DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Iowa Speedway will make its NASCAR Cup Series debut next year, part of the 2024 schedules announced on Wednesday for the all of NASCAR’s top series.
The seven-eighths-of-a-mile short track in Newton, Iowa, follows a number of other venues that have hosted Cup Series races for the first time in recent years. The list includes the Chicago Street Race, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and World Wide Technology Raceway.
Iowa Speedway hosted the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series from 2009 to 2019, but this time the sport’s biggest stars in the NASCAR Cup Series will head to Iowa on Sunday, June 16, 2024. The race will air live on USA Network at 7 p.m. ET.
“NASCAR is committed to delivering an annual schedule that continues to be bold and dynamic across all three national series while maintaining the famed destinations that our fans love,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing development and strategy. “The 2024 NASCAR national series schedules strike a great balance between visiting many of our traditional tracks that continue to put on a great show, and newer locations like our first Cup race in Iowa and our highly anticipated return to the streets of Chicago that create ‘bucket list’ moments and attract new fans to America’s leading motorsport.”
The 2024 Cup Series season will commence with the already announced third installment of the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 4, on FOX and FOX Deportes at 8 p.m. ET. For the first time in Cup Series history, a NASCAR Mexico Series race will precede the main event on Sunday afternoon, featuring the most talented drivers from Mexico’s premier motorsports series.
The running of the 66th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway again marks the start of the Cup Series regular season on Sunday, Feb. 18, airing live on FOX at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Some additional highlights to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule worth noting are both 2024 races at Richmond Raceway will now take place in prime time — the first on Easter Sunday, March 31 (7 p.m. ET, FOX) and the second on Sunday, August 11 (6 p.m. ET, USA Network).
NASCAR also returns to the concrete high banks at Bristol Motor Speedway for the spring race (Sunday, March 17, 3:30 p.m. ET, FOX).
The NASCAR Cup Series’ annual All-Star Race (Sunday, May 19, 8 p.m. ET, FS1) will return to historic North Wilkesboro Speedway. Kyle Larson took home the $1 million prize this season in NASCAR’s return to the venue for the first time since 1996.
Round two in the streets of Chicago will be on Sunday, July 7 (4:30 p.m. ET, NBC), which saw Shane van Gisbergen take the checkered flag in an action-packed 2023 event.
NASCAR will also return to the traditional oval at The Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 21 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC) after a three-year stint running the road course.
The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs will begin one week later in 2024, with the regular-season finale taking place at Darlington Raceway (Sunday, Sept. 1, 6 p.m. ET, USA Network) and Daytona International Speedway hosting the penultimate race of the regular season (Saturday, Aug. 24, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC).
The opening race of the NASCAR playoffs will be at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 8 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network) with the crowning of a champion in the desert at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, Nov. 10 (3 p.m., NBC). Watkins Glen International (Sunday, Sept. 15, 3 p.m. ET, USA Network) will also join the NASCAR playoffs mix and help set the tone in a new-look Round of 16.
The Xfinity Series schedule is highlighted by a triumphant return to Iowa Speedway on Saturday, June 15 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network) — the series’ first visit to the short track since 2019.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will also have an update to the playoff schedule, visiting Talladega Superspeedway for a second time in 2024 on Saturday, Oct. 5, which will air live on NBC at 3:30 p.m. ET.
The Xfinity Series will also join the Cup Series on the streets of Chicago for the second consecutive year over the Fourth of July Weekend (Saturday, July 6, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC).
Bristol Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway will swap stops on the schedule, with The Last Great Colosseum becoming the regular-season finale (Friday, Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network) and the playoffs opener taking place at Kansas Speedway (Saturday, Sept. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network).
The Craftsman Truck Series will return to Martinsville Speedway for the penultimate race in the Round of 8 (Friday, Nov. 1, 6 p.m. ET, FS1), setting the stage for the finale at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, Nov. 8 (8 p.m. ET on FS1). Additionally, Richmond Raceway becomes the regular-season finale (Saturday, Aug. 10, 7:30 p.m., FS1) while Milwaukee Mile Speedway returns to the schedule, this time as the playoffs opener on Sunday, Aug. 25 (4 p.m. ET, FS1).
Some additional shuffling of the postseason includes Kansas Speedway becoming the first cut-off race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs’ Round of 10 (Friday, Sept. 27, 8:30 p.m. ET, FS1) and Talladega Superspeedway becoming the opening race in the Round of 8 (Friday, Oct. 4, 5 p.m. ET, FS1).
For tickets to 2024 NASCAR events, visit www.nascar.com/2024schedule.
–By NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.