Prior to the official release of the 2021 NASCAR schedules, fans were accustomed to traditional NASCAR events at Chicagoland Speedway, Eldora Speedway, Iowa Speedway and Kentucky Speedway.
Certainly, these venues offered unique racing styles from old-school, short-track, paint-trading action to intermediate, cat-and-mouse chasing. By all means, these tracks were regular stops for NASCAR’s national touring divisions for the past several years.
Regardless of memorable finishes at Chicagoland and Kentucky and the local flare and pizazz of Eldora and Iowa, NASCAR officials opted shake up the stock car racing scene in 2021. While these four tracks lost their standard weekend dates, new-to-NASCAR venues like Circuit of The Americas, a beloved, international venue on the Formula One schedule, and Knoxville Raceway, the home of sprint car racing’s most prestigious event, will host much-anticipated races in the new year.
Moreover, Road America will welcome the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time since 1956 while Cup Series racing will return to the Nashville market for the first time since 1984.
As if that’s not enough, Indianapolis Motor Speedway will present a new challenge for the Cup Series with its 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. Meanwhile, Bristol Motor Speedway will get a bit dirty, quite literally, with the first Cup Series race on a dirt track since Sept. 30, 1970. While there’s plenty of changes with the tracks comprising the schedule, there’s also a lot of potential for excitement with these venues.
Without further ado, let’s look at the new tracks and new layouts for the 2021 NASCAR season.
BY ROB TIONGSON