NASCAR Announces 2002 Winston Cup Schedule
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 10, 2001) -- The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) has announced a 36-race schedule for the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. For the first time in the 54-year history of NASCAR's premier series, the schedule will end in the state of Florida.
The season begins with the 44th running of the Daytona 500, Feb. 17 at Daytona International Speedway. The season finale is set for Nov. 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS), in Atlanta, Ga., has been the site of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series season finale since 1987. Recurring inclement autumn weather led AMS officials to request an earlier date on the schedule.
In addition to the 36 races that will count in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series point standings, there again will be two "all-star'' events: the Budweiser Shootout on Feb. 10 at Daytona and The Winston, May 19 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C.
The season will have three off weekends, affording NASCAR Winston Cup Series teams well-deserved breaks amid their quests for the series championship.
Per NASCAR tradition, the Easter Sunday (March 31) and Mother's Day (May 12) weekends will be open, along with the weekend of June 30.
Befitting the series' burgeoning popularity and the record television ratings posted throughout the 2001 season, all 36 NASCAR Winston Cup Series races in 2002 will be nationally televised; a total of 26 events will be televised by the NBC and Fox networks, starting with NBC's telecast of the Daytona 500. Cable networks TNT and FX will televise a total of 10 events.
In addition, TNT will carry the Budweiser Shootout and the Feb. 17 Gatorade 125s -- the two exciting, 125-mile qualifying races for the Daytona 500 -- on Feb. 17. Also, FX will carry The Winston.
A total of 13 tracks will host two point races apiece: Atlanta Motor Speedway (March 10 and Oct. 27); Bristol Motor Speedway (March 24 and Aug. 24); Darlington Raceway (March 17 and Sept. 1), Daytona (Feb. 17 and July 6); Dover Downs International Speedway (June 2 and Sept. 22); Lowe's Motor Speedway (May 26 and Oct. 13); Martinsville Speedway (April 14 and Oct. 20); Michigan International Speedway (June 16 and Aug. 18); New Hampshire International Speedway (July 21 and Sept. 15); North Carolina Speedway (Feb. 24 and Nov. 3); Pocono Raceway (June 9 and July 28); Richmond International Raceway (May 4 and Sept. 8); and Talladega Superspeedway (April 21 and Oct. 6).
The following facilities will host one event: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 3); Texas Motor Speedway (April 7); California Speedway (April 28); Sears Point Raceway (June 23); Chicagoland Speedway (July 14); Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Aug. 4); Watkins Glen International (Aug. 11); Kansas Speedway (Sept. 29); Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 10) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 17).
The Chicagoland and Kansas tracks return to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series schedule after highly successful debuts in the 2001 season.
Sears Point and Watkins Glen return, as the series' only two road-course events.
The 2002 NASCAR Busch Series Schedule
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 10, 2001) - The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) has announced a 34-race 2002 schedule for the NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division, the second-most popular motorsports series in the United States.
The popularity of the NASCAR Busch Series is topped in the U.S. only by the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, a status illustrated by the fact that all 34 NASCAR Busch Series races in 2002 will be nationally televised. Clearly, the NASCAR Busch Series has outgrown an outdated reputation as being merely a training ground for NASCAR Winston Cup Series, and has firmly established itself on its own merit.
The 2002 NASCAR Busch Series schedule will begin Feb. 16 with the annual 300-mile event at Daytona International Speedway, and will be highlighted by a return to Daytona on the night of July 5. That will mark the first time the NASCAR Busch Series has raced twice at Daytona in the same season.
The season will end on Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a facility that has hosted the NASCAR Busch Series season finale since 1995. The intensely competitive NASCAR Busch Series has produced impressive television ratings throughout the 2001 season, part of an overall growth in the popularity of NASCAR racing. Overall, combined television ratings for the NASCAR Winston Cup and NASCAR Busch Series are up more than 20 percent compared to last season.
Not only intensely competitive, the NASCAR Busch Series is increasingly competitive. Through 26 races this year, there have been 16 different winners, including six first-time winners. By comparison, there were 14 different winners all of last season with only two first-time victors. So far this season - with seven races remaining to be run - 135 different drivers have competed for more than $21 million in posted winnings; last season had a total of 119 different competitors. In addition to the second Daytona event, the 2002 schedule will feature one other new race - the Nashville 300, June 8 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Daytona will be one of eight facilities hosting two NASCAR Busch Series races. The others: North Carolina Speedway (Feb. 23 and Nov. 2); Darlington Raceway (March 16 and Aug. 31); Bristol Motor Speedway (March 23 and Aug. 23); Nashville Superspeedway (April 13 and June 8); Richmond International Raceway (May 3 and Sept. 6); Lowe's Motor Speedway (May 26 and Oct. 12); and Dover Downs International Speedway (June 1 and Sept. 21).
The following facilities will have one event: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 2); Texas Motor Speedway (April 6); Talladega Superspeedway (April 20); California Speedway (April 27); New Hampshire International Speedway (May 11); Nazareth Speedway (May 19); Kentucky Speedway (June 16); The Milwaukee Mile (June 30); Chicagoland Speedway (July 13); Gateway International Raceway in St. Louis (July 20); Pikes Peak International Raceway (July 27); Indianapolis Raceway Park (Aug. 6); Michigan International Speedway (Aug. 17); Kansas Speedway (Sept. 28); Memphis Motorsports Park (Oct. 19); Atlanta Motor Speedway (Oct. 26); Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 9); and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 16).
"As in years past, the new schedule provides a variety of tracks,'' NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter said. "The NASCAR Busch Series will go to places like Talladega's 2.66-mile monster tri-oval, and to Indianapolis Raceway Park's six-tenths mile. That diversity will ensure a mix of superspeedway drafting drama, plus the sort of short-track, paint-trading action that honors - and embellishes - NASCAR's roots.''