What’s Happening?

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule release is one of the most hotly anticipated stories of the season. However, the “when” remains a mystery as the Cup Series gets set to begin the second half of the season. When will the 2025 NASCAR schedule finally be released?

• A few dates have already been announced for the 2025 schedule. This includes the in-season tournament beginning in Atlanta on June 28th and the championship weekend returning to Phoenix on the first weekend of November.
• However, the rest of the schedule remains largely a mystery. This comes despite multiple rumors and reports about changes to the Playoff schedule and international racing.
• Fans are waiting impatiently for the schedule to be released. Some are trying to plan their 2024 NASCAR trips, and others are hoping to see different tracks join the schedule.

When Has The Schedule Been Released in the Past

The easiest place to look for clues about when the schedule will come out is to factor in when the schedule has been released in past years. Here is when NASCAR has released the schedule in the last few years.

Schedule	Release Date	Changes
2019	April 3, 2018	0 Date Swaps and 0 New Venues
2020	March 26, 2019	7 Date Swaps and 0 New Venues
2021	September 30, 2020	6 New Venues
2022	September 15, 2021	2 New Venues
2023	September 24, 2022	2 New Venues
2024	October 4, 2023	2 New Venues

As NASCAR has begun making more changes to the schedule from year to year, the schedule is now released in the fall rather than the spring, as it was in 2019 and 2020. So, based on that, it seems most likely that the schedule could be released in the fall, maybe mid-late September or early October.

Jordan Bianchi reported that NASCAR is “hoping” to reveal the schedule in the “Coming weeks.” It’s possible we could see the schedule sooner, but how soon?

How Soon Can NASCAR Release It?

The 2024 NASCAR schedule is unique in that the final two weeks of July include a two-week Olympic break. NASCAR can handle this Olympic break in one of two ways.

First, NASCAR can try to release the schedule before the Olympic break. This would make sense as the schedule would come out earlier in the year than in the past, allowing NASCAR to focus on the 2026 schedule sooner.

NASCAR can also choose to release the schedule after the 2024 Olympic break. This gives NASCAR more time to cross all of the T’s and dot all of the I’s on the schedule. However, it could distract from the Playoffs and the race to the Playoffs as NASCAR heads to the end of the season.

NASCAR probably will not choose to release the schedule during the Olympic break. Everyone in the industry will probably be off on vacation or resting during this time, so such a big release could be impractical. Then again, it allows NASCAR to get a major news story out there during a lull in their schedule.

Overall, the ideal route is probably to release the schedule before the Olympic break, but it depends on whether NASCAR can set everything up in time. Putting together a schedule is complicated, and potentially racing internationally or moving races into or out of the Playoffs requires a lot of logistical work. If that takes a while longer, fans may have to wait again.

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