The new season begins Feb. 2
NASCAR released the 2025 Cup Series season schedule on Thursday. The most significant addition is the June 15 race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, which will bring the series to international territory.
The 38-race slate has notable changes at the beginning and end of the season. NASCAR kicks off 2025 with the preseason Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Feb. 2 for the first time in 54 years.
New England fans will have to wait until September for Cup Series action at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. NASCAR will no longer feature a summer race on the “Magic Mile.” However, the famous track will kick off the Round of 12 on Sept. 21.
“First of all, having a NASCAR race any time of the year is a very big deal with the best American motorsport racers in the world racing at your speedway, but to have one in the playoffs just adds a little more excitement and energy to that particular race,” NHMS executive vice president and general manager David McGrath said, per a transcript provided by the track. “I think certainly being in NewHampshire in the middle of the summer is a wonderful time to be in the Granite State, but there is something about the fall as the weather starts to cool down and the leaves start to turn that makes New Hampshire Motor Speedway an ideal place to have a race — a playoff race in September 2025.”
McGrath continued: “While any date’s a great date, having one in the playoffs just adds that energy and that extra excitement, and quite frankly, race fans will notice because these racers will be getting after it in the first race of the Round of 12 to see who can punch their way to the Round of 8, so New Hampshire Motor Speedway will play a very big part in determining the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship.”
New Hampshire returns to the postseason for the first time since 2017, joining Kansas and the Charlotte road race to round out the quarterfinals. After being the regular-season finale this year, Darlington will open the 2025 playoffs on Aug. 31. The championship race in 2025 remains at Phoenix on Nov. 2.