NASCAR announces 2010 National Series schedules... Montreal Nationwide Aug. 29, 2010

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 15, 2009) – NASCAR announced today the 2010 schedules for its three national series, which will open their seasons at Daytona International Speedway on the weekend of Feb. 12-14, and conclude at Homestead-Miami Speedway on the weekend of Nov. 19-21.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will again have a 36-race schedule starting with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, plus two “non-point” events – the Feb. 6 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona and the May 22 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Other key dates for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series include:

June 27 and Sept. 19 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the respective openers in the “Race to the Chase” and the “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup”; the Coca-Cola 600 on May 30 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway; the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25; and the annual “Chase cut-off race” at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 11.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series will again race 35 times, while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will again have 25 events, including one of the most intriguing additions to the schedule in the series’ 15-year history: a new event at Pocono Raceway’s 2.5-mile triangle-shaped track on July 31, as a companion to one of the two traditional NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekends there. The Pocono truck race will be the only new event on any of the three series’ schedules. It replaces the truck series’ previous February event at Auto Club Speedway.

There will be some significant “shuffling” of events in 2010, compared to the current season’s schedules.

In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:

*       Qualifying for the Daytona 500 will be held on Saturday, Feb. 6, the same day as the Budweiser Shootout. Previously, qualifying was held the day after the shootout.
*       The season’s first Dover International Speedway race will be on May 16, before the all-star race and the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Dover traditionally has followed that consecutive two-week stop in Charlotte.
*       Phoenix International Raceway’s first race will be April 10, with Texas Motor Speedway’s first event April 18. Previously, Texas went first in April.
*       Also, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will have four “off” weeks including the traditional Easter holiday on April 4.

In the NASCAR Nationwide Series:

*       A Nashville-Phoenix-Texas run on April 3, April 9 and April 17 will replace a Texas-Nashville-Phoenix spring lineup.
*       The first Dover race will be run earlier than usual, on May 15, in companion to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series:

*       The Kansas Speedway race will be May 2, one week later.
*       The series’ race at Dover, as in the other two national series, will be held two weeks earlier, on May 14, kicking off a national series tripleheader weekend.
*       The Iowa Speedway and Gateway International Raceway events will be two months earlier, on July 11 and 16.
*       Nashville Superspeedway’s date moves a week later, to Aug. 7.
*       Kentucky Speedway’s date moves from July to Sept. 3.

(The 2010 schedules follow on subsequent pages. Starting times and television information will be announced at a later date.)

2010 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE
Date       Site
Feb. 6     Daytona International Speedway (Budweiser Shootout At Daytona *)
Feb. 14   Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 21   Auto Club Speedway
Feb. 28   Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 7  Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 21 Bristol Motor Speedway
March 28 Martinsville Speedway
April 10   Phoenix International Raceway
April 18   Texas Motor Speedway
April 25   Talladega Superspeedway
May 1     Richmond International Raceway
May 8     Darlington Raceway
May 16   Dover International Speedway
May 22   Lowe’s Motor Speedway (NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race *)
May 30   Lowe’s Motor Speedway
June 6    Pocono Raceway
June 13   Michigan International Speedway
June 20   Infineon Raceway
June 27   New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 3      Daytona International Speedway
July 10    Chicagoland Speedway
July 25    Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug. 1     Pocono Raceway
Aug. 8     Watkins Glen International
Aug. 15   Michigan International Speedway
Aug. 21   Bristol Motor Speedway
Sept. 5   Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sept. 11  Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 19  New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sept. 26  Dover International Speedway
Oct. 3     Kansas Speedway
Oct. 10   Auto Club Speedway
Oct. 16   Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Oct. 24   Martinsville Speedway
Oct. 31   Talladega Superspeedway
Nov. 7    Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 14   Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 21   Homestead-Miami Speedway
* – Denotes non-point event.

2010 NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES SCHEDULE
Date        Site
Feb. 13    Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 20    Auto Club Speedway
Feb. 27    Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 20  Bristol Motor Speedway
April 3      Nashville Superspeedway
April 9      Phoenix International Raceway
April 17    Texas Motor Speedway
April 24    Talladega Superspeedway
April 30    Richmond International Raceway
May 7      Darlington Raceway
May 15    Dover International Speedway
May 29    Lowe’s Motor Speedway
June 5     Nashville Superspeedway
June 12    Kentucky Speedway
June 19    Milwaukee Mile
June 26    New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 2       Daytona International Speedway
July 9       Chicagoland Speedway
July 17     Gateway International Raceway
July 24     O’Reilly Raceway Park
July 31     Iowa Speedway
Aug. 7     Watkins Glen International
Aug. 14   Michigan International Speedway
Aug. 20   Bristol Motor Speedway
Aug. 29   Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Sept. 4    Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sept. 10  Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 25  Dover International Speedway
Oct. 2     Kansas Speedway
Oct. 9     Auto Club Speedway
Oct. 15   Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Oct. 23   Memphis Motorsports Park
Nov. 6    Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 13   Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 20   Homestead-Miami Speedway   

2010 NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES SCHEDULE
Date         Site
Feb. 12     Daytona International Speedway
March 6    Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 27  Martinsville Speedway
May 2       Kansas Speedway
May 14     Dover International Speedway
May 21     Lowe’s Motor Speedway
June 4      Texas Motor Speedway
June 12     Michigan International Speedway
June 18     Milwaukee Mile
June 26     Memphis Motorsports Park
July 11      Iowa Speedway
July 16      Gateway International Raceway
July 23      O’Reilly Raceway Park
July 31      Pocono Raceway
Aug. 7       Nashville Superspeedway
Aug. 18     Bristol Motor Speedway
Aug. 27     Chicagoland Speedway
Sept. 3      Kentucky Speedway
Sept. 18    New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sept. 25    Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Oct. 23     Martinsville Speedway
Oct. 30     Talladega Superspeedway
Nov. 5      Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 12    Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 19    Homestead-Miami Speedway

Note: All dates subject to change.
From NASCAR