NASCAR’s 2011 race schedules
“The adjustments and realignment of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule will make for an exciting race season next year," said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France. “The revised schedule provides better situated dates for the tracks, a more challenging lineup for the drivers and ultimately more intrigue for the fans."
One of those changes comes early, as the second race of the season will be held at Phoenix International Raceway on Feb. 27, a week after the season-opening Daytona 500. PIR replaces Auto Club Speedway in Week 2. Texas Motor Speedway fills in the vacated Phoenix spot on Saturday, April 9 for what will be an exciting night race in the Lone Star State.
Southern California’s Auto Club Speedway will now run its race date on March 27, providing the track and its fans an optimum point in the schedule.
The series’ 36-race schedule will feature two realigned events. A second Kansas Speedway date follows the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and will be held on Sunday, June 5. And for the first time in a decade the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series realigns to a new track with a race at Kentucky Speedway. The Kentucky race will be held under the lights on Saturday, July 9.
The 2011 “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup" – consisting of the season’s last 10 races, during which the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship is decided – will begin at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 18.
Chicagoland’s previous race date was in early July, a slot that went to the realigned event at Kentucky. New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which previously had the first Chase date, will now have the second, on Sept. 25.
Also released today were the 2011 schedule for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, highlighted by a second race at Iowa and Chicagoland speedways, and the 2011 schedule for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, which will see nine races moved to different dates on the calendar.
All three national series – NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – will begin their seasons at Daytona International Speedway’s “Speedweeks," with a weekend culminated by the Daytona 500. The traditional “non-points" Budweiser Shootout at Daytona will provide fans a NASCAR Sprint Cup preview, on Saturday night, Feb. 12, followed by qualifying for the “Great American Race" to be held on Sunday, Feb. 13.
All three series will end their seasons with another tradition – Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Nov. 18-20.
The NASCAR Nationwide Series will consist of 34 races, all featuring the new car that is being run a total of four times this season.
Iowa Speedway, which joined the schedule in 2009, receives a second date in 2011. The series will visit the Newton, Iowa, facility for the first time on Sunday, May 22 and return on Saturday, Aug. 6.
A new date has been added at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday, June 4. The series returns on Saturday, Sept. 17 as part of a NASCAR national series tripleheader featuring the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday, Sept. 18 and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Friday, Sept. 16.
Last season’s successful inaugural event at the Road America road course in Wisconsin returns in 2011 on Saturday, June 25, the weekend before the Friday, July 1 race at Daytona International Speedway.
A previous stand-alone event at Kentucky Speedway now will be part of the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup/NASCAR Nationwide Series weekend on Friday, July 8.
The NASCAR Nationwide Series will be paired with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on three weekends, at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, April 23 and Saturday, July 23 and at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis on Saturday, July 30.
The 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will consist of 25 races, one of which will be announced at a future date.
Phoenix International Raceway, which traditionally hosted the penultimate race in November, will host the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Friday, Feb. 25.
Darlington Raceway, which returned to the schedule in 2010 after an absence of six years, moves from August to Saturday, March 12.
Michigan International Speedway’s truck race, previously held in June, will accompany its late-summer NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday, Aug. 20.
Two additional date shifts in the fall have stand-alone events at Kentucky Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, moving a month later on the schedule. The series races at Kentucky on Saturday, Oct. 1 followed by Las Vegas on Saturday, Oct. 15.
2011 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE
| Date | Site |
| Feb. 12 | Daytona International Speedway (Budweiser Shootout At Daytona *) |
| Feb. 13 | Daytona 500 Qualifying |
| Feb. 20 | Daytona International Speedway |
| Feb. 27 | Phoenix International Raceway |
| March 6 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
| March 20 | Bristol Motor Speedway |
| March 27 | Auto Club Speedway |
| April 3 | Martinsville Speedway |
| April 9 | Texas Motor Speedway |
| April 17 | Talladega Superspeedway |
| April 30 | Richmond International Raceway |
| May 7 | Darlington Raceway |
| May 15 | Dover International Speedway |
| May 21 | Charlotte Motor Speedway (NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race *) |
| May 29 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
| June 5 | Kansas Speedway |
| June 12 | Pocono Raceway |
| June 19 | Michigan International Speedway |
| June 26 | Infineon Raceway |
| July 2 | Daytona International Speedway |
| July 9 | Kentucky Speedway |
| July 17 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway |
| July 31 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
| Aug. 7 | Pocono Raceway |
| Aug. 14 | Watkins Glen International |
| Aug. 21 | Michigan International Speedway |
| Aug. 27 | Bristol Motor Speedway |
| Sept. 4 | Atlanta Motor Speedway |
| Sept. 10 | Richmond International Raceway |
| Sept. 18 | Chicagoland Speedway |
| Sept. 25 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway |
| Oct. 2 | Dover International Speedway |
| Oct. 9 | Kansas Speedway |
| Oct. 15 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
| Oct. 23 | Talladega Superspeedway |
| Oct. 30 | Martinsville Speedway |
| Nov. 6 | Texas Motor Speedway |
| Nov. 13 | Phoenix International Raceway |
| Nov. 20 | Homestead-Miami Speedway |
* – Denotes non-point event.
2011 NASCAR NATIOWIDE SERIES SCHEDULE
| Date | Site |
| Feb. 19 | Daytona International Speedway |
| Feb. 26 | Phoenix International Raceway |
| March 5 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
| March 19 | Bristol Motor Speedway |
| March 26 | Auto Club Speedway |
| April 8 | Texas Motor Speedway |
| April 16 | Talladega Superspeedway |
| April 23 | Nashville Superspeedway |
| April 29 | Richmond International Raceway |
| May 6 | Darlington Raceway |
| May 14 | Dover International Speedway |
| May 22 | Iowa Speedway |
| May 28 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
| June 4 | Chicagoland Speedway |
| June 18 | Michigan International Speedway |
| June 25 | Road America |
| July 1 | Daytona International Speedway |
| July 8 | Kentucky Speedway |
| July 16 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway |
| July 23 | Nashville Superspeedway |
| July 30 | O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis |
| Aug. 6 | Iowa Speedway |
| Aug. 13 | Watkins Glen International |
| Aug. 20 | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Montreal |
| Aug. 26 | Bristol Motor Speedway |
| Sept. 3 | Atlanta Motor Speedway |
| Sept. 9 | Richmond International Raceway |
| Sept. 17 | Chicagoland Speedway |
| Oct. 1 | Dover International Speedway |
| Oct. 8 | Kansas Speedway |
| Oct. 14 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
| Nov. 5 | Texas Motor Speedway |
| Nov. 12 | Phoenix International Raceway |
| Nov. 19 | Homestead-Miami Speedway |
2011 NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES SCHEDULE
| Date | Site |
| Feb. 18 | Daytona International Speedway |
| Feb. 25 | Phoenix International Raceway |
| March 12 | Darlington Raceway |
| April 2 | Martinsville Speedway |
| April 22 | Nashville Superspeedway |
| May 13 | Dover International Speedway |
| May 20 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
| June 4 | Kansas Speedway |
| June 10 | Texas Motor Speedway |
| July 16 | Iowa Speedway |
| July 22 | Nashville Superspeedway |
| July 29 | O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis |
| Aug. 6 | Pocono Raceway |
| Aug. 20 | Michigan International Speedway |
| Aug. 24 | Bristol Motor Speedway |
| Sept. 2 | Atlanta Motor Speedway |
| Sept. 16 | Chicagoland Speedway |
| Sept. 24 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway |
| Oct. 1 | Kentucky Speedway |
| Oct. 15 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
| Oct. 22 | Talladega Superspeedway |
| Oct. 29 | Martinsville Speedway |
| Nov. 4 | Texas Motor Speedway |
| Nov. 18 | Homestead-Miami Speedway |
Note: one additional date to be added