RELATED: See the complete 2015 schedule
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Marcus Smith, Chief Executive Officer for Speedway Motorsports Inc., said he has been pleased with how the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule has worked out, not only for his group’s own properties but for all involved.
“Certainly it’s not perfect but overall we saw some big improvements,” Smith said Tuesday during a Chase Across North America media event with driver Matt Kenseth. “Like Bristol getting moved into the spring, into April and out of March was a huge plus.
“Darlington getting back on the traditional Southern 500 weekend turned out to be an amazing success for Darlington and the whole sport.”
SMI owns eight tracks hosting 12 of the 36 Sprint Cup Series points events on the 2015 schedule as well as the series’ annual All-Star Race.
Asked if any of his facilities had requested a date change for the 2016 season, Smith would only say, “Atlanta has certainly talked about the possibility of a change.”
Atlanta Motor Speedway‘s lone Sprint Cup race was held this year on March 1 following a five-year run in the the Labor Day holiday weekend slot. The facility has struggled with attendance in recent years — no different from other venues — and has battled weather issues on several occasions.
Smith, who said he expects the 2016 schedule to be released “the first week in October,” said officials “worked long and hard on the schedule this year to make some tweaks to it that would work better for the whole sport.”
Richmond International Raceway officials confirmed recently that they have requested moving their track’s spring race from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon. Such a move isn’t as difficult as moving from one weekend to another, Smith said.
“There is not one simple change that you could make in the schedule without affecting many, many other things,” he said. “A simple change from a Saturday night to a Sunday afternoon is a very simple change. … But moving entire weekends, there’s a domino effect that really, really is difficult.”