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Filed under: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR Tracks, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

Although 11 of the expected 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup dates in 2011 have yet to be announced, none of those slots appear to hold any surprises.

The Brickyard 400 date for 2011 has been confirmed as July 31 -- one week later than this year -- as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has begun selling tickets at its website.

The Indy confirmation leaves 11 dates remaining, but most are repeat dates from last year.

Texas Motor Speedway is publicizing a gala announcement of its 2011 schedule this coming Tuesday night at the House of Blues in Dallas, complete with NASCAR president Brian France, more than 1,000 fans and guests and a concert by "a well-known, Grammy-nominated, triple-platinum rock group."

But unless the speedway is switching to a Saturday night, there doesn't appear to be anything new to report about its Sprint Cup race dates.

 

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Filed under: Sprint Cup, NASCAR

I'm surprised, but I know I shouldn't be.

NASCAR made some changes this week in what we can now call "The Great Three-Days-and-Counting Schedule Reveal of 2010" with Kentucky Speedway adding its face to the Sprint Cup Series while biannual attendance-bust Auto Club Speedway lost what should have never been its: a second Cup date.

And, oh, Chicagoland Speedway will now earn page five in the sports sections of the Chicago newspaper coverage, buried by the NFL, when it opens the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup with a Sunday afternoon race. Meanwhile, Kansas Speedway will now feature two humdrum events at its cookie-cutter, 1.5-mile track.

So much for the "impactful changes" that NASCAR CEO Brian France alluded to at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the Brickyard 400 just a couple of weeks ago.

Where was the boldness? Where was the dramatic move to charge up what just became more of a tired mess of tracks for the 10-race championship chase? And why in the world are recent track lighting projects now going virtually unused for their biggest events?

 

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Filed under: International Speedway Corp, NASCAR Tracks, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

Chicagoland Speedway took the fall as the first domino in NASCAR's realignment of the 2011 schedule it was announced on Monday by track and NASCAR officials.

The 1.5-mile track in Joliet, Ill. -- roughly 45 minutes from downtown Chicago -- will open NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup with a day race on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011.

"I can't think of a better market than Chicago and the Chicagoland area to kick off NASCAR's version of the playoffs," track president Craig Rust said in an announcement made Monday in Chicago with NASCAR officials, current series points leader Kevin Harvick and defending race winner David Reutimann.

For Chicago, it means their NASCAR Sprint Cup date moves from its original slot in mid-July and the racing moves to the afternoon following three years of night racing at the track. The Sunday race in September could put the action into direct fan competition with the NFL's Chicago Bears at a track that fell short in trying fill its modest grandstands less than a month ago.

"You are going to compete with somebody," Rust said. "You can't run from it. You have to get out there and compete, and we think by opening the Chase, this makes us a stronger event."

 

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