The 2021 NASCAR Cup schedule is out and it means changes for Charlotte Motor Speedway and track owner Speedway Motorsports. For one, next year's All-Star race won't be coming back to Charlotte, where it has been run all but twice since it started in 1985.
Instead, they'll run it next June 13 at Texas Motor Speedway, a track also owned by Speedway Motorsports.
This year's All-Star race moved to Bristol, Tennessee, because of North Carolina's COVID-19 restrictions.
Under the new lineup, Charlotte Motor Speedway keeps its traditional May and October races. The latter will again be a playoff race. And racing again will be on the speedway's Roval, which incorporates the infield road course and oval.
Meanwhile, Speedway Motorsports is organizing a NASCAR Cup race at the 3.4-mile Circuit of the Americas, one of three new road courses on the schedule. That race is moving from Texas Motor Speedway. It will be the first NASCAR race at Circuit of the Americas.
The 36 races also includes the first Cup Series race on a dirt track in more than 50 years. Bristol Motor Speedway will convert to a dirt track for the March 28 race. The last time the sport's top series raced on dirt was in 1970 at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.
Another big change: Drivers won't race on the oval at Indianapolis next season, but on the track's nearby road course. That's on Aug. 15.
Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith applauded the new lineup. "We made some bold changes with new markets and new speedways, and we’ve also stayed true to our legendary speedways across the country," he said in a press release.
See the new schedule atNASCAR.com
