NASCAR to ‘limit car noise’ for the Chicago City Street Race

NASCAR's visit to the streets of Chicago in 2023 marks a historic step towards the future of the sport. The Chicago City Street Race is all set to become the first road course race in stock car racing history to be held on public roads.

The Grant Park 250, the title of the 100-lap-long event is dedicated to one of the city's biggest landmarks, the 319-acre park.

While running right in the middle of a city as bustling as Chicago, Illinois comes with its own set of advantages, there certainly are some disadvantages to taking a motor race onto public streets. One of the most recent hurdles NASCAR had to address was the issue of noise from the race on the day of the event.

With more than 30 cars running simultaneously on the track, residents, businesses and educational institutions were skeptical of the amount of noise that might be created on race day. After all, the thunderous sound of a NASCAR oval is one of its defining features.

In a bid to keep the sport true to its roots while reducing noise for the surrounding residents and businesses, the governing body has decided to run mufflers on each one of its cars during the event.

With testing taking place at the Phoenix Raceway at the start of the year, many drivers were in favor of the move, while others seemed skeptical. The event will also be limiting its noise levels before 10 am and after 10 pm during the weekend.

What is a muffler and how will it affect a NASCAR Cup Series car?

A muffler is a device used on every road-going car today, with the aim of reducing the engine noise for the driver as well as bystanders.

Mufflers don't just reduce the noise made by the exploding fuel inside an engine. They also help to cut down on tail-pipe emissions when working in conjunction with the car's exhaust system, most importantly the catalytic convertor.

Race cars such as NASCAR Cup Series cars are not required to run mufflers of any kind due to their sole purpose being their performance on the track. Mufflers are inherently performance degraders, which is why no form of motorsport is happy to use them at any time.

However, with detailed testing of the mufflers in the Next Gen car, their impact has been minimized if not completely eradicated.