NASCAR: 66-year Cup Series streak comes to a screeching halt

Richmond Raceway hosted a NASCAR Cup Series race in August for just the second time in its history this season, and that race was its second of the 2024 season. It also hosted a race back on Easter Sunday in late March.

The four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) Richmond, Virginia short track is again on the August schedule for next year. On Sunday, August 17, it is scheduled to host the penultimate race of the 26-race regular season.

But for the first time since 1958, Richmond only has one Cup Series race date on the calendar in 2025.

Richmond loses second NASCAR weekend

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico was added to the 36-race schedule for 2025, and though it is scheduled to take host the Cup Series on Father's Day rather than on Easter Sunday, it has replaced the other Richmond weekend.

The Xfinity Series raced at the 16-turn, 2.518-mile (4.052-kilometer) circuit from 2005 to 2008, but the Cup Series has never raced at the venue.

In 2020, Richmond did only host one race, but two races were scheduled to take place at the track. The first date was simply lost as a result of the many schedule changes that needed to be made to comply with government-imposed restrictions.

Richmond hosted one Cup Series race in 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, and 1958 before landing a second annual race date in 1959. Lee Petty, Tim Flock, Buck Baker, Paul Goldsmith, and Speedy Thompson won those five races, respectively. The 1959 race winners were Tom Pistone and Cotton Owens.

The full 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule can be found here and consists of a number of other changes, primarily relating to race dates. Venue-wise, the only other change is the addition of Bowman Gray Stadium, which is set to replace Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the host of the preseason Busch Light Clash exhibition race.