NASCAR President Steve Phelps anticipates further schedule changes

The NASCAR Cup Series schedule has undergone a facelift over recent seasons, and Steve Phelps anticipates that to continue into the future.

Speaking with Dustin Long of NBC Sports, the NASCAR President explained that one of the things that won’t change for NASCAR is the length of their schedule though. Don’t expect any racing into December.

“For the foreseeable future we are going to have 38 (total) races on the calendar,” Phelps said, regarding the Cup Series campaign. “Our season is long enough, so I don’t see that expanding.”

However, certain dates aren’t guaranteed moving into the future. Phelps stated that the sport is always looking for new, unique tracks to bring their campaign to.

“I think the one thing I will say is that schedule variation is going to continue,” Phelps added. “Are we going to continue to race in Atlanta and Richmond and Charlotte and other places that are fixtures on our schedule? We are.

“… We have to make sure we’re going to places that have demand.”

That’s tremendous news for areas that don’t host a race at the moment, and fans can rejoice at the thought of NASCAR taking the Cup Series where it’s never gone before. Exciting times remain ahead.

Steve Phelps has helped NASCAR’s schedule look much different for 2024 than it has in the past. We’ll see where he can help take the sport in the future.

Joey Logano shares thoughts on 2024 NASCAR schedule

Prior to Steve Phelps’ comments, Joey Logano shared some fascinating thoughts regarding the changes to the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. 

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has been around the block, racing at all different kinds of tracks since his rookie season on the circuit. Logano’s cut his teeth and become a contender no matter where NASCAR is on any given weekend, and that won’t change in 2024.

Looking ahead to a new season, the Team Penske wheelman elaborated on how he believes NASCAR’s decision to change up their schedule for 2024 will change the sport.

“Adding another road course, that’s okay. That’s alright. You know, I mean, part of winning a NASCAR championship is you have to be good at all the race tracks, whether it’s a super-speedway or a road course or a half-mile or a mile-and-a-half, or whatever comes at you. You’ve got to be good at all of them if you’re going to win. So it definitely has that in the playoffs,” Logano said, via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “We’ve had that before in the playoffs anyways, it just kind of waits more towards — obviously, a couple road courses now, and obviously a couple of super-speedways as well. The speedway racing changes in the playoffs too, because there’s just different, there’s different agendas out there, than what there is when you’re not in the playoffs.

“For every team, a win is huge in the regular season. For a playoff team in the playoffs, the win is huge. If you’re not in the playoffs, it’s not as big of a deal. It’s just not. So when you go to those races, the alliances and who works together and all that, it’s weighted towards the playoff guy. I think that takes something away from speedway racing.”

Alas, Logano makes some good points, especially regarding the conundrum NASCAR faces with playoff drivers racing against non-playoff drivers. It’s been an issue fans have complained about in the past, especially as it pertains to the final race of the season, and it remains to be seen how the sport will adjust.