NOTE-There are more changes on the schedule than just these, but some of them are minor. I personally don't care that the May race in Dover got moved up a few weeks because it doesn't really mean anything.
Change #1-Daytona 500 will move to President's Day Weekend
The only significant thing about this schedule change is that the season will start a week earlier. The Great American Race actually ran on President's Day weekend every year from 1971 until 2012. The only exciting that really comes out of this one is that Daytona 500 qualifying and The Clash will take place on the same day, so that's cool I guess.
Change #2-Chicago moves to July, no longer first playoff race.
The annual race at Chicagoland will once again move its race to July, where it was from 2001 to 2010 before it earned the first race in the playoffs. I personally don't have a problem with this change, because I don't find Chicago to be that exciting of a track (or any of the 1.5 mile tracks). Let's be honest, The only reason it got that spot in the first place was because it's Chicago.
Change #3-New Hampshire drops one race from schedule
I'm actually kind of disappointed with this one. I've always liked New Hampshire because 1 mile tracks keep the action packed and doesn't allow the cars to get as spread out as they do at 1.5 mile tracks. New Hampshire will no longer be part of the playoff, but I was okay with it, now it will just hold its traditional July race.
Change #4-Indianapolis will now be last race of the regular season
Dumb, Dumb, Dumb. Indianapolis is one of the most overrated tracks on the circuit. Just because it has a historic open wheel history, doesn't mean it should be a premiere NASCAR race. Do you see Indycar moving to Daytona? No. Indianapolis is usually pretty boring and only entertaining in name. Richmond was a lot more fun as the last race of the regular season, but about that.
Change #5-Richmond will now be 2nd race in the playoffs
Richmond was fun as the last race of the regular season and it's a shame that they replaced with a track as boring as Indy, but at least it will be in the playoffs, which means there is another short track in the playoff schedule, so at least that is good. Short track tempers with a championship on the line? Yes please.
Change 6-Talladega no longer lost race in Round of 12, Kansas is
This is probably wise from a competitive standpoint, but disappointing from an entertainment standpoint. Talladega is such a wild card, that it's kinda unfair to have it as an elimination race in the playoffs, but it sure made it entertaining to watch. Kansas is a track that used to be kind of boring, but it's gotten a lot more interesting in the past couple years and should be just fine as the last race in a round of the playoffs
Change 7-Las Vegas has two races, is now the first race of the playoffs.
Ehh, whatever. I don't particularly care that much for Las Vegas, but I also think about the same of Chicago, so this one is a wash to me. Putting the first race of NASCAR's playoff in Las Vegas brings more of an entertainment aspect to the event and it will probably be a lot warmer in Vegas then it would be in Chicago.
Change 8-Charlotte's playoff race will now be a road course
YES, YES, YES. I love this. This is by far my favorite change in the schedule. I've been saying forever that there needs to be a road course in the playoffs. You already have every other type of track-1 mile, 1.5 mile, Superspeedway, short track, and now a road course. This is awesome. There are a handful of guys that are awful road course racers and it could really mess them up in the playoffs. I have no idea what the configurations of this road course are like, but I don't care. It will be cool and after watching the All-Star Race last week, I don't know that I ever want to watch another race at Charlotte again.
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