NASCAR 2024 full schedule: First look at Cup, playoff changes, Phoenix championship

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule features an inaugural visit to Iowa Speedway, a change on where the regular season concludes, two changes to the championship playoffs, no dirt race, a return to the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a new location for its Easter Sunday race.

Notable changes to the 36-race points (plus two exhibitions) schedule includes:

The season begins with the Busch Light Clash (not a points race) from the L.A. Coliseum on Feb. 4, 2024. A NASCAR Mexico series race opens the weekend – a first in NASCAR history.
Richmond Raceway’s annual spring race will occur on the evening of Easter Sunday, shifting into the holiday date Bristol’s dirt race occupied for the past three years.
Bristol Motor Speedway’s spring race reverts back to being held on concrete after a three-year experiment on dirt.
NASCAR’s All-Star race returns to North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 19.
The addition of Iowa Speedway, a popular short track about 35 miles east of Des Moines. NASCAR officially announced the June 16 race at a press conference Tuesday that included Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
The regular season will resume in Chicago on July 7.
A return to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval after three years on IMS’ road course on July 21.
The regular season will conclude at Darlington on Sept. 1, as Daytona International Speedway will be the penultimate of the regular season on Aug. 24. Playoffs begin Sept 8 at Atlanta.
Watkins Glen International’s lone date and one of Atlanta Motor Speedway’s two dates shifting into the playoffs. The addition of Watkins Glen makes for two road course races during the playoffs, while Atlanta adds a second superspeedway.
NASCAR will take a two-week break to accommodate NBC Sports, its second-half television rights holder that next year is also broadcasting the Summer Olympics.
Texas Motor Speedway is no longer hosting a playoff race for the first time since 2004 with its single date moving to the spring.
Kansas Speedway’s playoff race moves from the middle race in Round 1 to the opening race in Round 2.
The NASCAR championship will be hosted from Phoenix on Nov. 10.

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Schedule highlights

The addition of Iowa is much welcomed. This gives NASCAR seven points races on short tracks — nine if you include exhibition races at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and North Wilkesboro. That’s a sizable number, something the Cup Series hasn’t had since the 1980s. And once NASCAR corrects the issues with how the Next Gen car performs on short tracks, the league will be better off in the long run with these types of ovals having a greater presence.

Iowa is also a track beloved by many within the garage. It hosted quite a few competitive Xfinity and Truck Series races over the years, and the fan support for NASCAR within that region is underrated. This is a market long deserving of a Cup race.

While there are positives to be found within the schedule — moving Texas out of the playoffs is a giant win — it is by no means perfect. Charlotte’s fall playoff race continuing on the Roval instead of shifting to its oval configuration is puzzling. The oval layout has proven to be an outstanding track for the Next Gen car, producing some of the best racing of the season each of the past two years, while the novelty of the Roval has eroded.

Furthermore, consecutive superspeedway races to begin the season present real potential to create havoc for teams should they crash at both Daytona and Atlanta. Losing California Speedway for 2024 as the second race of the season no doubt created a hole that was always going to be difficult to fill. Especially when many of its tracks at that time of the year are dealing with inclement weather. Still, it feels like better options exist than going from Daytona to Atlanta.

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2024 NASCAR Cup schedule: Ranking 10 notable changes, from Iowa to Atlanta