NASCAR shared the 2022 Cup Series schedule Wednesday (Sept. 15), revealing a few notable changes as Cup drivers compete in the Next Gen cars for the first time.
The first was announced yesterday: the Clash is moving from Daytona International Speedway to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 6, 2022.
NASCAR adds another new track to the Cup calendar for 2022 — World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. The 1.25-mile racetrack has held Camping World Truck Series events since 1998 (except for 2011-2014). The Xfinity Series also ran at Gateway from 1997-2010. Cup will compete in St. Louis, Mo. on June 5.
After taking Homestead-Miami Speedway out of the playoffs in 2020-21, the 1.5-mile course comes back to the fold on Oct. 23. Phoenix Raceway will still host the championship on Nov. 6.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway exchanged their fall dates; Texas is now on Sept. 25, while Las Vegas moves to Oct. 16. Additionally, Kansas Speedway will also be in the playoffs on Sept. 11, running right after Darlington Raceway.
Cup returns to Auto Club Speedway on Feb. 27 after its absence from the 2020 and 2021 schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s the final race run on the 2-mile layout before its reconfiguration to a half-mile track.
ACS comes after the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 20 and will air on FOX.
The Bristol Motor Speedway dirt race comes back on Easter Sunday night (April 17). Joey Logano won the inaugural event on the Bristol dirt.
On May 22, Texas will host the All-Star Race for the second year in a row. Earlier this year Kyle Larson took the $1 million prize.
Nashville Superspeedway also returns to the schedule, kicking off NBC’s coverage of the second half of the season. It will run on June 26 after a one-week break in competition.
The Fourth of July weekend will be at Road America again. Cup competes on July 3.
Pocono Raceway loses a date and will run on July 24. Meanwhile, Cup returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the second straight year; it comes on July 31.
As is the case for the past few years, the regular season finale will be held at Daytona. Ryan Blaney won this year’s August event.
Networks and times will be announced at a later date, as well as the Xfinity and Truck schedules.
2022.
Let's get it. pic.twitter.com/JhRgVdebbW
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 15, 2021
Here is the full 2022 Cup schedule:
Feb. 6 — Clash at L.A. Memorial Coliseum
Feb. 17 — Duel at Daytona
Feb. 20 — Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 27 — Auto Club Speedway
March 6 — Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 13 — Phoenix Raceway
March 20 — Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 27 — Circuit of the Americas
April 3 — Richmond Raceway
April 9 — Martinsville Speedway
April 17 — Bristol Motor Speedway (dirt)
April 24 — Talladega Superspeedway
May 1 — Dover International Speedway
May 8 — Darlington Raceway
May 15 — Kansas Speedway
May 22 — Texas Motor Speedway, All-Star Race
May 29 — Charlotte Motor Speedway
June 5 — World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
June 12 — Sonoma Raceway
June 26 — Nashville Superspeedway
July 3 — Road America
July 10 — Atlanta Motor Speedway
July 17 — New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 24 — Pocono Raceway
July 31 — Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course
Aug. 7 — Michigan International Speedway
Aug. 14 — Richmond Raceway
Aug. 21 — Watkins Glen International
Aug. 27 — Daytona International Speedway (regular season finale)
Sept. 4 — Darlington Raceway (Round of 16 begins)
Sept. 11 — Kansas Speedway
Sept. 17 — Bristol Motor Speedway
Sept. 25 — Texas Motor Speedway (Round of 12 starts)
Oct. 2 — Talladega Superspeedway
Oct. 9 — Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL
Oct. 16 — Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Round of 8 begins)
Oct. 23 — Homestead-Miami Speedway
Oct. 30 — Martinsville Speedway
Nov. 6 — Phoenix Raceway (Championship)
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.