The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule was released on Wednesday, and there were three pretty big changes to the four-round, 10-race playoffs.
After months of rumors and speculation, the 36-race 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule was confirmed on Wednesday, and there were quite a few changes throughout the roughly eight and a half-month season.
The four-round, 10-race playoffs alone saw three big changes which involve four of the current postseason events, plus one of the current regular season events.
Let’s take a look at these changes, which should prove to be the most important on the 2022 schedule given where they fall on the calendar.
Round of 16 – Richmond Raceway out
Richmond Raceway’s second race is no longer a playoff race. This race has been moved to Sunday, August 14, which is three weeks before the playoffs are scheduled to begin at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, September 4.
Instead, Kansas Speedway is scheduled to host the second race of the first three-race round of the playoffs on Sunday, September 11. This, in turn, will cause the track to lose its place as the second track in the three-race round of 8.
Round of 8 – Kansas Speedway’s replacement
With Kansas Speedway out in the round of 8, a familiar playoff race is back. After hosting the season finale from 2002 to 2019, Homestead-Miami Speedway became the host of a single regular season race in 2020 and 2021.
While Phoenix Raceway is set to return as the host of the season finale for the third year in a row in 2022, Homestead-Miami Speedway is back as the replacement for Kansas Speedway in the round of 8 on Sunday, October 23.
Round of 12/Round of 8 – Track swap
Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway are set to swap places in the playoffs. The former is set to become the round of 8 opener on Sunday, October 16 as opposed to the round of 12 opener on Sunday, September 25. The latter is set to become round of 12 opener as opposed to the round of 8 opener.
The full 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule can be found here.