2003 CUP SCHEDULING NEWS/RUMORS
- More Lit Up Tracks? It is likely that NASCAR officials will address the likelihood that more tracks will be encouraged to add lights to their facilities to provide more flexibility in setting the starting times for races, particularly those in the season's second half. NASCAR is considering later starts to allow the finishes of some races to extend into the late afternoon and early evening hours in an effort to further boost television ratings.(ThatsRacin.com)(1-21-2003)
- 2003 Schedule - no real changes? Word is the 2003 Winston Cup schedule won't look much different from the current version. One change fans should like: the fall race at Lowe's Motor Speedway will be moved to Saturday night. It appears the Craftsman Truck Series will return to Bristol Motor Speedway and make its debut at Lowe's Motor Speedway in 2003.(Sporting News) AND The 2003 Winston Cup schedule was handed out to teams yesterday, and it is to be released to the public this week. One of the few changes is moving the Kansas City date from the last weekend in September to the first weekend in October, swapping weekends with Talladega.(Winston Salem Journal)(8-19-2002)
- Fall Lowe's Race to Run on Saturday Night in 2003: Lowe's Motor Speedway won rights to host The Winston and got NASCAR to make its fall race a Saturday night event. The UAW-GM Quality 500 will be run Oct. 11, 2003, under the lights at the suburban Charlotte track, a track spokesman said Friday. The race has always been run on Sunday afternoons. NBC will broadcast the race NASCAR is not expected to announce its 2003 schedule until next week, and missing from it will be the date and location of The Winston. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., sponsor of the race and NASCAR's Winston Cup series, has called a news conference for next Wednesday to address that event. But The Associated Press has learned the All-Star race will be run at Lowe's for a 16th-consecutive year next season. Now all the track's events will be run at night, including the October Busch series race, which will be run Friday, Oct. 10, 2003.(ThatsRacin.com/AP)(8-16-2002)
- Martinsville Announces Two 2003 Cup dates: Martinsville Speedway officials announced Friday morning that the track would again host two Cup races in 2003. The Virginia 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race will be held on Sunday, April 13. The date for the 2003 Old Dominion 500 will be released later this summer. The 2003 fall Winston Cup date would be announced as soon as
NASCAR completed all of its sanctioning agreements for next year. Martinsville Speedway has been hosting Winston Cup races since 1949, the year of the division’s inception. Tickets for the 2003 Virginia 500 are already on sale while tickets for the 2003 Old Dominion 500 will go on sale March 5, 2003. The 47th annual Old Dominion 500 Cup race is scheduled for Sunday, October 20. There still are excellent reserved seats available for the Old Dominion 500 in the towers from $40-$70. Tickets may be ordered by calling toll free at 1-877-722-3849 or (276) 956-3151. Tickets for the Old Dominion 500 also may be ordered online at the (Martinsville Speedway Site)(8-16-2002)
- Two Race Dates for Darlington in 2003: Darlington Raceway will have two Winston Cup races next year. ''We can't talk about dates, NASCAR hasn't released its schedule yet,'' Darlington president Andrew Gurtis said Tuesday. ''But we've got two dates in 2003 and we're tickled about it.'' Gurtis' goal is to sell out the upcoming Southern 500 on Sept. 1. That would be the first time in three years and, he said, a major benchmark for the raceway. Gurtis thought the spring race, the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, that's traditionally run in mid-March also would include the BGN and CTS as it did this year. The raceway has one year left on its sponsorship agreement with the Carolina Dodge Dealers Association, which began with the 2001 spring race. The event has been part of the Winston Cup schedule for decades, but has rarely had the same buzz as the Southern 500, considered one of racing's most famous and coveted titles. Soon after Gurtis succeeded Jim Hunter, now NASCAR's chief spokesman, at Darlington last year, reports had the track being sold to Bruton Smith, who owns Lowe's Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway among others, to take its race dates away. Both Hunter and Smith denied the rumors. But Gurtis says Hunter told him ''to expect some stuff out of Charlotte'' and Smith.(Independent Tribune/AP)(8-14-2002)
- Watkins Glen race will return in 2003: NASCAR President Mike Helton said Saturday that Watkins Glen International will host a NASCAR Winston Cup event in 2003. "Watkins Glen still has a place on our schedule," Helton said. The official Winston Cup schedule for the following season is usually announced around Labor Day. The Watkins Glen race since 1986 has traditionally been contested on the second Sunday of August. Sirius Satellite Radio has signed a contract to be the title sponsor through 2004. But that sponsorship is contingent upon WGI being awarded a Winston Cup date, which Helton said will soon be made official for 2003.(Star Gazette)(8-11-2002)
- No Changes in NASCAR Indy races: NASCAR president Mike Helton said there are no plans to alter the lineups of the races held this weekend at the Speedway or at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Helton said the CTS and BGN will remain at IRP, while the IROC cars will continue to be the sole partner to the Winston Cup race at IMS. The Brickyard 400 was held for the ninth time Sunday. Helton said NASCAR would never consider a race on the Speedway's 2.66-mile road course. He likened it to the Winston Cup series no longer needing a road course race in Riverside, Calif., when the spiffy 2-mile oval at Fontana is available. The reason NASCAR holds races on road courses in Sonoma, CA, and Watkins Glen, NY, is that there are no oval alternatives in those markets, Helton said.(Indianapolis Star)(8-5-2002)
- 2003 Brickyard 400 per TV ads before the 2002 Brickyard 400, the 2003 Brickyard 400 will be run on Sunday, August 3rd, 2003.(8-4-2002)
- No Room for another off day? Winston Cup drivers [and crew members, teams, media] begin a grueling stretch of 20 consecutive weeks of racing to end the season. Some have complained that the schedule is too unrelenting, and wish NASCAR could schedule an off-week as the season winds down. NASCAR chairman Bill France doesn't see it happening, however. "I'm not sure where a whole lot of changes are going to come from," he said Saturday. "There are only 52 weekends in a year. Maybe we can get a legislative group to see if we can make Sundays out of Wednesdays -- turn it into 104 weeks, or something."(NASCAR.com/AP)(7-7-2002)
- Las Vegas 2003 Date set: Nevada's largest annual sports weekend will return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway Feb. 28-March 2, 2003.. The date represents the same weekend on which the event has been run since 1999. Again in 2003, the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 will be the third stop on the NASCAR Winston Cup tour. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale for the NASCAR Weekend on Sept.16. The ticket-renewal process for previous years' ticket holders is now under way. Times for all events will be announced at a later date. FOX Sports will televise the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 for the second consecutive year. Sterling Marlin is the defending champion of the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400. Jeff Gordon took the checkered flag in 2001. Jeff Burton won the 1999 and 2000 events and Mark Martin captured the inaugural race in 1998.(LVMS PR)(7-11-2002)
- 2003 New Hampshire Date? hearing from readers that NHIS has sent out renewals for the July 2003 race and the date listed for the Cup race is July 20, 2003, this year it runs on July 21st, the same weekend.(6-11-2002)
- No New Races in 2003? hearing no new tracks will be added to the 2003 Winston Cup schedule, no word on if any tracks will lose a date and other current tracks will gain one, and no dates on races or any sort of 2003 schedule yet. NASCAR releases the Cup schedule in the fall time frame (Sept/Oct range).(5-28-2002)
