Heavy rains flood Chicago roads and force NASCAR to cut short a downtown street race

CHICAGO (AP) — Heavy rains flooded Chicago streets Sunday, trapping cars and forcing NASCAR officials to cancel the last half of an Xfinity Series race set to run through the city’s downtown.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for multiple counties in the Chicago area, saying up to 6 inches of rain had already fallen in suburban Cicero and Berwyn by midday. The NWS website warned the flooding could be “life-threatening” through 3 p.m., with numerous impassable roads, overflowing creeks and streams and flooded basements.

The Illinois State Police said parts of Interstate 55 and Interstate 290 have been closed because of flooding, with at least 10 cars trapped in water on Interstate 55 near Pulaski Road, a major north-south thoroughfare in the city, WLS-TV reported. Trains were stopped in some parts of the city as well.

NASCAR officials had planned to complete the last half of an Xfinity Series race through the city’s downtown on Sunday morning after suspending action on Saturday due to lightning. They announced around midday Sunday they had decided to cancel the race because of the rain and declared Cole Custer the winner.

NASCAR had scheduled a Cup Series race to run through downtown later Sunday afternoon. The race was still expected to take place.

The start of the Chicago Cubs’ afternoon game against the Cleveland Guardians at Wrigley Field was pushed back to 4:05 p.m.

Ricky Castro, a meteorologist in the NWS’ Chicago office in suburban Romeoville, said a storm system was pinwheeling over the area rather than moving east, giving it time to pull moisture from the atmosphere and leading to heavy rainfall. All of the concrete in the metropolitan area prevents the rain from seeping into the earth, resulting in flooding, he said.