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The Izod IndyCar Series released its long-awaited schedule on Thursday morning – kind of.
Though the 15-race schedule has now been publicized, IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said the series is "in the process of confirming a 16th event" and also "considering" adding a 17th race.
So while the schedule is subject to change, the basic concept is out there and it includes fewer oval races – just four instead of the eight originally scheduled for last season.
As IndyCar said previously, it will not return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2012 following the death of Dan Wheldon. Instead, the series finale (for now) is scheduled for Auto Club Speedway in Southern California.
Texas Motor Speedway is on the calendar, but the race is back to a "traditional" format instead of the twin races the track held last year.
IndyCar will also race in China for the first time ever (Aug. 19) and is making a return to two tracks – Fontana and Belle Isle, the Detroit street course.
Tracks on last year's calendar that aren't on the 2012 edition include Las Vegas, Motegi (Japan), New Hampshire, Milwaukee and Kentucky.
The Indianapolis 500 race date for 2012 is May 27 (the traditional Memorial Day Weekend spot).
Here's the IndyCar schedule for 2012 (as of now):
March 25 – St. Petersburg, Fla. (1.8-mile street course)
April 1 – Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (2.3-mile road course)
April 15 – Long Beach, Calif. (1.968-mile street course)
April 29 – Sao Paulo, Brazil (2.536-mile street course)
May 27 – Indianapolis 500 (2.5-mile oval)
June 3 – Belle Isle, Detroit, Mich. (2.1-mile street course)
June 9 – Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas (1.5-mile oval)
June 23 – Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa (.875-mile oval)
July 8 – Toronto, Canada (1.755-mile street course)
July 22 – Edmonton, Canada (1.973-mile airport course)
Aug. 5 – Mid-Ohio, Lexington, Ohio (2.258-mile road course)
Aug. 19 – Qingdao, China (3.87-mile street course)
Aug. 26 – Sonoma, Calif. (2.303-mile road course)
Sept. 2 – Baltimore (2-mile street course)
Sept. 15 – Fontana (2-mile oval)
After a long wait, NASCAR has finally released the 2012 Camping World Truck Series schedule. And while none of the venues on the calendar are surprising, the number of races is.
Next season, there will be just 22 Truck Series races. That's three less than this season.
While it's certain NASCAR tried to replace tracks like Nashville and Lucas Oil Raceway Park in Indianapolis, it was apparently unable to come to any agreements.
Iowa Speedway will get two races, however, as will Martinsville. A return to Rockingham had also been previously announced.
Below is the full 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule:
Feb. 24 – Daytona
March 31 – Martinsville
April 15 – Rockingham
April 21 – Kansas
May 18 – Charlotte
June 1 – Dover
June 8 – Texas
June 28 – Kentucky
July 14 – Iowa
July 21 – Chicagoland
Aug. 4 – Pocono
Aug. 18 – Michigan
Aug. 22 – Bristol
Aug. 31 – Atlanta
Sept. 15 – Iowa
Sept. 21 – Kentucky
Oct. 6 – Talladega
Oct. 13 – Las Vegas
Oct. 27 – Martinsville
Nov. 2 – Texas
Nov. 9 – Phoenix
Nov. 16 – Homestead
The 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule was released Wednesday afternoon, roughly one month later than usual.
It includes 33 races – one fewer event than on this season's schedule – but the Montreal road-course race was retained after some concern it would be removed from the calendar.
What's new? As we already knew, Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis is off the schedule, replaced by Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which will host a "Super Weekend" of NASCAR racing. In addition, Kentucky Speedway is getting a second date.
The Nationwide schedule continues to evolve as traditional short tracks and standalone races disappear from the calendar.
In addition to LOR's departure after this season, Nashville's two races are also gone (the track shut down). Memphis and Gateway have also vanished from the Nationwide schedule in recent years.
Here's the 2012 NASCAR schedule for the Nationwide Series:
Feb. 25 – Daytona
March 3 – Phoenix
March 10 – Las Vegas
March 17 – Bristol
March 24 – Fontana
March 31 – OFF
April 7 – OFF
April 13 – Texas
April 21 – OFF
April 27 – Richmond
May 5 – Talladega
May 11 – Darlington
May 20 – Iowa
May 26 – Charlotte
June 2 – Dover
June 9 – OFF
June 16 – Michigan
June 23 – Road America
June 29 – Kentucky
July 6 – Daytona
July 14 – New Hampshire
July 22 – Chicago
July 28 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug. 4 – Iowa
Aug. 11 – Watkins Glen
Aug. 18 – Montreal
Aug. 24 – Bristol
Sept. 1 – Atlanta
Sept. 7 – Richmond
Sept. 15 – Chicago
Sept. 22 – Kentucky
Sept. 29 – Dover
Oct. 6 – OFF
Oct. 12 – Charlotte
Oct. 20 – Kansas
Oct. 27 – OFF
Nov. 3 – Texas
Nov. 10 – Phoenix
Nov. 17 – Homestead
NASCAR has finally released the 2012 Sprint Cup Series schedule, and it's pretty much as expected.
Aside from the Daytona 500 being a week later, the spring Kansas race moving to April and Talladega moving up a few weeks in the Chase, there are few changes from the 2011 schedule.
No tracks will gain or lose a date in 2012 from the current lineup.
Here's the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Schedule:
Feb. 18 – Budweiser Shootout (Saturday night)
Feb. 26 – Daytona 500
March 4 – Phoenix
March 11 – Las Vegas
March 18 – Bristol
March 25 – Fontana
April 1 – Martinsville
April 8 – OFF (Easter)
April 14 – Texas (Saturday night)
April 22 – Kansas
April 28 – Richmond (Saturday night)
May 6 – Talladega
May 12 – Darlington (Saturday night)
May 19 – Charlotte All-Star Race (Saturday night)
May 27 – Charlotte Coke 600
June 3 – Dover
June 10 – Pocono
June 17 – Michigan
June 24 – Sonoma
June 30 – Kentucky (Saturday night)
July 7 – Daytona (Saturday night)
July 15 – New Hampshire
July 22 – OFF
July 29 – Indianapolis
Aug. 5 – Pocono
Aug. 12 – Watkins Glen
Aug. 19 – Michigan
Aug. 25 – Bristol (Saturday night)
Sept. 2 – Atlanta
Sept. 8 – Richmond (Saturday night)
Sept. 16 – Chicago
Sept. 23 – New Hampshire
Sept. 30 – Dover
Oct. 7 – Talladega
Oct. 13 – Charlotte (Saturday night)
Oct. 21 – Kansas
Oct. 28 – Martinsville
Nov. 4 – Texas
Nov. 11 – Phoenix
Nov. 18 – Homestead
NASCAR typically releases its national series schedules for next season around this time of year, though the announcement for 2012 has yet to be made.
Last year, the 2011 schedule was announced on Aug. 18. But in 2009, the schedule wasn't announced until Sept. 15.
So since we don't know when NASCAR will finalize the 2012 race calendar, we're taking our best guess at what we think the schedule MIGHT look like next year.
There isn't expected to be much movement in the Sprint Cup Series. Kansas is moving from June to April and Dover is moving from May back to its traditional June date, for example, but there hasn't been much buzz about tracks swapping dates from completely different times of the year. No tracks are expected to lose a date.
With that in mind, here's our guess at the 2012 NASCAR schedule (keep in mind, this just a GUESS). The dates in bold type have been confirmed by the track:
Feb. 18 – Budweiser Shootout (Saturday night)
Feb. 26 – Daytona 500
March 4 – Phoenix
March 11 – Las Vegas
March 18 – Bristol
March 25 – Fontana
April 1 – Martinsville
April 8 – OFF (Easter)
April 14 – Texas (Saturday night)
April 22 – Kansas
April 28 – Richmond (Saturday night)
May 6 – Talladega
May 12 – Darlington (Saturday night)
May 19 – Charlotte All-Star Race (Saturday night)
May 27 – Charlotte Coke 600
June 3 – Dover
June 10 – Pocono
June 17 – Michigan
June 24 – Sonoma
June 30 – Kentucky (Saturday night)
July 7 – Daytona (Saturday night)
July 15 – New Hampshire
July 22 – OFF
July 29 – Indianapolis
Aug. 5 – Pocono
Aug. 12 – Watkins Glen
Aug. 19 – Michigan
Aug. 25 – Bristol (Saturday night)
Sept. 2 – Atlanta
Sept. 8 – Richmond (Saturday night)
Sept. 16 – Chicago
Sept. 23 – New Hampshire
Sept. 30 – Dover
Oct. 7 – Talladega
Oct. 13 – Charlotte (Saturday night)
Oct. 21 – Kansas
Oct. 28 – Martinsville
Nov. 4 – Texas
Nov. 11 – Phoenix
Nov. 18 – Homestead
2012 Daytona 500 Start Time, NASCAR Speedweeks Event Start Times Announced
by Jeff Gluck
Mark your calendars: The 2012 Daytona 500 will begin shortly after 1 p.m. Eastern time on Feb. 26, Daytona International Speedway officially announced today.
The start time for the Daytona 500 had already been widely reported, but the full NASCAR Speedweeks calendar was released to the public on Friday.
Here are the rest of the start times for Speedweeks (all times Eastern):
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Jan 20 2:02p