The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series will feature both an international and grassroots flair
From humble beginnings in the Carolinas and across the southeast, NASCAR has grown into not only the most popular form of auto racing in the United States, but also one that can attract the intrigue and attention of the rest of the world. And the places that NASCAR seeks to go, but also the place where it came from, is reflected in where its premier division will be racing in 2025.
The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season will feature not only familiar stops from the superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega to the sport’s most iconic tracks like Darlington, Charlotte and Martinsville, but also two new additions to the schedule both near and far away. For the first time since 1958 and for the first time in the sport’s modern era, the Cup Series will race internationally this June by going south of the border to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. But before that, the 2025 season of racing will open back home in the Carolinas at the legendary Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The quarter mile Bowman Gray, the first asphalt track NASCAR ever raced on and a fixture on the Cup schedule until 1971, will be the new host of the preseason exhibition Cook Out Clash.
Among the other major changes to this year’s schedule include:
- After three years, NASCAR will no longer race on Easter Sunday, with that week serving as an off week as it traditionally had been. The Easter break will mark the lone off weekend of the 2025 season.
- Circuit of the Americas moves from the sixth race of the season to the third race of the season, setting up a West Coast swing that will include Austin, Texas, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
- Darlington Raceway’s spring race moves from Mother’s Day Weekend to early April.
- Texas Motor Speedway’s lone race date moves from April to early May.
- Nashville Superspeedway’s race date moves from late June to the beginning of June, immediately following the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. Michigan and Pocono return to June dates as well.
- Sonoma and Dover’s race dates have both been moved to July. Iowa Speedway’s race date has been moved from June to August.
- Mexico City’s date has come at the expense of Richmond Raceway, which will now have just one race weekend in August.
- Atlanta, Watkins Glen and Homestead-Miami have been moved out of the playoffs, with Gateway and New Hampshire moved into the playoffs instead. The Southern 500 at Darlington has also returned to being the playoff-opening race, and the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is once again the regular-season finale after a scheduling quirk because the Olympic break pushed the season forward a week.
- Talladega Superspeedway’s playoff race has been moved into the Round of 8, with that race now set to potentially determine a place in the Championship 4.
- In the Xfinity and Truck Series, the legendary Rockingham Speedway has returned to the schedule in both series for the first time since 2004 and 2013, respectively. The Truck Series also gains an entirely new racetrack with NASCAR’s first-ever trip to Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.
2025 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule
(* — Denotes non-points race)
Feb. 2 — Cook Out Clash — Bowman Gray Stadium*
Feb. 16 — Daytona 500 — Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 23 — Ambetter Health 400 — Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 2 — Echopark Texas Grand Prix — Circuit of the Americas (Austin, Texas)
March 9 — Shriners Children’s 500 — Phoenix Raceway
March 16 — Pennzoil 400 — Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 23 — Straight Talk Wireless 400 — Homestead-Miami Speedway
March 30 — Cook Out 400 — Martinsville Speedway
April 6 — Goodyear 400 — Darlington Raceway
April 13 — Food City 500 — Bristol Motor Speedway
April 27 — Jack Link’s 500 — Talladega Superspeedway
May 4 — Autotrader Echopark Automotive 400 –Texas Motor Speedway
May 11 — AdventHealth 400 — Kansas Speedway
May 18 — All-Star Race — North Wilkesboro Speedway*
May 25 — Coca-Cola 600 — Charlotte Motor Speedway
June 1 — Ally 400 — Nashville Superspeedway
June 8 — FireKeepers Casino 400 — Michigan International Speedway
June 15 — Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez (Mexico City)
June 22 — HighPoint.com 400 — Pocono Raceway
June 28 — Quaker State 400 — Atlanta Motor Speedway
July 6 — Grant Park 165 — Chicago Street Course
July 13 — Toyota/Save Mart 350 — Sonoma Raceway
July 20 — Wurth 400 — Dover Motor Speedway
July 27 — Brickyard 400 — Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug. 3 — Iowa Corn 350 — Iowa Speedway
Aug. 10 — Go Bowling at the Glen — Watkins Glen International
Aug. 16 — Cook Out 400 — Richmond Raceway
Aug. 23 — Coke Zero Sugar 400 — Daytona International Speedway
NASCAR playoffs
Round of 16
Aug. 31 — Southern 500 — Darlington Raceway
Sept. 7 — Enjoy Illinois 300 — World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (St. Louis, Missouri)
Sept. 13 — Bass Pro Shops Night Race — Bristol Motor Speedway
Round of 12
Sept. 21 — USA Today 301 — New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sept. 28 — Hollywood Casino 400 — Kansas Speedway
Oct. 6 — Bank of America ROVAL 400 — Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval
Round of 8
Oct. 12 — South Point 400 — Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Oct. 19 — YellaWood 500 — Talladega Superspeedway
Oct. 26 — Xfinity 500 — Martinsville Speedway
Championship Race
Nov. 2 — NASCAR Cup Series Championship — Phoenix Raceway
