NASCAR promised to shake things up with their 2011 schedule. The overhauls might be bigger in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series schedules but there are still a fair number of changes to the 2011 Sprint Cup Schedule. There are date changes, a new race in the Chase, and a track that gets its first Sprint Cup race after trying for 10 years.

2011 Schedule

** February 12 – Daytona International Speedway – Bud Shootout
** February 17 – Daytona International Speedway – Gatorade Duels
1. February 20 – Daytona International Speedway – Daytona 500
2. February 27 – Phoenix International Raceway
3. March 6 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway
4. March 20 – Bristol Motor Speedway
5. March 27 – Auto Club Speedway
6. April 3 – Martinsville Speedway
7. April 9 – Texas Motor Speedway
8. April 17 – Talladega Superspeedway
9. April 30 – Richmond International Raceway
10. May 7 – Darlington Raceway – Southern 500
11. May 15 – Dover International Speedway
** May 21 – Charlotte Motor Speedway – Sprint Showdown
** May 21 – Charlotte Motor Speedway – Sprint All-Star Race
12. May 29 – Charlotte Motor Speedway – Coca-Cola 600
13. June 5 – Kansas Speedway (New Event)
14. June 12 – Pocono Raceway
15. June 19 – Michigan International Speedway
16. June 26 – Infineon Raceway
17. July 2 – Daytona International Speedway – Coke Zero 400
18. July 9 – Kentucky Speedway (New Track/Event)
19. July 17 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway
20. July 31 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Brickyard 400
21. August 7 – Pocono Raceway
22. August 14 – Watkins Glen International
23. August 21 – Michigan International Speedway
24. August 27 – Bristol Motor Speedway – The Night Race
25. September 4 – Atlanta Motor Speedway
26. September 10 – Richmond International Raceway
CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP
27. September 18 – Chicagoland Speedway
28. September 25 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway
29. October 2 – Dover International Speedway
30. October 9 – Kansas Speedway
31. October 15 – Charlotte Motor Speedway
32. October 23 – Talladega Superspeedway
33. October 30 – Martinsville Speedway
34. November 6 – Texas Motor Speedway
35. November 13 – Phoenix International Raceway
36. November 20 – Homestead-Miami Speedway

The big stories are the loss of a date at Auto Club Speedway (at Fontana, California). NASCAR considers the track to be its Los Angeles home so failure in the second largest market in the US can’t be taken as a good sign in its attempt to cement its spot as America’s #2 sport. Kansas gets a second race date. The midwest has always been a hot bed of motorsports. However, I’m a little surprised that the second date didn’t go its pseudo-sister track of Chicagoland. It got itself the first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

After all the talk about overhauling the Chase, it’s surprising that the only change really made was moving California out and Chicago in. Couldn’t they have tried a bit more to spice up the Chase. What’s wrong with moving Michigan to a September date for the Chase for the sake of the manufacturers (though I say that mostly because of how ungodly hot Michigan is in August). Wouldn’t Sonoma make for a nice change of pace?

Perhaps slightly more interesting is who didn’t get a second race. Atlanta is still stuck at one race. It’s always a fun event but attendance with two events was down and we still have a few weeks to go to see how the one race season experiment goes. Las Vegas also missed out on a second race. They were looking to pick up the season finale from Homestead. I’ve never been particularly excited about the racing at either track. Both have their moments. My personal preference is Vegas because it’s more prone to long green flag runs. (That could explain how I’ve yet to find fault with racing at Michigan International Speedway.)

If the TV schedule holds true to form, FOX will get the first 13 races of the year. That means they’ll get everything up to the new Kansas race. TNT will get the next six races which will include the race at Kentucky Speedway. ESPN should broadcast the final 17 races of the year from the Brickyard 400 to the season finale at Homestead.