What Should We Expect From the 2024 CARS Tour Schedule?

With the 2023 CARS Tour season in the rear view mirror, attention now turns to what’s ahead.

As the offseason progresses, many questions are still yet to be answered for 2024. 

One thing we know is that Solid Rock Carriers will no longer be the title sponsor. So now questions about who will replace it have begun to swirl.

We also know that silly season is in full swing, with the championship-contending duo of Carson Kvapil and Brenden Queen already announcing they will be back with their respective teams. There were also the announcements that Connor Hall will move over to the Nelson Motorsports No. 22 and Landon Huffman will make the move to Jimmy Mooring Racing for the 2024 season. 

However, possibly the biggest question still yet to be answered is that of the 2024 schedule. With it now being over a week past the typical championship weekend release date, many have begun to wonder what is taking so long and what should we expect when the schedule finally is announced.

The schedule release being delayed has been a head scratcher to some. In years past, the schedule for the next season had been released around the weekend of the final race of the current season — at least over the past couple of years. The 2023 schedule was announced four days after the final race of the season last year. In 2021, the schedule for 2022 was announced on the day of the last race of the season. 

Leading up to the end of the season, the general assumption was that we would see more of the same this year, with the 2024 schedule being released around the weekend of the North-South Shootout at Caraway Speedway. But that was not the case. So what could be the cause of this?

The most obvious answer is the influence of the new series Executive Director Kip Childress. Childress is a longtime veteran of the motorsports industry who most recently worked various officiating roles in NASCAR over the past 14 seasons. With the knowledge Childress holds from working in the biggest motorsports industry in the country, there’s no doubt that he is influencing the timetable of the series’ new schedule, most notably by not wanting to compete with NASCAR. 

The idea that the series doesn’t want to compete directly against NASCAR and rather work with it is nothing new, especially with the new ownership group consisting of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Justin…