NASCAR: Bristol announcement preserves 63-year streak

While there will be no Bristol dirt race on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the track is still set to host two races for the 64th year in a row.

Ever since it was added to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 2021, the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway was viewed as being on the “hot seat” when it came to potential schedule changes. The race survived in 2022 and 2023, but the track has confirmed that it will not be back in 2024.

Amid rumors that the dirt race at the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) Bristol, Tennessee oval had run its course, there was speculation as to what track might take its place.

North Wilkesboro Speedway had been rumored to be in the mix for a Cup Seres points race after hosting the All-Star Race this past May. It hadn’t previously hosted any Cup Series race since 1996.

But while North Wilkesboro could very still land its anticipated points race, the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is still set to feature two Bristol races.

Bristol was added to the schedule back in 1961, the same year it opened. Going all the way back to 1961, it has hosted two races per season, including all 60 years before the dirt race arrived and every year since.

What have not yet been confirmed are the exact dates of the two concrete races at “The Last Great Colosseum” next year, but they likely won’t change much from what they’ve been, both in the pre-dirt and the dirt era. There will likely be one spring race at the track, and the second race will likely remain a playoff night race.

Confirmation of the 2024 change comes ahead of this year’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at the track. This race is the third and final race of the round of 16 of the playoffs and will determine which 10 drivers join Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick in the round of 12.

FanDuel Sportsbook, which is giving fans $200 just for betting $5 on any driver, lists Larson as the +500 favorite to win on Saturday night.

Odds and availability are always subject to change, so lock in your $200 payday today!

Tune in to USA Network at 6:30 p.m. ET, one hour earlier than initially scheduled, for the live broadcast of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race from Bristol Motor Speedway. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now if you have not yet done so!