Chicagoland switches to 2-day show

Chicagoland Speedway has changed its Nationwide-Sprint Cup weekend from a three-day to a two-day race weekend, track president Craig Rust confirmed Wednesday.

The track went to a Saturday night race in 2008 but has had Cup practice and qualifying on Thursday of its race weekend the last two years. This year, all Nationwide and Cup track activity will be condensed into two days July 9-10.

NASCAR asked Rust, who became the track president last year, to consider the change to help teams with costs. Rust did the research, and he believes it will help the track with costs but also will be better for fans.

“The fans had to take two days off with qualifying moved to Thursday, so it put some pressure on them," Rust said in a phone interview. “When I looked at the reports, things fell off [on Thursday]. … There’s obviously the economics of it.

“The teams don’t have to come in as early, [nor] the media, our sponsors, the same things for the fans. All the way around, it was the right move."