NASCAR: The key Daytona 500 schedule changes for 2022

This year’s schedule leading up to the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 is slightly different than it has been in years past.

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to get underway one week from today with the 64th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

The schedule leading up to the first of 36 races on this year’s calendar, however, looks slightly different than it has in years past. There are a few changes to make note of, including one new one for this year that has already taken effect.

Prior to last year, the single-car qualifying session had led things off on the Sunday before the Daytona 500 (so in this year’s case, today), and the Busch Light Clash took place later in the afternoon.

But that was changed last year, which allowed NASCAR to avoid a potential clash, no pun intended, with Super Bowl LV, which took place just one week before the “Great American Race”.

Instead, the Clash took place on the Tuesday after the Super Bowl, and for the first time in its 43-year history, it took place on the Daytona International Speedway road course as opposed to the oval.

The single-car qualifying session then took place the following evening. That set the stage for the Bluegreen Vacations Duels, which took place on Thursday, just like they had prior to 2021.

The big change here for 2022 is the fact that the Clash took place last Sunday, and for the first time in its 44-year history, it was contested at a venue other than Daytona International Speedway. A purpose-built, quarter-mile oval was constructed inside Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum over the winter for this year’s running of the season-opening exhibition race.

Like it did before 2021, single-car qualifying is once again scheduled to lead things off. But like it did following last year’s changes, it is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, prior to the Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday.

And unlike last year, there are set to be two rounds, with the second round featuring only the top 10 from the first round. Before 2020 and 2021, when there was just one round, this was the case for the top 12.

Also worth noting is the fact that the Daytona 500 s a week later this year because of the fact that Presidents’ Day is the latest it can possibly be (third Monday in February — February 21), and last year, it was the earliest it could possibly be (February 15). That led to last year’s Daytona 500 being tied for the earliest in race history (February 14).

So fortunately, despite the rescheduling and relocation of this year’s Clash and the additional week in the NFL regular season, there was no clash between NASCAR and the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl LVI is scheduled to be contested at SoFi Stadium this evening, one Sunday after the Clash and one Sunday before the Daytona 500.

The single-car qualifying session (Wednesday, February 16, 8:00 p.m. ET) and the Bluegreen Vacations Duels (Thursday, February 17, 7:00 p.m. ET) are both set to be broadcast live from Daytona International Speedway on Fox Sports 1. The Daytona 500 (Sunday, February 20, 2:30 p.m. ET) is set to be broadcast live on Fox. If you have not yet begun your free trial of FuboTV, now would be a good time to do so!