Rumor Mill: Rockingham Kicked From 2027 NASCAR Schedule?

What’s Happening?

Just two years after its miraculous return to the NASCAR schedule, Rockingham Speedway’s NASCAR revival may be over just as its future started rolling.

Fears that Rockingham could be on the chopping block from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series festered just a few weeks ago, when the International Hot Rod Association prematurely ended its oval and drag racing seasons.

This was due to long-rumored financial problems, and since then, fans have wondered if the historic oval, purchased by the IHRA in December, was facing uncertainty.

Now it seems these fears are true, as Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic reports that Rockingham is looking increasingly likely to fall off the Truck and OAP Series schedules for 2027, stating that it would take “a dramatic change in the ownership situation” as NASCAR leadership would like to see stability in the track’s ownership before returning.

Which tracks are likely moving into the Chase next year and which are moving out? Where will the All-Star Race go? What about San Diego and Chicago? And what is Rockingham's future?https://t.co/neDPWyjSTK

— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) July 30, 2026

Rocky Ownership

This is, of course, nothing new for The Rock, as it has seen its fair share of rotating owners in the past 30 years.

In 1997, Roger Penske purchased the track to add it to his roster, which included Auto Club, Nazareth, and Michigan, before International Speedway Corporation acquired Penske Motorsports, which then added the track to its roster.

During the track’s more dormant years following the OAP and Cup Series abandoning of the facility, former racer Andy Hillenburg took over ownership in 2007 after Speedway Motorsports purchased it from NASCAR just a few years earlier.

Hillenburg was then followed by the track’s most recent seller, and the name behind its revival and renovations, Rockingham Properties.

As of press time, NASCAR has yet to announce any of the three NASCAR National Series schedules, though most figure this will change in the next few weeks.

While this means Rockingham is temporarily up in the air, if the track is not on the 2027 schedule with its own Easter race weekend, fans in the region and across the sport will likely be sad to see the legendary venue go once again.

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