Looking Ahead to the 2025 Schedule

Despite reports earlier this year that the 2025 season would be coming sooner than usual, an official schedule release has yet to happen.

However, there are some key instances that can be pieced together about next year’s schedule, with three big storylines to follow.

The Return (or Not) of the Chicago Street Race

With the second straight disappointing running of the Chicago Street Race just a few weeks ago, the race’s future is very much up in the air. In possibly the biggest blunder of 2024, NASCAR was unable to get the full race in due to weather, which some blamed NASCAR for to begin with, and fans still have not seen a dry NASCAR Cup Series race on the street course.

Currently, the Chicago Street Race is due to return for its final originally agreed upon installment in 2025. However, as the contract negotiations were rumored to have taken place in bad faith on the part of the city’s leadership at that time, that final year is in limbo.

Essentially, Chicago has until January to decide whether or not to hold the race as part of a 180-day opt-out clause that was included in the original agreement. Coupled with the unrest that some Chicago residents have shown with the race, it remains to be the biggest question mark on the 2025 schedule in many eyes.

Indubitably, discussions will take place from now until that January deadline as to whether or not to bring the race back for its third installment. Those discussions are multi-faceted and require many heads in the room, along with extra planning to ensure the race’s third running can go off without a hitch. That takes a lot of time.

Thus, the Chicago Street Race has probably caused a few snags along the way as far as the release of the 2025 schedule goes.

NASCAR Going Abroad?

The rumors of a race outside of the United States have long since moved on from the rumor category, with multiple outlets reporting that a race on foreign soil is supposedly on the table for 2025.

The question, though, is will these races be a full series weekend or simply hold a Cup race? If they only hold a Cup race, is it truly beneficial for the sport, or is it too gimmicky to fulfil the desired purpose?

International travel is a completely different ballgame than driving haulers state to state to transport equipment like most teams do. It requires all team members to have the necessary legal documents, offering a much different logistical problem, especially for NASCAR…