NASCAR totally incriminated themselves in Chicago and fans roasted them alive

NASCAR took fans for a brief tour of race control on social media ahead of this weekend's Chicago Street Race, noting that because of the nature of the event, the officiating approach used is a one-of-a-kind approach in order to ensure that nothing gets missed.

The Chicago Street Course, which was added to both the Xfinity Series schedule and the Cup Series schedule in 2023, is a 12-turn, 2.2-mile (3.541-kilometer) temporary street circuit located in Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois.

Well, suffice it to say that something got missed on the streets of the Windy City. Something big, in fact.

Even with all those screens.

It took 34.7 seconds for NASCAR to throw the caution flag when Rick Ware Racing's Cody Ware blew a brake rotor on his No. 51 Ford and plowed into the wall in turn six at more than 90 miles per hour.

But please, just keep waving that blue flag.

Had they thrown the yellow within about 20 seconds, which still would have been an incredibly long wait, another restart would have ensued. Instead, they didn't throw it until Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen took the white flag, so the caution effectively ended the race.

In hindsight, that was probably a good thing, because somebody would have inevitably been aggressive on the restart and caused a massive pileup, and the driver who was by far the most deserving winner might not have won. But that's a story for another day, because this issue is centered around safety.

So the fact that NASCAR had literally shared how allegedly amazing their race control setup was before the race naturally drew the ire of many fans.

You get the idea.

As someone who almost never sits in front of just one screen at a time, no matter what I'm doing, I have to say that multi-tasking and keeping track of X number of things at once can be difficult. But if I had several of my best pals in there with me doing the same or similar jobs, it certainly wouldn't (or shouldn't) take 30+ seconds to notice something this significant.

The idea that NASCAR didn't know how hard he hit is a laughable excuse, especially given Ware's near-immediate radio message about needing help.

Maybe NASCAR was trying to finish the race before impending inclement weather, but even then, they simply could have called the race during the ensuing caution period. With just over a lap to go, the race was obviously well past its halfway point and would have been official regardless.

But given the fact that NASCAR literally had to stop the race to get an ambulance across the track at one point, it's not particularly surprising that safety really wasn't at the forefront of their minds this weekend when it came to logistics and the ins and outs of how everything was set up.

Now the question everyone is asking is whether or not NASCAR will return to the streets of Chicago, especially amid rumors of a new street race in San Diego, California. No matter what they decide, let's hope there is more care taken when it comes to driver safety and some of the more basic elements of race control.