Sep 12, 2005

The Schedule's Out!

By JR Nerad

Let the tailgate parties begin!  Throw the brats and ribs on the barbecue and let's get cookin'. The 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup schedule has been announced, so plans for attending next year's races can officially get underway.

In the last couple of years serious schedule changes threw monkey wrenches into many folks' plans, but the schedule for next season has nothing like the major switch of the Labor Day races to California Speedway outside Los Angeles.  In fact, the 36-race schedule is virtually identical to this season with a couple of minor date swaps.

Perhaps the most prominent is the early May exchange between Richmond International Raceway and Darlington Raceway.  The Darlington race will again be on the Saturday night before Mother's Day, but because the holiday is almost a week later in 2006 it will take place on May 13, while the Richmond race will be May 6.

The other swap involves Kansas Speedway and Talladega.  In 2006 the Kansas race will take place on October 1, while the fall Talladega event will follow a week later on October 8.

The 26-race "regular season" will begin on February 19 with the Daytona 500 and will end with the late-summer race at Richmond on September 9.  The "Chase for the Cup" will kick off at New Hampshire International Speedway the following week and conclude November 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

2006 Nextel Cup schedule

Feb. 19: Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Feb. 26: California Speedway, Fontana, Calif.
March 12: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas
March 19: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Ga.
March 26: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn.
April 2: Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va.
April 9: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas
April 22: Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Ariz.
April 30: Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Ala.
May 6: Richmond International Speedway, Richmond, Va.
May 13: Darlington Raceway, Darlington, S.C.
May 28: Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.
June 4: Dover International Speedway, Dover, Del.
June 11: Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pa.
June 18: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich.
June 25: Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, Calif.
July 1: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fla.
July 9: Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill.
July 16: New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon, N.H.
July 23: Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pa.
Aug. 6: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis
Aug. 13: Watkins Glen, Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Aug. 20: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich.
Aug. 26: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn.
Sept. 3: California Speedway, Fontana, Calif.
Sept. 9: Richmond International Speedway, Richmond, Va.
Sept. 17: New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon, N.H.
Sept. 24: Dover International Speedway, Dover, Del.
Oct. 1: Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.
Oct. 8: Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Ala.
Oct. 14: Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.
Oct. 22: Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va.
Oct. 29: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Ga.
Nov. 5: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas
Nov. 12: Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Ariz.
Nov. 19: Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Fla.

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