NASCAR: The 3 tracks removed from the schedule
By Asher Fair
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule has been released, and three tracks that were on the original 2020 schedule have been removed.
NASCAR confirmed the 36-race 2021 Cup Series schedule on Wednesday, and that confirmation carried with it the removal of three races that had been on the original 2020 scheduled before the coronavirus pandemic.
Chicagoland Speedway, which was abandoned for the 2020 season due to the pandemic, had hosted one Cup Series race annually since 2001. But in 2021, the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Joliet, Illinois will not be back on the calendar.
Kentucky Speedway, which had hosted one of the newer races on the schedule, will also not be back in 2021. The four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Sparta, Kentucky was only added to the calendar ahead of the 2011 season and hosted one race each year from 2011 to 2020.
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Finally, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the annual host of the Brickyard 400 since 1994, will not be back in 2021 — that is, the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) oval, known most for hosting the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar race each Memorial Day Sunday, will not be hosting a race for what would have been the 28th straight year.
The Speedway, Indiana venue itself is still scheduled to host a race, however, but that race is slated to take place on the 13-turn, 2.439-mile (3.925-kilometer) road course. The race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, August 15.
Dover International Speedway and Michigan International Speedway each lost a race date as well, but both had hosted two races per year and are still scheduled to host one. The former is scheduled to host a race on Sunday, May 16 while the latter is scheduled to host a race on Sunday, August 22.
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The paved Bristol Motor Speedway also lost a date as well in favor of a dirt track race at the venue, but it also still has a race date in the round of 16 of the four-round, 10-race playoffs on Saturday, September 18.