Fire on Fridays: The Tracks Likely Being Left Out of NASCAR’s 2027 Schedule

NASCAR is taking the piece-by-piece approach when it comes to its schedule release this year. Instead of releasing the full 2027 calendars for all three series, various tracks that host the national series have already begun releasing event dates for next year.

Among them are your typical characters. EchoPark Speedway maintains its spring and summer dates, Daytona International Speedway’s fall race will again be in August, Talladega Superspeedway returns to Halloween weekend and so on. In fact, only a handful of circuits including Sonoma Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway have yet to announce their NASCAR dates for 2027. That said, it’s highly doubtful we’ll see any of the regulars such as those lose any dates, and we’ll probably have announcements from them in the coming next couple of weeks.

The tracks we won’t hear from? Bowman Gray Stadium and perhaps Chicagoland Speedway.

Let’s start with the former. Bowman Gray was added to the NASCAR Cup Series exhibition track roster in 2025 when it hosted annual preseason event the Clash. Like North Wilkesboro Speedway a year before that, NASCAR’s return to the short track was in an effort for the sport to return to some of its short-track roots many had been screaming for years.

And it was a success. The Madhouse provided some short-track racing fans enjoyed, the Cup Series revived a relationship with a short track it hadn’t raced on since the mid-20th century, and it seemed like the Clash, an event whose future had begun to be put into question, had perhaps found a home for the time being.

But not anymore, I guess.

NASCAR announced the Clash will be moved back to Daytona, where it had been held since its inception in 1979, all the way up to its departure after 2021. The 2020 edition of the event featured an ugly attrition-filled afternoon that saw six of the original 18-car field actually finish the race. Afterward, many in the industry demanded that the race be changed. NASCAR obliged by putting it on the road-course configuration a year later and then moved it across the country to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2022.

So why is it going back? Well, the 2026 Clash wasn’t as popular as it was the year before. After a cold and snowy four days postponed the Clash, the race finally went ahead on Wednesday evening, only to be met with more sleet and cold, creating adverse conditions.

What followed was another ugly edition of the exhibition race, featuring multiple caution periods, cars running out of fuel, and even the broadcast partner, FOX, switching to FOX Sports 2 coverage only a few laps before the finish.

It was not a good look, and it appears it was so bad that it forced NASCAR leadership’s hand to leave the historic short track only two years after it returned.

It seems like a little bit of an overreaction, doesn’t it?

Maybe you’re happy about it returning to Daytona, and frankly, as somebody who has lived in Daytona Beach, Fla., his entire life, I can’t help but be a little excited myself. More racing at Daytona before the Daytona 500 gives Speedweeks a little more pep behind it seeing as how it will be more than only five days long as it has been the last five years.

However, it also feels like we’re getting away from something special that NASCAR had going there. Sure, the 2026 Clash didn’t look good to many, but you want to ditch a track simply because you had some unfortunate weather? What’s more, it was a fan-favorite track that fans turned out for in droves and was part of NASCAR’s deep-rooted history, something the sport is trying to recapture.

There’s no sign of it returning as a points race, either. It would have to take up a date not yet announced, and the only track with two dates that hasn’t announced either one as of yet is Kansas Speedway, a circuit owned and funded by NASCAR.

While the return of Daytona as the home of the Clash is positive for the Clash’s sake, leaving Bowman Gray is a loss for a sport trying to bring in more historic short tracks. To do so after only two years of trying is also tragic for the community and local fans.

But imagine if it was only one year.

That may be what occurs to Chicagoland. The 1.5-mile oval located around 45 minutes away from Chicago may be looking at losing its NASCAR date almost as soon as it got it back.

NASCAR left the venue after 2019, after declining attendance and COVID-19 restrictions hampered its bid for a race date. In 2023, the proverbial final nail was placed on its coffin when the sport went to the Chicago street course for the first time, taking up the region’s NASCAR slot.

But when the street course went away after 2025 and was exchanged for the Naval Base Coronado street race, Chicagoland returned after a seven-year hiatus.

Like Bowman Gray in 2025, it was a welcome return. The Next Gen car performed well on its tried-and-true 1.5-mile package, and local fans embraced its return by selling out the venue.

But now only one year after its welcomed return, it may be omitted from the schedule yet again, as both the The Athletic and Chicago Tribune reported earlier this year that city and NASCAR officials are in talks of returning to the street course in 2027. With the Chicago market likely being given a date and NASCAR unlikely to give up one of its dates at another track in lieu of a second race in the Chicago area, Chicagoland will be without a chair when the music stops.

Unlike Bowman Gray, it does have a couple saving graces. The street race is not set in stone in 2027, as funding for the event has seemed to stall in negotiations, according to Chicago Business. Furthermore, The Athletic also reported Coronado may in fact return for a second year, which would also check the street-course box for broadcast partner Prime Video.

It’s likely why nothing has been announced regarding any Chicago dates for the schedule as of yet, as NASCAR may be holding the Chicagoland venue in its pocket in case the street-course negotiations fall through. Regardless, Chicagoland’s future seems to be the backup for the Chicago market for the time being.

It’s probably one of the more anticipated elements of the 2027 schedule, not that that’s saying much. Whether Chicago’s NASCAR race is at its oval or on its streets, one of the locations will join Bowman Gray without a (race) date to the NASCAR schedule prom.