HOMESTEAD FINALE: For many years, I enjoyed heading out to Homestead to watch the final races of the year, so I’m glad to see that the finale returns to South Florida in 2025, even it if is only for one year until the new rotation starts. The track should deliver in all the finales, as I’ve rarely seen a bad race at Homestead.

NEW SPONSOR: Glad to see that the sport is in a good enough place that companies want to be title sponsors for the lower series. The real question, though: What will their slogan be that drivers spout at every turn?

RETURN TO ROCKINGHAM: The O’Reilly series returns to Rockingham Speedway in April for Year #2 of this new era after a successful first go-around in 2025, alongside the Truck Series. This one should once again be popular with the sport’s traditional fans, who no doubt want Cup to join the two lower series at this historic track at some point in the future.

BAD:

CHICAGOLAND RETURN: To be brutally honest, I never enjoyed the on-track product at Chicagoland, whether it was Cup or Xfinity racing. I was glad when they left after 2019. I’m hoping I’m wrong now that Cup and O’Reilly are returning the track, but I’m more hopeful the Cup cars will perform well in Joliet than I am about the O’Reilly race. 

ROAD COURSES LOST: In the schedule shakeup, we’ve lost some road course racing. Mexico City is the biggest loss to me, as that was a great place to race, and a great market for NASCAR to be in, but the World Cup led to complications. I’m hopeful that Mexico City returns in 2027 and beyond. We also lost Portland, which I’m less upset about due to the nonsense that Connor Zilisch pulled to win the race a couple weeks back, but it was still a decent track serving an area of the country we don’t really visit much in the sport. I feel bad for those fans, and hope NASCAR can return one day (and implement better rules about off-track excursions).

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Truck schedule changes

GOOD:

TRUCKS PLUS INDYCAR AT ST. PETE: One awesome and surprising event added at the start of the season delivers one of my favorite types of weekends — an Indycar / NASCAR weekend. I remember these from way back in the day, such a the Truck Series / Indycar racing at Michigan Speedway each summer, so it’s cool to see it return.

Just the fact that the Truck Series is getting a street course is exciting, and to pair it with Indycar makes it even more special. I love this trend, which is also happening at Phoenix in the spring with both Cup and O’Reilly cars will share the weekend with Indycar. 

Instead of fans of each series arguing about which is better, how about we come together and enjoy both? (OK, that was my kumbaya moment. You don’t have to like all motorsports, but I certainly do).

If Mexico City returns in 2027, I’d love to see a NASCAR / Indycar double header that weekend. And why not do this again at MIS some time in the future? Indycar on ovals is something special, and MIS had some classic races over the years.

ALL THREE SERIES IN SAN DIEGO: If you’re going to come back to California in a spectacular way, you may as well invite all the top three series. Glad to see NASCAR didn’t leave the Truck Series out of this event in June. The whole weekend should be a blast for fans, drivers and teams, and make for great TV.

NO MORE POCONO: Good riddance to Pocono from the schedule. Since its addition, it was perhaps the most boring Truck Series race of the season.

LIME ROCK RETURNS: A return is scheduled for the Truck Series to Lime Rock Park, the Connecticut road course that hosted the series for the first time in 2025. Fan turnout was solid at the sports-car venue, and the second edition will be one of four standalone events next year for the Trucks, not connected to O'Reilly or Cup events. (St. Petersburg, Lime Rock, IRP and New Hampshire).

BAD:

ADIOS, VEGAS: The racing at Las Vegas was solid in the Truck Series, so I’m sorry to see it off the schedule. Not the end of the world, though, as there are plenty other 1.5-mile tracks on the schedule.

LESS MARTINSVILLE: I also love the Trucks racing at Martinsville, but we’ll get less of that in 2026 as they drop from two dates to one.

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