NASCAR is expected to make big changes to the 2025 Cup Series playoff schedule that include new tracks being added while others are shifted to the regular season, sources briefed on the decision told The Athletic.
Both World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, just outside of St. Louis, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway are expected to shift from having June race dates during the 2024 regular season to hosting one of 10 playoff races next fall.
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Darlington Raceway’s annual Labor Day race weekend is also expected to go back into the playoffs in 2025. This shift, however, was widely anticipated after NASCAR only moved Darlington out of the playoffs this year due to a scheduling quirk with the Paris 2024 Olympics. Darlington began hosting the opening playoff race in 2020, holding that spot through the 2023 season.
To accommodate the three new additions to its playoff schedule, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International and Homestead-Miami Speedway will transition to the 26-race regular season.
Last month, NASCAR announced that Atlanta’s second of two races would move from the playoffs to June 28, 2025. (Atlanta’s first race will remain in the spring.) NASCAR has not yet made any announcements about Watkins Glen or Homestead-Miami.
That Homestead is no longer in the playoffs is likely to be an unpopular decision within the industry. The South Florida 1.5-mile oval is a favorite among drivers and fans, regarded as one of the best in the sport. Homestead hosted the championship finale from 2002-2019 and has been in the playoffs for 18 of the past 20 years.
Both Atlanta and Watkins Glen were new to the 2024 playoff schedule. The removal of these two tracks from the 2025 playoff schedule leaves just a single drafting track (Talladega) and road course (Charlotte Roval) in the 2025 playoffs.
Other expected changes to the 2025 schedule, according to industry sources, include the non-points Clash being held at Bowman Gray Stadium and Daytona International Speedway’s annual summer race reverting back to hosting the regular-season finale.
NASCAR is also working to add an international race for 2025, with negotiations progressing with promoters in Mexico City and Montreal. If a deal is finalized, it would mark the first time since 1958 that a NASCAR premier series points race has been held outside the United States. As The Athletic previously reported, expanding to either Mexico City or Montreal would come at the expense of Richmond losing one of its two races.
NASCAR is hoping to unveil its 2025 schedule in the coming weeks.
(Photo of Darlington Raceway: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
