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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 26, 2015) – NASCAR today announced agreements with 23 tracks to field NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races for the next five years. Additionally, 24 tracks will host NASCAR XFINITY Series races through 2020.
NASCAR also announced its 2016 schedule for both of these national series. The schedule and actual placement of the dates within each given season's schedule beyond 2016 will be part of the on-going discussions between NASCAR and the tracks. Details are being finalized for the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule to be announced at a later time.
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"NASCAR and the tracks take seriously our collective responsibility to the fans and each stakeholder to ensure the sport is healthy, strong and growing, so we can deliver great racing to the fans for many decades to come," said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “The live event experience always will be important to creating a lifetime fan in NASCAR.
"Among the goals that we set out to accomplish with our track partners was to provide consistency for race fans and the industry stakeholders. We feel like we have a nice balance of that for 2016. The stability of five-year agreements positions us well to deliver fans with schedules as early as possible over the next several years. This is a new approach for our industry, and one that benefits everyone: fans, tracks, teams, drivers, OEMs, media and partners."
NASCAR will kick off the 2016 season against the new backdrop of a completely reimagined Daytona International Speedway. DAYTONA Rising, the speedway’s $400 million redevelopment project, will be complete when both the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series launch at Daytona Speedweeks. The 2016 DAYTONA 500 will be held on February 21 and will air live on FOX.
After the DAYTONA 500, NASCAR events will be held the following week at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Both series then will travel to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Auto Club Speedway for the return of NASCAR Goes West.
"We learned that NASCAR Goes West worked very well in keeping momentum and interest for NASCAR in these markets," O’Donnell said. "The tracks put a lot of effort behind making it successful and we think it can continue to have a positive impact as it gains traction from being an annual effort. The efficiency of conducting three consecutive events also is helpful to the teams and industry."
Among the changes to the 2016 schedule:
• Pocono Raceway will host its first NASCAR XFINITY Series event in June, with that series joining the Sprint Cup Series for a companion event at the famed three-turn track.
• The spring events at Richmond International Raceway move to a Saturday and Sunday companion event for the XFINITY Series and Sprint Cup Series, from the previous Friday and Saturday schedule.
• The first series stop at Dover International Speedway will move earlier in the schedule, to be held prior to the May events at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
• NBC will usher in its 2016 race schedule in July at Daytona with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event moving back to a Saturday evening event.
• The August Sprint Cup Series event at Michigan will move to later in the month.
2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule
| Date | Track |
|---|---|
| Feb. 13 | Daytona International Speedway - Sprint Unlimited |
| Feb.14 | Daytona International Speedway - Daytona 500 Qualifying |
| Feb. 18 | Daytona International Speedway - Duel |
| Feb. 21 | Daytona 500 |
| Feb. 28 | Atlanta Motor Speedway |
| March 6 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
| March 13 | Phoenix International Raceway |
| March 20 | Auto Club Speedway |
| April 3 | Martinsville Speedway |
| April 9 | Texas Motor Speedway |
| April 17 | Bristol Motor Speedway |
| April 24 | Richmond International Raceway |
| May 1 | Talladega Superspeedway |
| May 7 | Kansas Speedway |
| May 15 | Dover International Speedway |
| May 21 | Charlotte Motor Speedway (NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race) |
| May 29 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
| June 5 | Pocono Raceway |
| June 12 | Michigan International Speedway |
| June 26 | Sonoma Raceway |
| July 2 | Daytona International Speedway |
| July 9 | Kentucky Speedway |
| July 17 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway |
| July 24 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
| July 31 | Pocono Raceway |
| Aug. 7 | Watkins Glen International |
| Aug. 20 | Bristol Motor Speedway |
| Aug. 28 | Michigan International Speedway |
| Sept. 4 | Darlington Raceway |
| Sept. 10 | Richmond International Raceway |
| Sept. 18 | Chicagoland Speedway |
| Sept. 25 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway |
| Oct. 2 | Dover International Speedway |
| Oct. 8 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
| Oct. 16 | Kansas Speedway |
| Oct. 23 | Talladega Superspeedway |
| Oct. 30 | Martinsville Speedway |
| Nov. 6 | Texas Motor Speedway |
| Nov. 13 | Phoenix International Raceway |
| Nov. 20 | Homestead-Miami Speedway |
NASCAR XFINITY Series 2016 schedule
| Date | Track |
|---|---|
| Feb. 20 | Daytona International Speedway |
| Feb. 27 | Atlanta Motor Speedway |
| March 5 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
| March 12 | Phoenix International Raceway |
| March 19 | Auto Club Speedway |
| April 8 | Texas Motor Speedway |
| April 16 | Bristol Motor Speedway |
| April 23 | Richmond International Raceway |
| April 30 | Talladega Superspeedway |
| May 14 | Dover International Speedway |
| May 28 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
| June 4 | Pocono Raceway |
| June 11 | Michigan International Speedway |
| June 19 | Iowa Speedway |
| July 1 | Daytona International Speedway |
| July 8 | Kentucky Speedway |
| July 16 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway |
| July 23 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
| July 30 | Iowa Speedway |
| Aug. 6 | Watkins Glen International |
| Aug. 13 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course |
| Aug. 19 | Bristol Motor Speedway |
| Aug. 27 | Road America |
| Sept. 3 | Darlington Raceway |
| Sept. 9 | Richmond International Raceway |
| Sept. 17 | Chicagoland Speedway |
| Sept. 24 | Kentucky Speedway |
| Oct. 1 | Dover International Speedway |
| Oct. 7 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
| Oct. 15 | Kansas Speedway |
| Nov. 5 | Texas Motor Speedway |
| Nov. 12 | Phoenix International Raceway |
| Nov. 19 | Homestead-Miami Speedway |