Regular-season finales and playoff-opening tracks in Cup Series history

A variety of tracks have played host to the regular-season finales and the first race of the postseason since the NASCAR Cup Series first adopted a playoff format in 2004. With the 2021 playoffs soon approaching, here's a look back at venues that have hosted those closers and openers through the years.

Richmond Raceway

Schedule slot: Regular-season finale

Years: 2004-2017

Notable: The .75-mile Virginia track is the longest-running host on this list, spanning formats for 10-, 12- and the current 16-driver playoff fields. ... On five occasions, drivers raced their way onto the playoff grid in the Richmond finale. The last of those was Jeff Gordon in 2012. ... Richmond was moved into the playoff rotation in 2018, slotted as the second event in the 10-race playoff schedule.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Schedule slot: Playoffs opener

Years: 2004-2010

Notable: For the first seven years of the playoff era, the kickoff race had a New England feel. The only repeat winner of New Hampshire playoff openers during that span was Clint Bowyer, who prevailed there in 2007 and 2010 during his Richard Childress Racing tenure. ... Kurt Busch swept both NHMS races in 2004, using the playoff-opening win as a launching pad to his first Cup Series title. ... New Hampshire moved to a single summertime date on the Cup Series schedule in 2018.

Chicagoland Speedway

Schedule slot: Playoffs opener

Years: 2011-2017

Notable: The intermediate-sized Illinois track had its own seven-year run as the playoff starter. ... Chicagoland was the jumping-off point for Tony Stewart's third Cup Series championship in 2011, when Smoke netted the first of five wins in the 10-race playoffs. ... The Joliet track last hosted the Cup Series in 2019, when Alex Bowman scored his first Cup win.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Schedule slot: Regular-season finale

Years: 2018-2019

Notable: The Brickyard shifted from a midsummer date to the regular-season ender for a two-year stint. Both of those races were won by Ford drivers -- Brad Keselowski in 2018 and Kevin Harvick the next year. ... Ryan Newman raced his way into the playoffs with a last-ditch effort in 2019, bumping Daniel Suarez out of the 16th spot on the postseason grid. ... IMS moved off the regular-season border in 2020, and the Cup Series competed on the 2.439-mile road-course layout there this year.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Schedule slot: Playoffs opener

Years: 2018-2019

Notable: Las Vegas glitz came to the 10-race postseason in 2018, when the 1.5-mile track went from one annual Cup Series event to two. ... Brad Keselowski (2018) and Martin Truex Jr. (2019) won those LVMS playoff openers, and in each instance, it was part of a win streak. Keselowski capped a winning three-race run there in '18 and Truex kicked off a modest two-race string there the next year. ... Las Vegas remains in the Cup Series playoff rotation, now as the opening race in the Round of 12.

Daytona International Speedway

Schedule slot: Regular-season finale

Years: 2020-present

Notable: The Cup Series schedule swerved to include a superspeedway event as the regular-season decider in 2020. ... William Byron netted his first Cup Series victory in that year's Coke Zero Sugar 400, and Matt DiBenedetto squeezed his way onto the playoff grid after a topsy-turvy night for the running standings.

Darlington Raceway

Schedule slot: Playoffs opener

Years: 2020-present

Notable: Darlington hosted three Cup Series events in 2020 as the NASCAR industry moved to get back on schedule after the COVID-19 stoppage that spring. One predetermined scheduling shift was placing the historic Southern 500 squarely as the postseason opener. Kevin Harvick was last year's winner. ... The track moved the popular NASCAR Throwback Weekend festivities to its May race date this season, giving the playoff atmosphere the full spotlight for Darlington's annual 500-miler.