NASCAR announces Sprint Cup Series schedule for 2012 season – NASCAR news
NASCAR’s schedule for the Sprint Cup Series 2012 season has been released with a few notable changes made by the sport’s governing body.
To avoid any potential clash with the National Football League and the Super Bowl, the season has been moved forward a week. The opening race of the season, the Daytona 500, will be held on February 26, 2012.
The ‘Preseason Thunder,’ NASCAR’s three-day cup session at Daytona will be held from January 12-14. The Daytona Shootout has been scheduled for February 18 while the Daytona Duel will be held on February 23. Both events carry no points towards the Sprint
Cup Series.
The date of the Talladega race has been moved to October 7. Talladega was the 6th race of the Chase but has now been shifted to 4th. Talladega’s place as the 6th race of the Chase has been taken over by
Kansas. The spring race at Kansas has also been moved to an earlier date to give the Kansas track crew enough time for the repaving.
The off week has been eliminated by NASCAR from the next season. The off week was usually in the 3rd week of the season. Steve O’Donnell, Senior VP of racing operations said that this has been done to stop the loss of momentum the
break caused to NASCAR. The fans wanted regular racing and a week off just broke the momentum for everyone.
The Easter break will be given in the week of April 8, in the middle of the Martinsville and Texas races. The Sprint All Star Race will be held on May 19 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Speaking about the changes, NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer Brian France said that the changes have been made for the fans.
“We believe the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule will once again provide fans with what they've come to expect every season -- the world's most exciting and competitive form of motorsports,” Brian France said.
“Next year's schedule has a few adjustments that we think will be good for the fans and good for the overall flow of the season. One thing will remain constant, however, and that's the intense competition we see week in and week out from our drivers and
race teams,” he said.
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