Report: NASCAR puts Grant Park 165 on hold due to 'security incident' at Chicago Street Course

Right after the engines were fired, NASCAR put the Grant Park 165 on hold due to a “security incident” taking place on track. It appears that protestors had made their way up the fence in Turn 3 with a banner.

When NASCAR put the race on hold it was confusing. Rain had not yet come into the area, but did shortly after the hold. There were reports of protestors at Turn 3. A fan on the scene, Bryan Page, posted a photo and short GIF of what he saw.

Here is the photo of two protestors on the fence.

@jeff_gluck current scene pic.twitter.com/kA2697F7U5

— Bryan Page (@BryanPage_9) July 7, 2024

The banner the protestors are holding appears to say, Pritzker, as in Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. On the bottom half the word “Genocide” can be seen.

pic.twitter.com/MvKkRtlghm

— Bryan Page (@BryanPage_9) July 7, 2024

NASCAR, as reported by Jim Utter, placed the race on a hold due to a “security incident.” It was to deal with the protestors on the fence and apparently a few who jumped onto the track itself.

In a big city, you get things like this. There are so many people with so many differing agendas. Track security was able to get the incident cleared up quickly. The only problem, rain.

Just when you thought someone climbing on the fence was bad enough, the skies began to open up just enough to make it an issue.

NASCAR hold stays around as rain comes down in Chicago

NASCAR went into the hold quickly to get the protestors off the fence. Then, Mother Nature had a protest of her own. She opened the clouds up and gave a light sprinkle of rain to the track.

Drivers and teams were given a chance to take a pace lap around the track. It allowed them to assess the conditions and decide on what tires to use. It didn’t help that some parts were dry and others were wet.

So, it feels like this could be a wild race. Last year we had eight inches of rain drop in a matter of hours. This time around, just enough rain to be annoying. While fans have waited around all day, they have to wait just a little bit longer.

NASCAR went on a hold for one incident and was hit with another right after. Let’s see if this race is going to provide us with the necessary chaos to be interesting. With wet weather tires and slicks available, and teams able to make their own decisions on tires, it will be a wild ride today in the Windy City.