From 1971 to 2021, the NASCAR Cup Series never ran a scheduled race on Easter Sunday. There was a race that took place on Easter in 1989 at Richmond Raceway, but only because of a February snowstorm which caused it to be postponed.
In 2022, NASCAR bucked tradition in more ways than one, covering the Bristol Motor Speedway concrete surface with dirt and racing on Easter. It was the second straight year for the dirt race at Bristol, but it was the first time the race was contested on the holiday.
The Cup Series returned to Bristol for another dirt race on Easter Sunday in 2023, but the dirt race was scrapped altogether in 2024. Bristol got its regular season concrete race back, but NASCAR decided to race on Easter at Richmond.
This year, Richmond is only on the schedule one time, something that had not previously been the case since 1958, save for 2020 when one of its two races was canceled due to pandemic-related restrictions. Like it did last year, the four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) Richmond, Virginia oval is set to host a race in August.
What replaced Richmond in 2025?
Added to the schedule in place of Richmond is Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a road course in Mexico that NASCAR visited from 2005 to 2008 for Xfinity Series races, but never for a Cup Series event.
And it is not hosting an Easter race.
Despite rumors that the race may be canceled, the Cup Series event at the venue is still scheduled to take place on Father's Day, Sunday, June 15, making it the 16th points race on the 2025 schedule.
Last year's Father's Day race was contested at Iowa Speedway, and Iowa was moved back to early August this year, since there is no 21-day gap between races in July and August this year. Last year's gap was the result of NBC's commitment to Summer Olympics coverage in Paris, France, and there are no Olympic Games scheduled for this year.
In fact, this coming Easter weekend is the one and only off weekend on the entire 2025 Cup Series calendar.
Next Sunday afternoon's race at Talladega Superspeedway, points race number 10 of the season, is set to lead off a stretch of 28 consecutive race weekends, including 27 points races, that is not scheduled to conclude until the Championship 4 season finale at Phoenix Raceway in early November.
Both the Truck Series and Xfinity Series are scheduled to be in action this weekend, however, with each set to make a long-awaited return to Rockingham Speedway. The Truck Series is scheduled to be in action on Friday, and the Xfinity Series is scheduled to follow it up on Saturday.
The Jack Link's 500 Cup Series race is set to be broadcast live on Fox from Talladega Superspeedway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 27. Start a free trial of FuboTV now if you have not already had the chance to do so!