A lot of NASCAR fans believe there isn't a single difference between Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, where all of NASCAR's top three series raced this past weekend, and Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, where the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins on October 5. For the most part, these people are correct: both tracks are 1.5-mile tri-ovals, they're both located in the midwestern United States, were designed by the same engineering firm, HNTB, and both hosted their inaugural races in 2001. But Chicagoland and Kansas also have a few differences.
The biggest distinction between these tracks is that Chicagoland has a slightly curved backstretch, whereas Kansas has a straight backstretch, like most "cookie-cutter" tracks, the nickname given to 1.5-mile ovals in NASCAR. Also, the turns at Kansas have slightly higher banking than at Chicagoland. The racing at both tracks isn't exactly the same either, as NASCAR teams use slightly different setups at these tracks due to the reasons above. Finally, the skybox suites at the top of the frontstretch grandstands have different looks, Chicagoland's being silver in color and Kansas's more of a beige. In addition, the skybox at Kansas is longer than the skybox at Chicagoland.
So while two of NASCAR's newest tracks may look exactly the same in the big picture, there are some pretty subtle differences between them. It goes to show that no two auto racing tracks in the world are copies of each other; they all have their own unique looks that make them special.
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