NASCAR official confirms it: Rockingham off Cup schedule

Speed Racer

Speed Racer

aka "mach5driver"
That change, more to be announced Friday

By DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer

RICHMOND, Va. - The 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup schedule will be announced this morning at a 9:30 a.m. news conference at Richmond International Raceway, and North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham will not be on it.
"NASCAR has made the decision to not run any more Cup races at North Carolina Speedway after this season," Jim Hunter, NASCAR vice president for corporate communications, said Thursday, formally sounding the death knell for the 1.017-mile track. Its date will move to Texas Motor Speedway for 2005.

Hunter would not comment further on the details of what will be announced by NASCAR chairman Brian France this morning, but sources tell The Charlotte Observer that next year's schedule will also include a second race for Phoenix International Raceway that will come at the expense of Darlington Raceway.

That means the Carolinas will have only three Nextel Cup points events next season after playing host to five in 2004.

There will be some good news today for Lowe's Motor Speedway, however. The Observer has confirmed that the schedule to be announced today will leave the Nextel All-Star Challenge at the Charlotte track for 2005.

The morning news conference at Richmond, where the Nextel Cup and Busch series are racing this weekend, will be the first of several on what's shaping up to be a busy news day for the sport.

The announcement of the move of a date from North Carolina Speedway, owned by International Speedway Corp., to Texas Motor Speedway, owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc., indicates that a settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by SMI stockholder Francis Ferko alleging that NASCAR reneged on a promise to give a second Cup date to the Texas track.

Speedway Motorsports will own Rockingham as part of that settlement, but in his statement Friday, Hunter emphasized that it is NASCAR's decision to end Rockingham's run as a host of stock-car racing's top series that began in 1965.

Texas Motor Speedway will host the Dallas-Fort Worth media to listen in via teleconference to the announcement here. Sources said the second Texas race would be held on Nov. 6, making it part of the 10-race Chase for the Championship.

International Speedway Corp. officials will then hold an 11 a.m. news conference at Richmond, discussing its decision to "realign" a date from Darlington to Phoenix. The Phoenix track will then host media from that area for at 3:30 p.m. Eastern (12:30 p.m. Phoenix time) to talk about its new race, which will be slotted on April 24.

When the day is done, the 2005 Nextel Cup schedule is expected to take on a significantly different look.

After beginning the year with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20 next season, the circuit will go to California Speedway on Feb. 27.

After taking the first weekend in March off, teams will go West again to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 13 and then go to Atlanta Motor Speedway the following Sunday. That pushes the races back at those two tracks one week later than this year.

Darlington's only Cup race in 2005 will run on May 7, the night before Mother's Day. NASCAR's top series has traditionally taken Mother's Day weekend off.

The last event run on that weekend was the 1986 all-star race, which was held in front of a sparse crowd at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That's the only time that event, now known as the Nextel All-Star Challenge, has been held anywhere expect for Lowe's Motor Speedway.
 
Rockingham was a damn good track, shame it had to happen. Maybe Gateway should have built a cookie cutter tri-oval like everyone else did. I guess it's easier to set up those nap cars if all the track look the same.

John Barr
The Trashdog
 
I AGREE WIT YA' TD!

TRI-OVAL, D SHAPED, DOG LEGS????? WHY NOT A TRUE OVAL? THIS IS STOCK CAR RACING. HOW ABOUT TAKING THE DATES FROM SEARS POINT AND WATKINS GLEN. I CONSIDER THEM 2 MORE OFF WEEKS. :rolleyes:
 
Yeah, NASCAR must really ****. I guess that's why they only make a few hundred thousand to win, and just to get in the race pays better than winning a WoO race. I like short tracks, asphalt or dirt, but the real deal IS NASCAR. Nothing else compares.
 
They are also closing Nazareth and moving it's Busch race somewhere else. I cannot believe NASCAR is taking a race from Darlington to give to a place like Phoenix. Not exactly a track known for great racing. Hopefully the states affected take a hard look at NASCAR's tax breaks after taking away these huge events. Another thing that happened was ISC (aka NASCAR) bought out the rest of Martinsville so we will probably see one less short track in the near future. Brian France is operating like someone trying to make a quick buck and then bail out before it all falls apart. NASCAR is no longer looking like an organization that is thinking of where they will be in the long term. Pretty sad.
 
Mike44...I agree that the pageantry is all there. Thousands of people, flyovers, fireworks, some beautiful facilites...but when you get down to it: The actual racing is sparse (sometimes you got to wait 3 hrs for a someone to actually get passed), the tracks are becoming dull (cookie-cutter design), the drives are the same way (corporate sell-outs), and these 3,4, or 5 car teams have ruined the sport. Racing shouldn't be a team sport on the track. Look @ F1....they got people pulling over so others can win...what is RACING about THAT!
 
North Wilksboro, Darlington, Rockingham. Some of my favorite tracks to watch at and they are cutting them. Texas, California, Las Vegas. Some of the weeks I am am glad to go outside and catch the who won status on the news. Another of the many reasins why you can join me on the wagon to boycott Nascar. That is why I was born into dirt racing and not asphault. I still care about the grass roots racers, and what we are ALL trying to do.
 
Nascar Is Dumping Tracks That Were There For Them When They Weren't Such A Hot Ticket.

How About Giving Every Track 1 Date Instead Of Select Ones Having 2. Dump The Road Course Tracks.

But Then Again, Its All About The Maximum Amount Of Money They Can Make.
 
Did someone say that NASCRAP is the real deal? Have they gone mad? It is possibly the worst racing on the entire planet. Definentily the worst oval racing.
 
SHAME ON YOU....NASCAR....SHAME ON YOU

Any smart business person knows you dont forget what got you where you are today. Your dumping the tracks that started NASCAR and playing into the hands of greed. with that will come loosing fan base and you cant make it without the fans. Just like other companies that got greedy you too can be our next Emron. seems to me somebody better wake up and smell the coffee. The tradition is being sold out, and leaving the door open for another race scantioning body to come in and take over. The number one rule for any business should be.. Take care of your customers and they will take care of you. screw them and they will screw you...
:mad: :mad:
 
Rockingham fans screwed them not Nascar!!!!! How long can you keep a race date with 40,000 fans in the seats!!!! They were warned of this and the fans still didn't show up.I have no problem with it they were warned!!!!! :(
 
CHEWIN_DIRT said:
Mike44...I agree that the pageantry is all there. Thousands of people, flyovers, fireworks, some beautiful facilites...but when you get down to it: The actual racing is sparse (sometimes you got to wait 3 hrs for a someone to actually get passed), the tracks are becoming dull (cookie-cutter design), the drives are the same way (corporate sell-outs), and these 3,4, or 5 car teams have ruined the sport. Racing shouldn't be a team sport on the track. Look @ F1....they got people pulling over so others can win...what is RACING about THAT!
Click to expand...
Chewin Dirt,
I agree with your points, to an extent. It's true that sometimes the racing doesn't always have us on the edge of our seats. However, the races are much longer and so many more variables go into winning. I'm not a big fan of the cookie cutter tracks either. Atlanta and Texas both provide great, really fast racing, so in my opinion, Chicago and LasVegas weren't neccessary. Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond usually provide the type of racing I like best, as I'm a short track fan. I love local dirt tracks too, nothing like seeing a fast Mod or Late Model lift the left front down the straightaway. They are two very different types of racing.....long hauls and short dashes. Personally, I love them both. And I don't like this latest move by Nascar either, but nobody likes change and uncertainty. I suspect that life will go on and Nascar will continue to grow the sport and it's fan base, and the short tracks of dirt all across the country will do the same. They are just two completely different types of racing. As far as F1 goes, you couldn't pay me to watch it.
 
I agree that this is a bad deal for Nascar fans, drivers, and tracks affected. However, I'm tying to look at it from both sides. We all know that the attendance at The Rock had been dropping off over the last few years. Nascar wants to make money and continue growing. Obviously these larger cookie cutter tracks are filling the seats with up to 160,000 butts. Hate to admit it but 160,000 is a whole lot more $$$ than 40,000.

Also, Nascar is different now than it was say 20 or even 10 years ago. The fan base is a lot broader than it used to be. At one time only us motorheads where race fans. Now just about anyone can be a race fan which kinda reminds me of baseball.

I think that the success of Nascar has to have a direct affect on the local scene of dirt track racing. As Nascar grows and more people become fans you have to imagine that the new fans are driving down the road wondering what goes on at that dirt track everyweekend. And you'e gotta think that at one time or another that someone will say, "we need to go there and watch sometime."

Seems that oval racing as a whole it growing more and more. WoO has a weekly deal with the Outdoor Channel. We're seeing dirt late models on ESPN2 now and I'm sure there'll be more to come. And I just can't help but to think that in some way Nascar has (pardon the pun) paved the way for oval racing of all types.

Don't get me wrong, I understand everyone's disgust with Nascar, but something this big doesn't get that way by sticking to a track with low counts. Heck, even baseball knows this. How many teams have been pulled from one city to move to another. And what about the stadiums. Busch is only what, 36 years old? But their in the process of tearing it down and building something newer and better. And what for? It's gotta be money and the idea of pleasing the fans (as a whole) to continue bringing in more and more money.

This is just my thoughts. Please don't bash me or think I'm a jerk. Just trying to be open minded about it.
 
qwaynick,
I think you're correct in saying that Nascar has helped the local dirt tracks. If somebody becomes a race fan, we all know how addicting it can be, so why wouldn't some, if not many, go to the local track? It's a great night out, and doesn't cost the family and arm and a leg. Let's face it, people will always complain about something, but the bottom line is that we all love racing or we wouldn't be on this site. Go out and enjoy racing, no matter what kind you like.
 
qwaynick,
I think you're correct in saying that Nascar has helped the local dirt tracks. If somebody becomes a race fan, we all know how addicting it can be, so why wouldn't some, if not many, go to the local track? It's a great night out, and doesn't cost the family and arm and a leg. Let's face it, people will always complain about something, but the bottom line is that we all love racing or we wouldn't be on this site. Go out and enjoy racing, no matter what kind you like.
 
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