Upcoming 2016 NASCAR Season

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NASCAR recently released the schedule for 2016 and even though the 2015 NASCAR season isn’t quite over with, many are looking forward to next year and hopefully a better performance.

The 2016 NASCAR Schedule Magnet only has a few changes from the 2015 NASCAR Schedule Magnet, most notably in the middle of the season: Richmond’s April race is switching to a day-time race instead of the traditional night-time race, & Dover’s typical early-June race is pushed back into mid-May because of how the schedule goes with the new off-weekend in June that the drivers get.

This is, of course, good for the drivers, but that means the avid fans will have to find something else to do during that June weekend. The other change is to the August Michigan race, which is pushed back to the end of August because of changes to the schedule NASCAR had to make because of NBC’s coverage of the 2016 Olympic Games. The August off-weekend will now be in the middle of August instead of at the end; it essentially appears that the off-weekend and the Michigan race traded places.

The Chase portion of the schedule stays the same, no additions or substitutions this year, so fans that have been clamoring for a road course in The Chase will have to wait a while longer. NASCAR fans can take consolation that NASCAR has at least been discussing the possibility of adding a road course.

So who can we possibly see shine next season? While it can be difficult to tell from one race to another, looking at the current season can give us an indication of who should do well. We didn’t really have any flukes as to who made it into The Chase, so all the current Chase drivers should do well again next season.

We won’t see Jeff Gordon again next season, since he is retiring, but his replacement driver, Chase Elliott, is expected to do very well. Will he be the next Jeff Gordon? Chase Elliott may or may not move up and do great right off the bat, but with the talent this young driver has and the equipment, he’s sure to be a force to be reckoned with in his time in the Cup series.

Here’s the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Schedule (available for your custom logo on your own 2016 NASCAR Schedule Magnets, beginning in late-December 2015/early January 2016)

Feb. 13 – Sprint Unlimited (Daytona International Speedway)

Feb. 21 – Daytona 500

Feb. 28 – Atlanta Motor Speedway

March 6 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway

March 13 – Phoenix International Raceway

March 20 – Auto Club Speedway (Fontana, Calif.)

April 3 – Martinsville Speedway

April 9 – Texas Motor Speedway

April 17 – Bristol Motor Speedway

April 24 – Richmond International Raceway

May 1 – Talladega Superspeedway

May 7 – Kansas Speedway

May 15 – Dover International Speedway

May 21 – NASCAR All-Star Race (Charlotte Motor Speedway)

May 29 – Charlotte Motor Speedway

June 5 – Pocono Raceway

June 12 – Michigan International Speedway

June 26 – Sonoma Raceway

July 2 – Daytona International Speedway

July 9 – Kentucky Speedway

July 17 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway

July 24 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway

July 31 – Pocono Raceway

Aug. 7 – Watkins Glen International

Aug. 20 – Bristol Motor Speedway

Aug. 28 – Michigan International Speedway

Sept. 4 – Darlington Raceway

Sept. 10 – Richmond International Raceway

Sept. 18 – Chicagoland Speedway

Sept. 25 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Oct. 2 – Dover International Speedway

Oct. 8 – Charlotte Motor Speedway

Oct. 16 – Kansas Speedway

Oct. 23 – Talladega Superspeedway

Oct. 30 – Martinsville Speedway

Nov. 6 – Texas Motor Speedway

Nov. 13 – Phoenix International Raceway

Nov. 20 – Homestead-Miami Speedway