Major cities are offering tax and grant incentives to host NASCAR races. As the 2025 season nears, local governments use hotel-bed taxes, state grants and other public funding to attract major events.
Chicago’s Grant Park street race is set for July 5-6, 2025 under a three-year deal with the Park District. The city’s 2023 street race was credited with $108.9 million in economic impact. NASCAR’s traditional season-opening Clash exhibition will move to Winston-Salem’s Bowman Gray Stadium in 2025, another sign of cities courting NASCAR.
Officials tout big payoffs. In North Carolina, the state allocated $18 million in federal relief to rehab North Wilkesboro Speedway and lure the 2023 All-Star race. A Commerce Dept. report says that race added $42 million to the state’s economy and created 625 jobs.
Tennessee likewise passed tourism-tax laws (the Event Tourism Act) to subsidize Bristol’s NASCAR events. Texas legislators even made NASCAR’s All-Star and championship races eligible for a state “Major Events” tax-rebate fund, giving Fort Worth a tool to court big sporting events.
Key benefits drive these deals:
- Tourism spending. Fans flood local hotels, restaurants and shops during race weekends. Bristol, TN draws ~150,000 fans per Cup weekend and about $100 million in local spending.
- Tax revenue. Large events boost hotel and sales taxes. Chicago’s 2024 street race generated $75.5 million in lodging and spending, for a total $128.1 million impact, generating about $9.6 million in new state/local tax revenue.
- Job creation. Races often support hundreds of jobs. Chicago’s street race was estimated to create or sustain 865 jobs. North Wilkesboro’s 2023 All-Star brought ~625 part-time jobs.
- City branding. Big races raise a city’s profile. Daytona Speedway claims ~$1.6 billion/year in local impact, showing how the “heads-in-beds” effect boosts tourism.
Officials say the economic lift often outweighs the public cost. NASCAR is expanding to new markets – reports say cities such as San Diego, Cincinnati and Baltimore are in talks to host future street races. Cities hope that by offering tax breaks and grants now, they will lock in multi-year events and sustained tourism benefits.
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