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The 2024 schedule is officially out, and some parts of the schedule were a bit of a letdown. Some races were moved to dates fans are not happy with, and some race tracks that were rumored to be on the 2024 schedule are not on there. What are the biggest disappointments of the 2024 schedule?
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Back in June, it was reported that NASCAR was in discussions with Montreal to host a race in 2024, and, unfortunately, that did not work out. It would have been cool to see Montreal on the schedule because it would put the Cup Series in a new market, and it would cause the Cup Series to go international. That is something people have been clambering for following the success of Garage 56.
Now, NASCAR may be looking to 2025 as their time to go international, but, it feels like they had an opportunity missed on the 2024 schedule. However, it’s likely that a lot of this was beyond NASCAR’s control. That does not make it any less disappointing. Especially considering how much the fans wanted it to come back as evidenced by the article below.
With Darlington moving to the Playoff cut-off race, many saw this as the perfect opportunity to move Daytona back to its’ rightful slot around July 4th. Yes, the 4th of July weekend is contractually obligated to go to the Chicago Street Race, but, why not a week prior or a week after? Instead, Daytona is on August 24th as the penultimate race of the regular season.
It’s just a very ho-hum date. There’s nothing special about running that race on August 24th, and it just feels out of place to many traditionalist fans. This felt like the perfect opportunity to bring back the classic Firecracker 400, and that did not happen.
With a Playoff system that NASCAR fans already complain can be too random, NASCAR decided to double down on the wild card races in the Playoffs by adding Atlanta as the Playoff opener on September 8 and Watkins Glen the week after. The Roval and Talladega still keep the same dates on the 2024 schedule. Both of the first two Playoff rounds now have two wild card races in them.
First off, the road course product has been the subject of much criticism throughout 2023, so, NASCAR decided to double down on that product during the most critical portion of the season. Superspeedways and road courses now make up 40% of the Playoffs despite making up only about a third of the actual schedule. The Playoff schedule is incredibly unbalanced, and it puts more races on tracks that can cause random winners with road courses to produce a questionable product.
When Auto Club Speedway was announced to be leaving after the 2023 season, many began dreaming of rolling up to a green Sonoma Raceway in the spring. In 2024, NASCAR goes back to Sonoma on June 9, which is around the same time they have gone there in the past. It’s a disappointment because it means the old “West Coast Swing” is down from three races to two in 2024 with only Phoenix and Las Vegas.
It seems like a missed opportunity. Then again, Sonoma has been around this time of year for most of its history. Therefore, maybe NASCAR just wanted to keep it in about the same time frame it once did.
This schedule was hyped up as potentially being one of the most aggressive schedules NASCAR has ever done. Well, we only have one new venue, Iowa Speedway. Yes, they are returning to the Brickyard, but, that is still not a new venue. The Roval is not even changing back to the oval at Charlotte, and the oval has been one of the best tracks for the Next-Gen car.
It feels like a big missed opportunity. Instead of finding a fun, new California venue to replace Auto Club or moving to Montreal, NASCAR only is adding Iowa. Adding Iowa is not bad by any stretch, but, it’s the only new venue. As a result, it feels like a bit of a letdown.
The 2024 schedule has a lot of things that can be considered missed opportunities. It’s tough to only see one new venue and the addition of wild card races to the Playoffs. It’s far from a perfect schedule.
