RaceDayCT Rant – The Chicago Street Circuit Backlash

Comments

1. Doug says

   July 21, 2022 at 8:37 am

   I’d bet in the realm of political opinions there are few I’d share with Shawn Courchesne. I’d also bet that in every case of divergence his position would be well thought our and fair minded. Putting this rant up makes me mist up a bit. To be sure it’s chances to change any minds in the population to which it is addressed has about the same odds of spitting into a tea cup in a tornado. Nonetheless simply hearing a significant voice in the community step out of line and express it is heartening.

   Fox News
   June 28, 2022
   Skyrocketing Chicago crime has small businesses, corporations pack their bags: ‘Enough is enough’

   July 19, 2022
   “Arrests in Chicago plummet to historic lows as crime rises and police admittedly pull back: ‘No way’”

   “3 Chicago police suicides in past month as understaffed department repeatedly cancels days off”

   Shawn Hannity June 29
   “Last weekend in that safe city of Chicago a 5 month old baby was among those killed in the shootings across the city of Chicago.”

   It’s no secret Chicago is a staple on Fox News. They are the leader and it filters down through the echo chamber right down to local talk radio stations in every market in the country. So what the heck do you expect a demographic that gets it’s news from outlets like Fox News to say?
   Crime isn’t about geography. It’s about the lack of education, poverty and desperation. If you read up about the worst cities in American with regard to violent crime you’ll see many with higher rates the Chicago for sure and yes even in the south if you can believe it.
   It’s the same din of ignorance that was experienced in the LA Coliseum opener. That turned out to be a success by the say and they’re going back.
   Chicago is a great city and like every city certain areas and even streets where ignorance, poverty and desperation are most prevalent have the highest rates of crime.
   Those hundreds of comments you see on social media are not to blame they’re doing exactly what they’ve been taught to do. It’s not a dog whistle anymore it’s right in prime time with some of the most watched media pundits telling their audience Chicago is the most dangerous place in the USA in so many words and doing it on a regular basis.
   If you check out the course they have put together it’s classic Chicago with some of the most iconic views the city has to offer. Odds are the race will be great, security at record levels with even the hardest of good ole boys feeling safer then if they were home in Hooterville.
2. Barry says

   July 21, 2022 at 3:37 pm

   I go to Chicago on a regular basis as I have employees there. There are certain sections that are terrible. There are other sections that are really nice. This isn’t that different than any other city in the US.

   Chicago isn’t even in the top 10, in fact it’s 28th by murder rate: https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/murder-map-deadliest-u-s-cities/62/ Read the list and note where many of the highest murder rate cities are.

   I also got a kick out of the idiots on social media saying they won’t go there because it’s a gun-free zone. EVERY track the Cup runs is a gun-free zone, as is Stafford Speedway.

   The Fox News Chicago bash-a-thon seemed to start when President Obama was elected.
3. Barry says

   July 21, 2022 at 4:03 pm

   It’s also worth pointing out that 23 of the 65 highest murder rate cities in the list above, over 35%, are in “NASCAR Country”. That’s Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.
4. Mike H says

   July 22, 2022 at 6:31 am

   I have a question about the scoring….If a NASCAR Cup car gets carjacked during the Chicago street race, will the driver who took the initial green flag get credited the driver points, or will the carjacker earn the NASCAR driver points?
5. Barry says

   July 22, 2022 at 6:49 pm

   Poor Mikey.. Afraid of the big city! He can’t comprehend that he’s more likely to get killed in Birmingham, St. Louis, or New Orleans…

   Then again, big cities sure are scary!
6. 😷 😷 😷 darealgoodfella 😷 😷 😷 says

   July 22, 2022 at 10:18 pm

   Barry, don’t waste your time with facts. Most of the life forms around here are fact averse.
7. Doug says

   July 23, 2022 at 9:21 am

   To those that may be curious Hooterville is at the end of the line, Pixley at the other with Petticoat Junction, home of the Shaddy Rest Hotel at the midpoint. Fictional home of the idyllic rural lifestyle. The opposite of the horrific, constantly violent and lawless fictional place politically biased media outlets have painted “Evilville” on the southern end of Lake Michigan far to the north.
   Taking the Cannonball Express from his home, the Shaddy Rest Hotel in Pettycoat Junction, Uncle Joe meets his friend Mike H at Drucker’s Store in Hooterville. Sitting by the pickle barrel as Sam Drucker busies himself with routine store tasks Uncle Joe and Mike H’s conversation naturally turns to NASCAR racing a staple of rural communities. In the matter of the race scheduled in “Evilville” they are as one. The danger to the good fans simply not worth the risk no matter how much the CUP series needs to blaze new trails foraging for new fans. Oliver Wendell Homes looking over the electrical outlets he seems to constantly need for kitchen appliances scowls at the direction of the conversation having once been a resident of a city not unlike Evilville. But when in Rome you act as the Romans do.
   Tune in next week as Uncle Joe and Mike H ponder the return to “Sin City” for the opener in the 2023 CUP series where high jinks and cleavor banter are surely to ensue.
8. Mike H says

   July 24, 2022 at 8:40 am

   Gee, sounds like my comment struck a nerve……I have heard that inconvenient truths have a way of doing that…..