NASCAR announces 2009 Sprint Cup schedule
Quote selected text Published August 19th, 2008 in NASCAR News
2009 Cup Schedule Announced, 4 “off” weeks: NASCAR announced today its national series schedules for the 2009 season, which features realigned dates for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Truck Series. In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series there will be a three-way date swap between Atlanta Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway) and Talladega Superspeedway.
• Atlanta’s second 2009 race will be held on Sunday, Sept. 6, taking the Labor Day weekend slot now held by Auto Club Speedway.
• Auto Club Speedway’s second race will be Sunday, Oct. 11 – the fourth week of the “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup,” a slot formerly held by Talladega.
• Talladega’s second event will move to Sunday, Nov. 1, making it the seventh Chase event – the slot formerly held by Atlanta.
“The 2009 schedule reflects realigned dates that are good opportunities for everyone involved in our sport – fans, sponsors, tracks and teams,” said NASCAR President Mike Helton. The season begins with a tripleheader weekend at Daytona International Speedway capped by the running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 15. In addition to that season-opening event for the Sprint Cup Series, the Truck Series starts its season on Friday night, Feb. 13, followed the next afternoon by the Nationwide Series opener. For all three series, the season will conclude with another tripleheader weekend, at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 20-22.
Other key NASCAR Sprint Cup dates in 2009:
• The 31st annual Budweiser Shootout at Daytona – a non-points event – will be held on Saturday, Feb. 7.
• On the evening of Saturday, Sept. 12, Richmond International Raceway will again host the “Chase cut-off” race, affording the last opportunity for drivers to qualify for NASCAR’s championship playoffs.
• New Hampshire Motor Speedway will host the first races in both the “Race to the Chase” (Sunday, June 28) and the Chase (Sunday, Sept. 20).
There also will be an additional off-week for NASCAR’s premier series in 2009, prior to the Labor Day weekend event, giving teams a final break before a 12-week stretch that will end the season. Because of the way the calendar falls, NASCAR Sprint Cup teams will have a total of four off-weeks during the 2009 season.
The NASCAR Nationwide Series will have a 35-race schedule. Changes from this year include a new event at Iowa Speedway on Aug. 1, replacing Mexico City; a switch of the Atlanta Motor Speedway event from March to September; and moving the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve event in Montreal to Sunday, Aug. 30.
The NASCAR Truck Series in 2009 again will have 25 races, with one realigned date: The series’ late-season race at Atlanta will be replaced by a night event at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday, Aug. 28.
2009 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE
Date Site
Feb. 7 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, Daytona International Speedway*
Feb. 15 Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 22 Auto Club Speedway
March 1 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 8 Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 15 OFF
March 22 Bristol Motor Speedway
March 29 Martinsville Speedway
April 5 Texas Motor Speedway
April 12 OFF - Easter
April 18 Phoenix International Raceway
April 26 Talladega Superspeedway
May 2 Richmond International Raceway
May 9 Darlington Raceway
May 16 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Lowe’s Motor Speedway*
May 24 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
May 31 Dover International Speedway
June 7 Pocono Raceway
June 14 Michigan International Speedway
June 21 Infineon Raceway
June 28 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 4 Daytona International Speedway
July 11 Chicagoland Speedway
July 18 OFF - last off weekend
July 26 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug. 2 Pocono Raceway
Aug. 9 Watkins Glen International
Aug. 16 Michigan International Speedway
Aug. 22 Bristol Motor Speedway
Sept. 6 Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sept. 12 Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 20 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sept. 27 Dover International Speedway
Oct. 4 Kansas Speedway
Oct. 11 Auto Club Speedway
Oct. 17 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Oct. 25 Martinsville Speedway
Nov. 1 Talladega Superspeedway
Nov. 8 Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 15 Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 22 Homestead-Miami Speedway
* – Denotes non-points event.
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this is a great change, Labor day in Atlanta and the Texas race is pushed ahead 1 week to avoid the hunting season in Texas.
Heck yeah this is a great change! Maybe I won’t have to bring long johns to the fall race at AMS this year!!! Too bad they couldn’t just take Cali’s fall date away completely and give it to someone else. Beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose.
I think it works for everybody,im not really a fan of fontana I lived a hour east of there in palm springs and its to freakin hot id much rather be at the beach in southern cal than frying in those stands.
Wheres the Staten Island track scheaduled at?
Or the Washington state one?
or the Denver one?
l0l
TheTru7h wrote:
Lol true,im not sure if a track around nyc would work theres so many things to do thats 1 reason why fontana has trouble filling seats cause of LA,and it rains all the time in washington state,but a race in or around denver would be cool I go there every year to hunt and enjoy the outdoors and scenery.
Last week I said something about those 3 dates getting switched and nobody believed me and everybody gave me a fit over suggesting that change. Well looky here I was right……
Fisha695 wrote:
The cali and atlanta switch had been rumored for months thats nothing new.
Auto Club Speedway 2009, its all good, I didn’t mind the hot hot weather during Labor Day,
will be there in 8 days
excited my home track is included in the chase, thats cool,
especially I will be at the track for JR’s Birthday,
a gr88t change for all tracks
Huggs~~~
Barbie wrote:
I share the same b-day as JR
as for race schedule they should get rid of one of the pocono races
The weather at Fontana doesn’t seem to bother me as long as the racing is good, and it has been getting better.
The new date for Cali is perfect. I’m glad it got changed! I’ve been there the last 3 years to the Labor Day one & its HOT. Looking forward to it!! So far the weather hasn’t been bad this year. See you all in 9 days if you go!!