On Thursday, NASCAR officially released its 2025 schedule, highlighted by the first-ever Cup race in Mexico, which will replace one of the two Richmond races on June 15. The international race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez was revealed earlier this week, and before that, NASCAR also announced Bowman Gray Stadium as the new host of the pre-season exhibition known as the ‘Clash.’ That race is scheduled for February 2.
The new season officially kicks off with the 67th running of the Daytona 500 on February 16. It will be drafting tracks back-to-back again s the Cup Series visits Atlanta Motor Speedway the following week. COTA also moves up a bit and becomes the third round of the year.
The Easter Break returns, serving as the only off-weekend throughout the entire season. However, this break will serve as the return to a beloved track for the lower divisions. On Easter Weekend, the NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series will compete at Rockingham Speedway. It will be the first national-level race at ‘The Rock’ since 2013. The Truck Series is also heading to Lime Rock Park for the first time.
Back to the Cup schedule, Mexico and Bowman Gray are the only new races. However, several dates have been moved around. Homestead-Miami Speedway is once again out of the playoffs and returns to an early-season date, scheduled for March 23. Many still clamor for the track to regain its position as the finale, but Phoenix Raceway remains the host of the title-decider. Along with Homestead, Watkins Glen International and Atlanta Motor Speedway have been taken out of the playoffs.
This year, the Olympic break forced some one-off changes to the schedule, but in 2025, Daytona will once again be the regular season finale. The Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway opens up the playoffs once again, which will have a different look next year. WWT Raceway (Gateway) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway are both joining the ten-race postseason. Charlotte Motor Speedway will continue to run the ROVAL course, despite some calls for it to go back to the oval layout. Talladega is now in the semi-final round. A detailed look at the full schedule can be found below.
2025 NASCAR Cup schedule
| DATE | TRACK/RACE | IMPORTANT NOTES |
| February 2 | Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium | |
| February 13 | Duels at Daytona International Speedway | |
| February 16 | Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway | 67th running of NASCAR’s crown jewel event. |
| February 23 | Atlanta Motor… |
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