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The Brickyard 400 will return on July 21st, 2024, but, that just so happens to be the third Sunday in July which is where New Hampshire hosted its’ one and only race in 2023. New Hampshire will have to move to a new date in 2024, but where can it move to? Let’s take a look at that both from the perspective of the race track and the 2024 schedule.
In its history, New Hampshire has run races at two different times of the year. Generally speaking, New Hampshire has always hosted one race in early to mid-July, give or take a couple of weeks. For a few years, New Hampshire had two events per year, and that second event was generally held around the third or fourth Sunday in September.
The main outlier to this was the 2001 fall race which was held the day after Thanksgiving. This was because the 9/11 terrorist attacks caused NASCAR to postpone the New Hampshire race. Obviously, unprecedented circumstances and the race was held with temperatures in the 40s.
Given its’ location as the northernmost NASCAR race track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway is extremely limited in what time of year it can host a race. Here is the average temperature of Loudon, New Hampshire throughout the year according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
With this in mind, it seems that February, March, April, early May, November, and probably October is off the table. Therefore anytime between mid-late May and the end of September is probably when this race would have to be held. However, the recent announcement of the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro on May 19th plus the assumed Coca-Cola 600 running the week after probably takes May off the table. Therefore, June through September is probably when this race would need to be run.
With New Hampshire gone from its’ current July date, which dates fit New Hampshire best? The most likely option is the month of June for a couple of reasons. First off, the current off-week on the Cup Series calendar could be filled by a race in 2024.
With the 2024 Summer Olympics running between July 26th and August 11th, NASCAR may take a two-week break similar to what it did in 2021. If that happens, the current off-week could be a perfect spot for New Hampshire to slot into the 2024 NASCAR schedule.
It’s also not out of the question that Sonoma Raceway could move from its current June date up to the West Coast Swing. New Hampshire could slot into that date in June as well.
Another potential scenario is NASCAR moving Watkins Glen into the Playoffs should the Roval be gone. In that instance, New Hampshire could slot into that late-August spot in the 2024 schedule. Again, a perfect time of year for New Hampshire given the weather.
The final scenario has to do with Texas Motor Speedway. The rumor is that Texas may be moving to the spring of 2024, and that opens up a spot for another race track to fill in.
NASCAR could choose to slot Watkins Glen into that spot like the scenario we mentioned above. However, with the current racing product on road courses, NASCAR may choose to put New Hampshire in that spot. It’s a time of year that New Hampshire used to run races in the past, so, it could work.
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is an important track for NASCAR, and there is definitely a place for it on the 2024 schedule somewhere. However, it seems it may be a brand new date for 2024.
