For the first time in several years, there isn’t a new buzzy thing on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule.
The street course race at Naval Air Station North Island will return for a second consecutive season and the inability to close out a return to Grant Park in Chicago means that Chicagoland Speedway will return next season as well.
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Additionally, there are no international venues or new venues whatsoever, and the O’Reilly Series has no standalone events whatsoever. For what it’s worth, the Truck Series will return to Canada’s Mosport for the first time since 2019 but it’s largely a familiar national touring schedule in 2027.
During a digital press conference on Wednesday, NASCAR COO Ben Kennedy and executive Julie Giese teased out that their approach to scheduling could change significantly with the next broadcast rights agreement in 2032.
“We’re thinking about 2028 (through) 2030, where do we want to go in the next few years,” said Kennedy. “I know Steve (O’Donnell, president) has mentioned this a handful of times, but what is that we want to do as we approach 2032 and the next media rights cycle, and putting all of our cards on the table.
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“I think that’s an opportunity for us to think big and bold, and then over the next several years, we’ll certainly be working backwards from there, but we want to continue to put out the best schedule we possibly can for the sport and for our fans.”
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International ambitions
Earlier in the summer, the Sanctioning Body hired ex-UFC executive Adam Layton as senior vice president of NASCAR International.
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For now, Kennedy says NASCAR’s international strategy is focused on North America, largely meaning eyeing additional opportunities in Mexico and Canada.
“Just logistically speaking, it’s much simpler for us to either go north of the border or south of the border and back given that we don’t have many off-weeks in this schedule,” Kennedy said. “So I think that’s an opportunity.
“And frankly, as we’ve talked about the future of exhibition races, take The Clash as an example, it runs a week or two before the Daytona 500 (so) we have some flexibility to move that date. I think that’s an opportunity if we ever wanted to go overseas or to other locations like a Brazil or Europe as an example.”
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Military installations
U.S. Navy service members
U.S. Navy service members
When NASCAR confirmed that it would return to the military base just outside of San Diego, it did so with the announcement that it had started to explore additional races starting in 2028 on active bases with the Department of Defense.
“We’re likely going to focus on domestic bases and that’s our goal right now,” Kennedy said. “We’ve had a number of conversations with the DOW exploring different options and opportunities, some in markets that we frankly aren’t in today, others in markets that we are in at iconic installations.
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“So we’re working on now trying to understand which ones are feasible, which ones are possible, and hopefully we’ll be sharing some more news on that front here in the next few months.”
Kennedy said he provided the Department a ‘wish list’ and specifically cited the Pacific Northwest and the Heartland. He says the Department also provided a list of markets it wanted NASCAR to explore too.
“I think there are opportunities for us to also lean into if there are special moments or special anniversaries at a lot of these bases,” Kennedy said. “This year was a great way to kick it off being the 250th anniversary of our country and the Navy. So I think there are other time considerations that we’ll take into account as we think about the future, but very productive conversation with them.
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“I think we have a long list of potential options. Now it’s going to be up to us and Julie’s going to be leading these efforts to begin to understand what is actually feasible at many of these locations. Can you build a temporary course on them? Is there enough real estate and room at many of the bases there? We may have to get very creative with how we build these courses.
“So a lot of work that will come on that front. And if we’re talking about 2028, it took over two years for us to, from the very first meeting that we had in San Diego to the time that we put on that event. So we need to hit the ground running pretty quickly to be ready for 2028.”
How about Washington DC?
IndyCar podium at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix
IndyCar podium at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix
Giese was in attendance over the weekend for the IndyCar Freedom 250 in Washington DC. She that was just a matter of understanding how similar events are put together.
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But she didn’t deny that NASCAR could be interested if the opportunity presents itself.
“It was really great to be there,” Giese said. “Kudos to the entire IndyCar team and Bud Denker that put that on. It was an incredibly well done and a great moment for motorsports. I think again, for us, as Ben said, there are a lot of opportunities from a market perspective and we know and we’ve proven that we can take our sport to those markets in very unique ways.
“So that’s a market we’ll continue to look at along with a lot of others and see where that takes us.”
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White House Officials Doug Collins and Sean Duffy beat the drum over the weekend. Collins is the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Duffy is Secretary of Transportation.
“I think it should be every year, but I’ve got one to add to it. I’m an old Southern boy. I’m a NASCAR boy. It’s time to bring NASCAR to DC. I’ve already tweeted about it,” Collins said. “NASCAR can handle anything. We need NASCAR in DC as well. Along with IndyCar, two American sports, put them right here.”
Chicagoland vs Chicago Street
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
With NASCAR returning to the intermediate track in Joliet, Illinois and not downtown Chicago, it became an open question of whether both could coexist together.
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The downtown race isn’t happening next year as the city, state of Illinois and sanctioning body could not come to terms over the costs to operate the event. Chicago also wanted NASCAR to explore a new date with the first three iterations of the race taking place over Independence Day Weekend.
With that said, both sides have expressed interest in continuing to have conversations about having the race in Grant Park in 2028 and beyond.
“I think the weekend that we had in Joliet at Chicagoland Speedway was tremendous,” Giese said. “And the thing that we learned with that event as you look at the Chicago Street Race is there was a limited crossover on who attended both events.
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“So this is obviously a big market in the country. We already have a million race fans here, so we do feel like Chicago has an opportunity to be able to host two events if needed or if there’s that opportunity. I think, again, we have a certain number of events on the calendar that come into play as well, but the market itself we do believe could hold two races.”
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