NASCAR has announced its schedule for 2014, and it looks remarkably like the schedule for 2013.
The only major change is a swapping of dates between Darlington and the Kansas spring race. Kansas will now run a Saturday evening race on Mother's Day weekend. All other races remain on their designated weekends, with the exception of Texas and Martinsville, which will run a week earlier in the spring. The series will have only two breaks from mid-February to mid-November: after Darlington in April and after New Hampshire in July. Also, the Chase slate remains identical. Road courses and other tracks will have to wait for future Chases.
NASCAR Vice President Steve O'Donnell addressed the questions of sweeping schedule changes, including new Chase races. "It's certainly something we look at, but it's not as easy as just flipping the switch and moving [a race]," he said. "There's a lot of things that come into play with weather, TV calendars, travel. So it's something that we're taking a bigger look at every year. I think that we're more open than we've ever been to looking at those things."
The 2015 schedule, with new broadcast partner NBC Sports entering the mix, is likely to see more significant changes than 2014.
Here's the complete Sprint Cup schedule, including non-points-paying races. Start making those travel plans now:
2/15/2014 ? Sprint Unlimited (Daytona)
2/20/2014 ? Budweiser Duels (Daytona)
2/23/2014 ? Daytona 500
3/2/2014 ? Phoenix International Raceway
3/9/2014 ? Las Vegas Motor Speedway
3/16/2014 ? Bristol Motor Speedway
3/23/2014 ? Auto Club Speedway
3/30/2014 ? Martinsville Speedway
4/6/2014 ? Texas Motor Speedway
4/12/2014 ? Darlington Raceway
4/26/2014 ? Richmond International Raceway
5/4/2014 ? Talladega Superspeedway
5/10/2014 ? Kansas Speedway
5/17/2014 ? All-Star Race (Charlotte)
5/25/2014 ? Charlotte Motor Speedway
6/1/2014 ? Dover International Speedway
6/8/2014 ? Pocono Raceway
6/15/2014 ? Michigan International Speedway
6/22/2014 ? Sonoma Raceway
6/28/2014 ? Kentucky Speedway
7/5/2014 ? Daytona International Speedway
7/13/2014 ? New Hampshire Motor Speedway
7/27/2014 ? Indianapolis Motor Speedway
8/3/2014 ? Pocono Raceway
8/10/2014 ? Watkins Glen International
8/17/2014 ? Michigan International Speedway
8/23/2014 ? Bristol Motor Speedway
8/31/2014 ? Atlanta Motor Speedway
9/6/2014 ? Richmond International Raceway
9/14/2014 ? Chicagoland Speedway
9/21/2014 ? New Hampshire Motor Speedway
9/28/2014 ? Dover International Speedway
10/5/2014 ? Kansas Speedway
10/11/2014 ? Charlotte Motor Speedway
10/19/2014 ? Talladega Superspeedway
10/26/2014 ? Martinsville Speedway
11/2/2014 ? Texas Motor Speedway
11/9/2014 ? Phoenix International Raceway
11/16/2014 ? Homestead-Miami Speedway
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