After failed proposals at the DuPage Airport and the town of Plano, the city of Joliet was chosen after the Alliance partnered with the Route 66 Raceway in 1999.

[8] The proposed racetrack quickly faced opposition; by February 1997, numerous anti-racetrack groups were formed, including in West Chicago and Geneva.

[9] Two months later, the plan was killed after numerous factors, including increasing public opposition, concerns about the track's environmental impact, and disagreements between DuPage Airport officials and the Motorsports Alliance in lease revenues made the location unfeasible.

[13][14] On January 6, 1999, The Charlotte Observer reported that the Motorsports Alliance was seeking to annex 930 acres (380 ha) in Joliet, with a hearing scheduled on the 19th for its approval.

[18] In response to local residents' concerns regarding traffic, in February, the Alliance promised to invest $3.7 million towards nearby road improvements.

[28] The first tests done on the facility were conducted on October 26, with drivers John Andretti and Scott Sharp driving a NASCAR Cup car and Indy-car, respectively.

[29] On February 1, 2001, the only construction fatality occurred when worker Ehren Brandau fell while installing windows to a skybox.

[32][33] Chicagoland Speedway officially opened to the public on July 12, 2001, for practice sessions for the 2001 Tropicana 400, a Cup Series race.

[36] The track's first Indy Racing League (now called the IndyCar Series) occurred on September 2, with Buddy Lazier winning the event.

[37] A year later, the track recorded the closest finish in IndyCar history, with Sam Hornish Jr. winner over Al Unser Jr. by 0.0024 seconds.

[52] In September, NASCAR announced that all three national series would not return to Chicagoland Speedway for the 2021 season, leaving the track with an uncertain future.

In 2022, the track was used to store vehicles awaiting computer chips from the Ford Motor Company in the midst of the 2021 global semiconductor shortage.

[69][70] As of June 2019, the fastest official race lap records at Chicagoland Speedway are listed as: In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):