Photos by Janaki Jitchotvisut
You may already know that the Chicago Auto Show (CAS) is known for being the country's single largest consumer auto show. What you may not know is that this year, the show is breaking out the classic "race on Sunday, sell on Monday" play and putting a bunch of fantastic race cars on the floor and in your face. While some notable makes with venerable racing histories opted to leave their legends at home (we're looking at you, Audi and Porsche), there is plenty of racing eye candy strewn throughout the show floor to make those with racing oil running through their veins happy. CAS 2014 runs February 8th through 17th, but you can check out some of the highlights right here with Chicago Auto Show 2014: Because Racecar.
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CJ Wilson Racing Mazda MX5
This CJ Wilson Racing Mazda MX5 that runs in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge proves just how fun and capable a race-prepped Miata can be. Not surprising, considering how fun stock Miatas are.
#20 Dollar General Toyota Camry
Matt Kenseth's #20 Dollar General Toyota Camry bolsters the Toyota booth.
#25 Snapple Honda
Marco Andretti's ride for the 2014 IndyCar season, the #25 Snapple Honda, beams brightly from the Honda booth.
Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross GRC Beetle
Tanner Foust and Scott Speed led a walk-around of the 2014 VARX GRC Beetle.
2014 Mazda Skyactiv Prototype
Mazda's slick new diesel-powered return to prototype racing is simply beautiful. Oh, and also fast.
#3 Corvette C7.R
While Corvette's return to the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January wasn't as great as they hoped, the Tudor United SportsCar Championship season is still very young. The next round is the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring on March 15th.
Corvette Trophy Case
Corvette Racing's rich history encompasses both LeMans and American LeMans series trophies. Multiples. We'd brag about that, too.
2014 SRT Viper GTS-R
Placing third at the 24 Hours of Daytona isn't winning, but it does mean this car is better than every other car in the GTLM class except for two. We love that SRT Racing brought this car to the show floor race-filthy -- as it should be.
Sebastian Vettel Helmet Display
Sebastian Vettel has now won four Formula One drivers championships in a row. When you're that good, you're forgiven your quirks -- such as a superstition about wearing any helmet he's won a race in twice. Some of his lids have been auctioned off for charity, but we're pretty sure that with as extensive a collection as he has by now, he wouldn't even miss these while they went on tour without him. Proper footwear and gloves also make the champion driver, as you can see.
RB9 Steering Wheel
We're sorry, but this steering wheel from the Infiniti Red Bull Racing RB9 beats that Mad Catz one your little brother has in the basement.
Infiniti Red Bull Racing RB9
While it's true that a Renault engine powered the RB9 to absolute dominance of the 2013 Formula One Season, we're still beyond excited that Infiniti brought this RB9 to CAS 2014. Why? BECAUSE RACECAR.