JOLIET, Il. — NASCAR Cup Series drivers will have to strike a delicate balance during Sunday's race at Chicagoland Speedway, the first at the track in seven years.
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They will have to figure out how to find the best grip available while avoiding a treacherous bump in Turns 3 and 4, a bump that nearly caused multiple incidents during practice and qualifying.
The problem is that this bump is directly after a thin, black patch that could provide extra grip for the drivers.
"I think you're gonna want to aim for it," Blaney said about the black patch after Friday's practice session. "Yeah, you can get it — a lot easier said than done — to put right (side tires) or left sides on it, but it is a little grip strip, I guess.
"But I mean it's only a tire width wide, so be hard to hit, but it would definitely help."
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Of course, none of the drivers moved up far enough during the practice session to test out the strip. They noticed it during the track walk, but they focused mostly on self-preservation during the rare 50-minute session.
"I mean, you never want to wreck a primary, of course," Corey Heim said. "So that was the number one goal, was to, of course, keep that in one piece.
"But yeah, I mean, it's gonna... I think all lanes are gonna end up being fair game. I think on lower air, you're just gonna have to tread pretty lightly."
Heim said that the restarts could be "hairy" for the driver on the outside lane. They will have to try to pin competitors to the bottom of the track so that they are not as far in the danger zone as they approach Turns 3 and 4.
Joey Logano, a driver with extensive experience at Chicagoland, knows all too well that the treacherous bump heading toward the frontstretch looms just past this "grip strip."
He has raced over it in past seasons, albeit in a Gen 6 car that handled bumps better, and he noticed it yet again during the Friday morning track walk.
Logano knows that hitting it at the wrong moment could send a car sideways into the grass or the SAFER barrier.
"The bump is really the part that's kind of keeping cars from moving around the race track a lot right now," Logano said. "You saw the Cup cars roll the bottom. You just watched the O'Reilly cars (in practice), they're whoosh all the way to the top. A lot of that is just because of the bump.
"Everyone's realized that the bump is a little better if you're on the paint (on the apron). If you're three feet off the paint, you're going to clobber the bump. I think it's just prevented everybody from moving up just because of the ride quality of the cars."
I believe this is the famed bump in Turns 3 and 4. pic.twitter.com/jDIYgt92IZ
— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) July 3, 2026
The bump is not solely limited to Turns 3 and 4. Another bump exists in Turns 1 and 2. It just does not pose as much of a problem for the Gen 7 car, which can easily get sideways.
"I looked at it, but I didn't have any interest in going up there until someone else did," Shane van Gisbergen said while chuckling. "And I never saw anyone up there, so yeah.
"But we saw today (O'Reilly drivers) were moving up and up, and lap times stayed pretty good, but when it looks bumpy in an O'Reilly car, it's going to be crazy in our things."
This is something that Team Penske driver Austin Cindric experienced firsthand during both practice and qualifying. He didn't wreck, but he also qualified 23rd after having to save the No. 2 Ford.
Multiple other drivers knew these moments could occur if they fully attempted to venture up the track and go over the bump.
They could potentially make it through unscathed, or they could end up slamming into the wall. After all, the bumps at Chicagoland Speedway are not like those at Charlotte Motor Speedway or other intermediate tracks.
The bumps on the racing surface that has experienced numerous Illinois winters are more akin to jumps.
"It's both Turn 1 on entry and Turn 4 on throttle through 3 and 4," Ross Chastain said. "So yeah, there's nothing like Chicagoland."
These Cup Series drivers will have to eventually face the both bumps if they want to deliver the exciting race that they expect. They will have to race side by side and use the outside lanes to make passes, especially as the final lap approaches.
They may just have to track the rubber being laid down and wait until the right time to make the move.
"You won't have an option (on Sunday) on what to do," Logano added. "And (Turns) 1 and 2's definitely opened up. We can probably go wherever we want on that end. (Turns) 3 and 4 is going to be interesting to see where the fast cars migrate to.
"I assume it's going to stay on the bottom, but you gotta pass somebody, somehow."
