Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule was released Wednesday with races in downtown Chicago and North Wilkesboro officially announced, while the circuit also will bid farewell to the 2-mile oval in Fontana, Calif.
The Duel at Daytona will take place Feb. 16, while the Daytona 500 is scheduled for Feb. 19.
Changes otherwise will be minimal for the 2023 race schedule that will kick off with the Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 5. The short-track event will be an official event for 2023 and come just three weeks before a different Southern California venue moves into the spotlight.
The 2-mile D-shaped Auto Club Speedway will have its final Cup Series race on Feb. 26 after hosting an event on that layout east of Los Angeles every year since 1997. The track played host to two races per year from 2004-10 and possibly will be converted into a short track. A potential return to Fontana on a different layout has not been announced.
The Chicago Street Race will take place July 2 around and through downtown’s Grant Park, but the Cup Series will not compete at Road America in Wisconsin in 2023.
The famed North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina will return to the Cup schedule in 2023 on May 21 as a no-points All-Star race. Texas Motor Speedway will no longer host an All-Star race and will have just one race in a season for the first time since 2004.
The 10-race Cup Series playoffs will begin Sept. 3 at Darlington and proceed on to Kansas, Bristol, Texas, Talladega, Charlotte Roval, Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, Martinsville and conclude Nov. 5 at Phoenix.
Highlights of the 2023 Xfinity Series includes a support race on the Chicago Street course and a debut at Sonoma Raceway on June 11.
The Trucks Series will not return to Sonoma but will give North Wilkesboro its first NASCAR points race since 1996. Trucks also will return to the Milwaukee Mile for the first time since 2009.
–Field Level Media