NASCAR Cup Series

Realignment 2011: NASCAR Cup schedule becoming official

Published Aug. 10, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

NASCAR’s plans for realignment of the Sprint Cup schedule moved from mostly speculation to concrete dates Tuesday as several tracks announced their schedules for 2011.

Phoenix International Raceway confirmed that while it will maintain two Cup dates, one will move to the second race weekend of the season. The Subway Fresh Fit 400 will move from April to Feb. 27, one week after the season-opening Daytona 500. The Sunday afternoon race will be televised on FOX with a start time of 3 p.m. ET.

Phoenix will continue to have a race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the Nov. 13 Kobalt Tools 500 — the penultimate race in the season.

Kansas Speedway and International Speedway Corp. held a news conference to announce that the track would host two Cup races next season. The first will be June 5 and the second will be the fourth race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup on Oct. 9.

International Speedway Corp. CEO Lesa France Kennedy says the region is "more than capable" of hosting two Cup events and the second race will generate $100 million in economic impact.

The second Cup date is part of a restructured 2011 Cup schedule that will include a new race at Kentucky Speedway in July. Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chairman O. Bruton Smith held a news conference Tuesday to confirm the addition of Kentucky to the schedule.

Auto Club Speedway confirmed that it is losing a race. The Inland Southern California track will host its lone Cup race on March 27, returning to its traditional spot on the schedule.

Atlanta Motor Speedway already has confirmed that it will host just one Cup race next season as well, the Labor Day weekend event. New Hampshire Motor Speedway has moved both of its dates. The initial race, the Lenox Industrial Tools 301, moves from late June to July 17. The second race moves to Sept. 25 and becomes the second event in the Chase.

And Chicagoland Speedway confirmed Monday that it will host the initial race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup beginning in 2011, bumping New Hampshire from the date it has held since the championship-determining format debuted in 2004.

"It’s a neat racetrack, the facility is phenomenal and the people are great," Michael Waltrip Racing driver David Reutimann said of Chicagoland. "People can talk about the markets and all the other things that are really, really important to our sport, but I think what it comes down to for us, what’s important for a driver, is that it’s a fun racetrack.

"Any time a driver can go out there and have fun at a racetrack, you are going to see better racing. You’ll see guys run at the top or the bottom or the middle and I just think that adds excitement to the event. What makes Chicago such a cool racetrack — I mean, you have a back straightaway that’s not straight, so I don’t know what you’d call that, but whatever you want to call it — maybe the curveaway. It’s a unique racetrack and great facility. I just think it’s a perfect place to start the Chase."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.