The NASCAR Cup Series playoff schedule for the 2025 season has undergone some notable changes, particularly with track adjustments.
Two new venues have been added to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series calendar, though no tracks that hosted points races in 2024 have been entirely removed. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which no longer appears on the main schedule, did host the preseason Busch Light Clash exhibition race, a non-points event. Bowman Gray Stadium, which hasn’t held a Cup Series race since 1971, takes its place.
Regarding the 36-race points-paying segment, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez joins the schedule, while Richmond Raceway’s race count drops from two to one.
Several changes have been made specifically to the playoff schedule
Three tracks have been dropped from the playoff roster, and the 10-race, four-round postseason now includes five calendar adjustments for 2025.
In the round of 16, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International were the venues for the first two playoff races in 2024. However, Atlanta’s second race has been shifted back to the regular season, a position it held prior to 2024, and Watkins Glen’s single race is also moved to the regular season.
Darlington Raceway, which held the regular season finale in 2024, will kick off the playoffs in 2025. It previously hosted the playoff opener from 2020 to 2023 but was shifted to the regular season finale in 2024 due to the summer break resulting from NBC’s commitment to the Summer Olympics.
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway will now host the second round of 16 race, after having been part of the regular season from 2022 to 2024. Bristol Motor Speedway will still conclude the round of 16, so no changes are made there.
No alterations have been made to any of the postseason cutoff races.
The round of 12 schedule has seen two additional changes. Kansas Speedway will now host the second race instead of the opener, as it did in 2024. Talladega Superspeedway, which held the second race in 2024, will no longer open the round. Instead, New Hampshire Motor Speedway will host the round of 12 opener, marking its first playoff race since 2017. The Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval will still conclude the second round.
Talladega will remain in the postseason, but the middle race of the round of 8 will take place at Talladega rather than Homestead-Miami Speedway, which returns to the regular season for the first time since 2021.
Finally, no changes have been made to the Championship 4, which will once again be hosted at Phoenix Raceway for the sixth consecutive year.
