The 2007 Nextel Cup Series schedule was announced Thursday, a 36-race slate starting with the 49th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 18 at Daytona International Speedway. On Sunday, Nov. 18, Homestead-Miami Speedway will again host the season finale.

Other key dates:

• On Sunday, July 1, New Hampshire International Speedway will host the first event in the Race to the Chase, the 10-race prelude to the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

• On Sunday, July 29, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard will be held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

• On the evening of Saturday, Sept. 8, Richmond International Raceway will be the final event in the Race to the Chase.

• The week after Richmond, on Sunday, Sept. 16, New Hampshire again will have the kickoff event in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, which covers the season’s last 10 races and determines the series champion.

Date     Site     TV

Feb. 10 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona* FOX/FX
Feb. 18 Daytona International Speedway FOX
Feb. 25 California Speedway FOX/FX
March 11 Las Vegas Motor Speedway FOX/FX
March 18 Atlanta Motor Speedway FOX/FX
March 25 Bristol Motor Speedway FOX/FX
April 1 Martinsville Speedway FOX/FX
April 15 Texas Motor Speedway FOX/FX
April 21 Phoenix International Raceway FOX/FX
April 29 Talladega Superspeedway FOX/FX
May 5 Richmond International Raceway FOX/FX
May 12 Darlington Raceway FOX/FX
May 19 All-Star Challenge at LMS* FOX/FX
May 27 Lowe’s Motor Speedway FOX/FX
June 3 Dover International Speedway FOX/FX
June 10 Pocono Raceway TNT
June 17 Michigan International Speedway TNT
June 24 Infineon Raceway TNT
July 1 New Hampshire International Speedway TNT
July 7 Daytona International Speedway TNT
July 15 Chicagoland Speedway TNT
July 29 Indianapolis Motor Speedway ABC/ESPN
Aug. 5 Pocono Raceway ABC/ESPN
Aug. 12 Watkins Glen International ABC/ESPN
Aug. 19 Michigan International Speedway ABC/ESPN
Aug. 25 Bristol Motor Speedway ABC/ESPN
Sept. 2 California Speedway ABC/ESPN
Sept. 8 Richmond International Raceway ABC/ESPN
Sept. 16 New Hampshire International Speedway ABC/ESPN
Sept. 23 Dover International Speedway ABC/ESPN
Sept. 30 Kansas Speedway ABC/ESPN
Oct. 7 Talladega Superspeedway ABC/ESPN
Oct. 13 Lowe’s Motor Speedway ABC/ESPN
Oct. 21 Martinsville Speedway ABC/ESPN
Oct. 28 Atlanta Motor Speedway ABC/ESPN
Nov. 4 Texas Motor Speedway ABC/ESPN
Nov. 11 Phoenix International Raceway ABC/ESPN
Nov. 18 Homestead-Miami Speedway ABC/ESPN

* Denotes non-points event

NASCAR.com