Bright lights in Joliet for NASCAR

Night riders are coming to Chicagoland Speedway.

Under freshly installed lights, this weekend the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series will race at night for the first time at the Joliet track.

For a facility entering its eighth season of competition, the event feels like another opening day.

"I was fortunate enough to be here in 2001 for our inaugural event," said Chicagoland Speedway president Matt Alexander, "and it has very much the same flavor and feel as that event. It's almost like another inaugural event with the lights."

Alexander said installing lights at Chicagoland Speedway always has been a goal. It inched closer to reality when TNT televised last year's NASCAR race and expressed interest in broadcasting future races in prime time.

"It just creates that extra buzz and excitement," Alexander said.

Now that the track has adjusted to become the 10th NASCAR facility with the ability to host night races, it's the drivers' turn to adjust this week.

Past events took place in the high heat of the summer afternoon. Expect the drivers to use Thursday night's qualifying and Friday night's Nationwide race (Dollar General 300) to get a feel for the difference in track conditions.

They'll need to learn everything they can before Saturday's main event in the Sprint Cup Series (LifeLock.com 400).

"It will definitely be different," said Kyle Busch, a six-time winner this season and the points leader in the Sprint Cup standings. "The Nationwide race is really going to be the telltale story because we practice during the day and then that will be the first race at night.

"Knowing what that race does will help out the Cup guys and give them a better understanding of how much the track changes and what they can do to their Cup car to try to help it before the race starts."

Lights aren't the only change this year. The Car of Tomorrow, which debuted last season in several races, makes its first appearance Thursday at Chicagoland Speedway.

Add that to the other story lines - Busch's dominance thus far, 2007 race winner Tony Stewart's looming departure from Joe Gibbs Racing to purchase a piece of his own team, the tightening competition for a coveted top-12 spot in the points standings - and it figures to be an interesting week in Joliet.

The new lights, however, figure to take center stage.

Not only will night racing add to the intrigue, it'll also add to the comfort level for all involved - especially the expected 75,000 fans and the night riders escaping the mid-July heat.

"We've been lucky with weather, but with that comes the baking heat in the middle of July," Alexander said. "Now at night when it's cooled down and you're under the lights, it's great for the fans and obviously the drivers who aren't in that heat.

"I know the drivers are getting to like this track more and more every year," he said. "Not to use a pun, but it's night and day compared to where we were at in 2001."