Joliet is known for a lot of different things: the prisons, the Blues Brothers and even the movie “Rudy”, but not as a hub for racing.

But it should.

Everyone knows of the Chicagoland Speedway and the Route 66 Raceway drag strip, but just miles down the road from that is the Autobahn Country Club, a road course that is a members-only club except for two weekends of the year.

“Other than Indianapolis, there is no other place where all of these are together in the same city,” said Autobahn owner Mark Basso. “We have something really unique here.”

“It is a great deal having all three so close to each other,” said professional driver and Autobahn member Steve Jenkins. “There is strength in numbers. The majority of the tracks we race on are in the middle of nowhere. Having those three all close and being so close to Chicago is great. Race fans are race fans, I like road courses and sports cars, that is what I do, but I will watch NASCAR, I’ll watch drag racing. I like anything with a motor and horsepower. The faster the better.”

The Autobahn will hold its second public Grand Prix, including seven racing series will July 30, 31 and Aug. 1 on the full 3.6 mile, Alan Wilson designed road course. The ’09 event drew over 10,000 race fans and was broadcast live by HDNet to over 84 million households.

It will also hold Blast, a new public event the weekend of Aug. 20-21 that will offer touring, autocross, hot laps, karting and vintage race cars as well as a variety of dealers, exhibitors and vendors offering everything for your performance car.

“Blast is like an auto show in motion,” Basso said.

The Autobahn and Harrah’s Casino in Joliet combined for a kick off event during the NASCAR weekend’s Race Fan Rally in downtown Joliet last weekend.

Several professional drivers, celebrities and members of the country club competed in front of the casino in a go kart race for charity.

“It is all for charity,” Jenkins said. “That makes it competitive because we all want to win for our charity. Most of us professionals are members at the Autobahn, so we are able to help the club promote the event and help the charity. We are extremely lucky that we get to do what we do for a living and anytime we can give back to the communities, we enjoy doing that.”

The Autobahn also co-sponsored a concert with Harrah’s that included country stars Mark Wills and Josh Gracin, a former American Idol contestant.

Previously they brought Credence Clearwater Revisited to Harrah’s and will present Vertical Horizon, Aug. 21.