 75-year history.
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