With the NASCAR Cup Series season set to end one week earlier this year than it did last year, and with there being no need for a three-week summer break due to NBC's commitment to the Summer Olympics like there was in 2024, Easter weekend marked the one and only off weekend of the 2025 campaign.
It means that Sunday's Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway is set to begin a non-stop stretch of 28 consecutive weeks of Cup Series action, a streak not seen by NASCAR's top level in 54 years.
Sunday's 188-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama oval is the 10th of 36 points races on the schedule, but we also have to factor in the upcoming exhibition All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, May 18.
NASCAR set for 28 straight race weeks, first time since 1971
Even in the 2020 season, when NASCAR missed 10 straight weeks from March to May due to pandemic-related restrictions, they only ended up running Cup Series races on 26 consecutive weeks to wrap up the season, many times fitting two into a single week to ensure that a 36-race season was still contested.
We haven't seen 28 consecutive weeks of Cup Series action since 1971, when there were 36 races contested from the race at Ontario Motor Speedway on Sunday, February 28 to the race at Darlington Raceway on Monday, September 6.
The upcoming 28-week stretch is scheduled to begin this afternoon and conclude on Sunday, November 2 with the Championship 4 title decider at Phoenix Raceway.
Front Row Motorsports' Zane Smith took his first career pole position for Sunday's race in Saturday's two-round qualifying session. A full starting lineup is available here.
Tune in to Fox at 3:00 p.m. ET this afternoon for the live broadcast of the Jack Link's 500 from Talladega Superspeedway. If you have not yet had a chance to start a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don't miss any of the action from the longest oval on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule!