Jeffrey Hrunka - Motorsports Today Contributor
The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule was revealed this past week on Thursday, Aug 29. With the release comes numerous positive and negative changes that fans and drivers can mark on their calendars for next season.
Takeaway One: NASCAR Is Going to Mexico [POSITIVE]
Before the full schedule was officially released, on Tuesday, Aug 27 it was announced that NASCAR was headed to Mexico. NASCAR is traveling beyond national borders to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit for the Cup Series’ first international event since the 1998 Coca-Cola 500 at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan. Their last international points-paying race was at the Canadian National Exhibition Stadium in 1958, which has since been demolished.
Stock car racing inside the United States has continued to grow internationally, with drivers like Shave Van Gisbergen and Daniel Suarez both winning at the top level. With this trajectory, it was only a matter of time before NASCAR held a major event abroad.
This is a positive move for the sport as it not only brings the sport to a largely untapped market but also further diversifies the schedule by adding a sixth road course to the proceedings. The success of another international event will be determined by the fanfare and media fare that the race produces.
Takeaway Two: Talladega is In the Round of 8 [NEGATIVE]
Talladega Superspeedway will stay inside the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for 2025 but will move from its early October date into the round of eight. The track has the opportunity to lock a driver into the championship race at Phoenix Raceway.
NASCAR has dealt with the problem of legitimacy since it adopted the win-and-in format. Having a superspeedway decide one of the spots in the championship four will only make that issue worse. This decision comes off the back of the controversy of superspeedway racing with drivers not being able to manipulate the air of their competitors the same way they have in the past, ever since the emergence of the Next Gen car. This has made these races luck-based rather than skill-based in recent years. Moving Talladega into the round of eight only adds chaos.
The playoff system has helped NASCAR with a viewership format since the sport adopted it in 2014. It provides the sport with plenty of “Game 7 moments.” However, there needs to be a balance between chaos and legitimacy.
Takeaway Three: Miami Out of the Playoffs [NEUTRAL]
One of the best racing products each year comes out of south Florida. Homestead-Miami Speedway has been inside the playoffs every year, excluding a two year hiatus in 2020 and 2021, since its inception in 2004. It will move from its late October date to Sunday, March 23 in 2025.
This move can be looked at from two different points of view. On one hand, NASCAR is taking one of the best racing tracks on the calendar out of the playoffs. It is a track ingrained in history with countless memorable moments. On the other hand, it has been rumored that Homestead-Miami Speedway is being taken out of the playoffs to be renovated and returned as NASCAR’s championship race once the Phoenix Raceway contract comes to an end after 2025. However, that is all just speculation at this point.
Whether this move turns out to be positive or negative for the sport will not be known until these rumors are proven true or false. If Homestead-Miami Speedway is being moved out of the playoffs for good, it will go down as one of the worst moves the sport has ever made.
Takeaway Four: More Saturday Night Races [POSITIVE]
Every year, NASCAR fans yearn for more night races. Over the last few years, NASCAR has done the opposite by switching races that took place on Saturday nights to Sunday afternoons in an effort to chase television ratings.
In 2025, there will be four racetracks hosting races on Saturday nights: Atlanta Motor Speedway on June 28, Richmond Raceway on Aug 16, Daytona International Speedway on Aug 23 and Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept 13. Bristol and Daytona already raced under the lights this year, but Atlanta and Richmond will each pivot a Sunday afternoon event to a Saturday night spectacle.
NASCAR needs to find the balance between making decisions that are best for business and pleasing their fanbase. Whether they made this move for the fans or it was just a coincidence, it's positive for the sport to do something that fans have been asking for.
Takeaway Five: From the LA Coliseum to Bowman Gray Stadium [NEGATIVE]
Over the last few years, NASCAR has been re-establishing itself with history by adding tracks rooted in NASCAR’s glory days, like North Wilkesboro and Rockingham.
The NASCAR Cup Series will return to Bowman Gray Stadium for the first time since 1971. They will race on the oval on Sunday, Feb 2, 2025, moving the Clash away from the Los Angeles Coliseum, which has held the event for the last three years. This decision is an interesting move for NASCAR as Bowman Gray has been a permanent racing facility and continues to remain an active racetrack, holding weekly racing events but carries nearly half the capacity of other short tracks on the schedule. It makes this event exclusive rather than something local fans can come out and watch.
This move also pulls a race from a market that needs it. Los Angeles lost their annual race after the Auto Club Speedway was demolished in 2022. The track was supposed to be converted to a short track but those plans have gone dormant for now. In the meantime, fans have to drive hours to either Phoenix Raceway, Las Vegas Speedway, or Sonoma Raceway to get their racing fix. While the hardcore fan may be willing to make that drive, it's the casual fans that the sport is chasing and they aren’t going to go to these races. Pivoting away from America’s second biggest market and instead holding another event in the highly saturated southeast market could be a regrettable decision.
Overall, I think this move is a negative move for NASCAR. Stadium racing did not work at the LA Coliseum. They are moving the event to another track that has outdated faculties and less fan capacity. I do not see this move working out in the long run.
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