DePaul University is excited to announce a partnership with Spire Motorsports for the 2025 NASCAR Chicago Street Race. DePaul will serve as the primary sponsor of Michael McDowell’s No. 71 Chevrolet ZL1.
As part of the sponsorship, DePaul branding will be prominently featured on McDowell’s custom-designed No. 71 Chevy, his fire suit, pit road signage, and the Spire Motorsports crew shirts. Co-branded merchandise will also be available at the Chicago Street Race event and online.
National visibility through broadcast, digital and social media, and in-person audiences will create a powerful platform to feature the university to new audiences. The race is projected to draw more than 4 million viewers nationwide, building on the success of the inaugural 2023 event, which became the most-streamed NASCAR Cup Series race in NBC Sports history and the most-watched on NBC in six years. Locally, the event is expected to attract over 55,000 unique spectators from around the world, with more than half traveling to Chicago specifically to experience the race firsthand.
“At DePaul, we view athletics as the front porch of the university — a powerful entry point that invites the world to engage with our university,” said DePaul Vice President and Director of Athletics DeWayne Peevy. “Partnering with Spire Motorsports for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race allows us to spotlight DePaul on a national stage while embracing a global event in our own backyard. Even more exciting, this collaboration will extend into our classrooms this fall, offering our students a hands-on look at the business and science behind professional racing. It’s the perfect example of how we’re using sports to elevate our visibility and create real-world learning experiences for our students.”
McDowell, a 17-year veteran of the NASCAR Cup Series with 518 starts, joined Spire Motorsports to pilot the No. 71 Chevrolet ZL1 ahead of the 2025 season. The Glendale, Ariz., native won the 2021 Daytona 500 and followed it up with a win in the 2023 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The father-of-five and road course ace has finished inside of the top-10 in both attempts at the Chicago Street Race, including a fifth-place result in 2024. So far this season, he has recorded one top-five, two top-10 and seven top-15 finishes, including a fifth-place showing at NASCAR’s most recent road-course race in the Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
“I’m really looking forward to Chicago,” said McDowell. “We’re coming off some great momentum on road courses, and to have a cornerstone of the city like DePaul University on our car for the weekend is special. Chicago is a great city, and NASCAR has built a fantastic racetrack. It’s not every day you get to race through the streets. With the city as the backdrop, it’s a unique experience and a real opportunity for us to have success with a new partner like DePaul.”
This partnership will extend well beyond the race weekend. Later this fall, students in DePaul’s Physics and Sport Management programs will benefit from exclusive engagement opportunities with members of the Spire Motorsports team, gaining firsthand insights into the high-performance, data-driven landscape of professional racing.
This summer, in collaboration with NASCAR Chicago, DePaul’s School of Hospitality and Sports Business introduced a special topics course, HSB 198: A NASCAR Experience. As part of the curriculum, students will play an integral role in designing and executing the newly created College Tailgate at Turn 7—a fan engagement event tailored to college students during the race. Further anchoring this collaboration in the local community, the longstanding NASCAR internship program will continue to empower DePaul students and alumni, offering them leadership roles and on-the-ground experience during one of Chicago’s most prominent sporting events.
“This initiative reflects DePaul’s continued commitment to authentically embrace its identity as Chicago’s university,” said DePaul Chief Branding Officer Cristel Turner. “This collaboration brings DePaul into the cultural and civic spotlight through a bold, innovative partnership that connects us with new audiences to build brand interest and support enrollment growth. What truly sets DePaul apart is our teaching philosophy of layered learning that merges classroom education with real-world, project-based learning and service learning that unlock real-world opportunities for our students.”
DePaul students receive 20% off select race tickets for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race. Learn more and purchase here.
Fans, students and alumni can tune in to see the No. 71 DePaul University Chevrolet ZL1 rally through the streets of Chicago July 6, at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT) on TNT, MRN, SiriusXM, and MAX.
— Spire Motorsports —