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There are many holidays for race fans: the Daytona 500, Memorial Day Weekend, and Le Mans. For NASCAR fans, a new date has become a holiday, and that day is as inconsistent as rain on a race weekend.
Every year, NASCAR fans flock to social media to await the release of the following year’s schedule. While there is no specific date, the day has become well anticipated since early 2020, when NASCAR started changing the schedule more consistently.
The possibilities for the next few seasons include questions about the future of the Chicago Street Circuit, the potential loss of a Richmond race date and an unexpected track making a debut.
With all the possibilities, fans have thrown out many ideas on properly shaking up the schedule. One idea is unlike any tried by the sport before: What if NASCAR had a race weekend that floated between tracks from year to year?
While there have been no real rumors about this happening, it is still a worthy concept to explore its pros and cons.
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The idea behind a rotational slot is for NASCAR to utilize different tracks, markets and racing styles more consistently. Once again, this is just an idea; there have been no rumors or reports that NASCAR or its stakeholders have considered it.
First, since the NASCAR schedule shakeup of 2021, NASCAR has added and left behind Road America and removed Kentucky and Chicagoland altogether. Other tracks left behind were Rockingham in 2004 and North Wilkesboro in 1994.
While North Wilkesboro has gained an All-Star Race weekend, it has yet to regain a points race. Otherwise, all the previously stated tracks have seen racing action in the past five years or have undergone extensive work like Rockingham.
Second, NASCAR has been looking to explore other markets more recently. Road America made an appearance for Wisconsin. Iowa made its Cup Series debut this year, and rumors continue to fly around of Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve making their debuts in the future.
Third, fans and drivers alike have commented on the style of racing found with the Next Gen car at different tracks, be it the poor competition on short tracks and road courses or the newly found rubbing and racing at intermediate tracks. This has led to tracks like Indianapolis Motor Speedway returning to their oval and many asking for the return of the fall oval race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
This year, the racing at Richmond has been criticized in particular. This track has two race dates and is dealing with the lack of passing in the NASCAR Next Gen car on short tracks.
Ultimately, the idea of the rotational race weekend is to utilize potentially opening race weekends to, on a year-to-year basis, rotate in some of these tracks that fans want to see return or debut.
For the purposes of this example, the previously mentioned Richmond date and the yet unknown long-term future of the Chicago Street Circuit will be used to illustrate how this format could be utilized and weigh out the pros and cons of such a drastic shift.
So, let’s set some ground rules. First, the rotation will be five tracks for five years. One specific race weekend will be at a different track yearly. Each race weekend will feature a particular type of racing: oval racing for the Richmond weekend and road course racing for the Chicago weekend.
Next, each will feature some form of consistency. For the five-track rotation for the Richmond weekend, Richmond will be the track every fifth year. For the Chicago weekend, a street circuit race will be held every fifth year of the five-track rotation.
Richmond’s rotation could feature some returning and familiar tracks to race fans. These could be:
Kentucky has seen support from fans to return since its last in 2020. During that time, fans had grown tired of the intermediate-style racing that had grown out of the late 1990s boom in the sport. With the success of the NextGen car on these tracks, many have wondered if a return to the bluegrass state could be in store.
Chicago is a similar tale. The track has not seen action in five years since losing its last race in 2020 to the COVID schedule. The complaints were like those of Kentucky, and requests to return have followed a similar tune. Unlike Kentucky, one factor has been the great racing at Chicago’s sister track, Kansas Speedway. The fanfare around the track has and will continue to grow as Kansas puts on great races twice a year.
Rockingham Speedway is in the same historical family of tracks as Darlington, Richmond and North Wilkesboro. The track was left behind in 2004 and only saw racing action from the Truck Series in 2012 and 2013. Since then, ownership and financial changes have led to the resurgence of what was thought to be a track dead in the water. With a repaved surface and an injection of cash, like Wilkesboro, this track has been on the minds of many fans as a place where the sport could replant its roots.
The Milwaukee Mile Speedway is an old institution of Midwest racing. The track has hosted the NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series, along with IndyCar. From 2015 to 2021, Milwaukee was without any major racing circuits. The return of IndyCar and the Truck Series has recently given the track a new life. With the loss of Road America, this track and market may be primed for a return of NASCAR’s top series.
Richmond Raceway has been a staple of the NASCAR Cup Series for generations. Hosting two race weekends a year since 1959 (except for the COVID-19 pandemic schedule), the track has seen a drop in attendance and a lack of its once-legendary racing in the Next Gen era. Fans have wondered if it’s time for the track to lose one of those dates, but for tradition’s sake, this metaphorical rotation could use the consistency of a classic track known for having two races a year.
Chicago’s race weekend is a bit trickier. Like Richmond, there is no confirmation that the race will go elsewhere. But for the sake of concept alone, the metaphorical rotation for this weekend features tracks for the fans who want to see the series tread new ground and explore more markets. These could be:
Many have linked NASCAR to Mexico City and Montreal for 2025 at the very least.
The risk could be less in this scenario, getting to test both waters.
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez has hosted the NASCAR Xfinity Series from 2005 to 2008. Since the series’ departure, many have spread the word and rumors of the tracks’ return. These rumors have gained traction with NASCAR’s new scheduling approach, making it more willing to take chances on unknown markets.
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is in a similar boat, having hosted the NASCAR Xfinity Series from 2007 to 2012. These races generated many memories for fans and saw fan favorites like Marcos Ambrose score wins at the 2.710-mile track. While the rumor mill continues to turn, the potential for both tracks to be on the schedule at some point continues to grow.
Road America may have had the longest stretch between Cup Series races in NASCAR history, with the first race taking place in 1956 and the Cup Series returning for 2021 and 2022. The beautiful facility in Wisconsin has found itself without a race date again after its date went to Chicago. In our illustrative scenario, Road America finds itself in the third yearly slot in the rotation to complement Milwaukee’s fourth slot in the Richmond rotation, giving the Wisconsin market back-to-back years of diverse racing.
Portland International Raceway saw racing from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 1999 and 2000. More recently, the NASCAR Xfinity Series has raced at the 1.967-mile track since 2022. A well-liked facility, it also bears the banner of Northwestern United States. This is a market the Cup Series hasn’t touched since 1957. Surely, this alone gives the track enough for Cup Series consideration.
The yearly street circuit finds its spot on this list for two reasons. First, the Chicago Street Circuit has been an entertainment success, if anything, drawing the eyes of the nation. Even if NASCAR leaves the windy city, there’s no reason to leave the concept behind. Second, the five slots give the sport time to develop another circuit, draw up contracts, and create the circuit.
Since the rotational slot is a radical idea, it is essential to remember that NASCAR would have to consider its feelings and those of its associates. As the networks, track owners/managers, and teams would all have a say in the pros and cons of the matter.
One pro of this concept is that it fulfills fans’ requests for tracks like Chicagoland, Rockingham, Road America, and Montreal. This is an easy pro, for sure, but sometimes, easy is just easy. Ultimately, this idea is still a complex way to please those who want the best of both worlds. This alone is a pro for the sport and the fans.
This system emphasizes using unused or left-behind tracks; for some track operators, this is a pro as it gives occasional life to tracks like Chicagoland and Kentucky. Another pro for track owners is the fear of missing out on the return to a left-behind venue, which could boost attendance.
This scheduling also piques the interest of fans outside a track market. This is reflected in the TV networks, which could see a boost in viewership from the knowledge that this race only happens every few years. This is a pro for both the networks, the teams, and NASCAR.
The teams could benefit from this schedule as it keeps things interesting. This is the “unknown factor”. For example, similar to how Daniel Suarez performed so well in the first Bristol Dirt race. Not knowing exactly what’s coming up can be helpful to some. The diverse schedule can also help specific teams based on the driver’s skill.
The cons read out as more risks of approaching such a drastic change to the schedule. One apparent issue could be from traditionalist fans. Fans who favor NASCAR’s traditional presentation could find a problem with such a complex system.
This is a valid complaint; for example, if one of these tracks checks all the boxes for attendance, viewership, and quality racing, shouldn’t they be the ones to hold that race weekend on the calendar? It’s a trying question of this system, for sure.
The tracks’ risks come from the illustrative system’s pure inconsistency. What about paying staff? What about the local economy of those tracks in smaller communities? These are all valid questions and present issues that arise.
More so for NASCAR, there has been the fear of over-saturating a market. For example, Rockingham is in the middle of a hot racing country with popular tracks to the North and South of the venue. Can these fans afford to attend these races?
What about undersaturating a market? The whole idea behind NASCAR shaking up its schedule in 2021 was to hit new markets and fanbases like South Texas and Wisconsin and return to the Nashville area. If NASCAR makes yearly changes on these race weekends, can they develop a fan base? What does that mean for the sport’s relationship with those tracks?
The teams could also object to having to prepare differently every year. Along with the aforementioned “unknown factor,” what will a track look like after occasionally not being used?
These are all valid issues with the system. If NASCAR ever took this approach to scheduling, it would have to evaluate both logistical and economic aspects intensely.
Exploring untested and unproven ideas about NASCAR’s schedule is fun. The truth is, no one knows what the future of NASCAR scheduling looks like.
While the sport has seen contrarian opinions on its actions in the past, it could be agreed that they have done a great job planning out the schedule these past few seasons.
What do you think of this idea? What are some pros and cons you could think of?
While next year’s schedule is still unknown, you can be sure that the Dailydownforce will have it covered for you when it is released.
