NASCAR: Proposing a 2022 Cup Series schedule

With the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule to be revealed in due time, let’s take a look at some of the changes we would like to see.

Over the past few years, the NASCAR Cup Series schedule has undergone some major changes. New tracks such as Road America and Nashville Superspeedway have been added while many other tracks have been assigned new race dates or times.

Other tracks such as Chicagoland Speedway and Kentucky Speedway have lost their race dates altogether in order to make room for the new venues.

Many fans are eagerly awaiting the release of the 2022 series schedule, and that motivated us here at Beyond the Flag to create a revitalized schedule of our own for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Take a look.

Exhibition – Feb. 8 – The Clash, Daytona Road Course (Night)

Exhibition – Feb. 10 – Daytona Duels

Race 1 – Feb. 13 – Daytona 500

Race 2 – Feb. 20 – Homestead-Miami Speedway

Race 3 – Feb. 27 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Race 4 – Mar. 6 – Auto Club Speedway

Race 5 – Mar. 13 – Sonoma Raceway

Race 6 – Mar. 20 – Phoenix Raceway

Race 7 – Mar. 27 – Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt

Race 8 – Apr. 3 – Richmond Raceway

Race 9 – Apr. 9 – Martinsville Speedway (Night)

Race 10 – Apr. 24 – Talladega Superspeedway

Race 11 – Apr. 30 – Kansas Speedway (Night)

Race 12 – May 8 – Darlington Raceway

Race 13 – May 15 – Dover International Speedway

Race 14 – May 22 – Circuit of the Americas

Race 15 – May 29 – Coca-Cola 600

Race 16 – Jun. 5 – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Race 17 – Jun. 12 – Chicagoland Speedway

Race 18 – Jun. 19 – Pocono Raceway

Race 19 – Jun. 25 – Texas Motor Speedway (Night)

Race 20 – Jul. 3 – Road America

Race 21 – Jul. 10 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Race 22 – Jul. 30 – Indianapolis Road Course

Race 23 – Jul. 31 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Race 24 – Aug. 7 – Watkins Glen International

Race 25 – Aug. 14 – Michigan International Speedway

Race 26 – Aug. 20 – Daytona International Speedway (Night)

Exhibition – Aug. 28 – All-Star Open and All-Star Race

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 16

Race 27 – Sep. 4 – Darlington Raceway (Southern 500)

Race 28 – Sep. 10 – Richmond Raceway (Night)

Race 29 – Sep. 17 – Bristol Motor Speedway (Night)

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 12

Race 30 – Sep. 24 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Night)

Race 31 – Oct. 2 – Talladega Superspeedway

Race 32 – Oct. 9 – Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 8

Race 33 – Oct. 15 – Phoenix Raceway (Night)

Race 34 – Oct. 23 – Kansas Speedway

Race 35 – Oct. 30 – Martinsville Speedway

PLAYOFFS CHAMPIONSHIP 4

Race 36 – Nov. 6 – Nashville Superspeedway

The mock-up schedule has a few new dates and new features, as well as some ideas returning from the past few years.

To start the season, the week-long Daytona Speedweek would return with another Tuesday night Clash at the Daytona International Speedway road course. The Daytona road course would not host a points race for the first time since 2019.

The next major change to the schedule would take place just weeks after Daytona on the west coast swing. In addition to races at Phoenix Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR’s extended trip would also feature the final race on Auto Club Speedway’s 2.0-mile configuration and the series’ annual trip to Sonoma Raceway.

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Moving Sonoma into an earlier slot on the schedule would keep road courses more relevant throughout the entire season instead of keeping them pretty much only relevant through the summer months.

The next big change to the schedule wouldn’t take place until June, when Atlanta Motor Speedway would get its 2021 race date. It would mark NASCAR’s first trip to the newly paved and newly-configured 1.54-mile quad-oval. It would also be the only trip to Atlanta, because one week later, NASCAR would return to Chicagoland Speedway for the first time in what would be three years. Chicagoland lost its 2020 race date due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was not on the 2021 schedule at all after hosting phenomenal races in 2018 and 2019.

Like Atlanta, Pocono Raceway would lose one of its dates to a different track. This would also be the end of the Pocono doubleheader, but a doubleheader weekend would still exist for the Cup Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.

Unlike at Pocono, where both races during the weekend have been held on the triangular track, Indy’s doubleheader would kick off with a race on the road course on Saturday. Sunday’s race would mark the return of the Brickyard 400 on the famous 2.5-mile oval.

Keeping a doubleheader weekend would allow drivers, teams and other personnel to keep the summer break, which was originally implemented for 2020 so that NASCAR coverage on NBC and NBC Sports Network didn’t interfere with coverage from the Tokyo Olympics.

Having the doubleheader weekend on two different types of tracks, a road course and a speedway, would also test the versatility of the Next Gen car, which no longer requires teams to build specialized chassis for each type of track.

Just like in 2021, Texas Motor Speedway would host one points race, but it wouldn’t be in the playoffs. Texas would be moved to June and would become a night race.

The final change in the regular season would affect the regular season finale. The 26th race of the season would still take place on the high-banks of Daytona International Speedway, but it would be one week earlier on the calendar.

The All-Star Race, which typically takes place in May or June, would be moved to the final weekend of August, breaking up the regular season and the playoffs. This new date would allow the sport to showcase its true All-Stars, the 16 playoff drivers, from the 2022 season before they compete for the Bill France Cup.

The last set of changes would occur in the final handful of races. Phoenix Raceway would move back into the round of 8 as a night race and the championship weekend would be hosted by Nashville Superspeedway.

Nashville hosting the championship weekend would also make it easier for NASCAR to plan the sport’s postseason banquet. This year’s is scheduled to take place in Nashville, and this change would allow and encourage NASCAR to make the same thing happen in future seasons.

What are your thoughts on these schedule changes? Which changes would you like to see implemented? While some for sure won’t happen (such as Nashville Superspeedway hosting the title race, as Phoenix Raceway has already been confirmed for 2022), which would you like to see happen in 2023 or beyond?