NASCAR Releases 2008 Nationwide Series Schedule

[PressRoom-GFN]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2008, has released next year's schedule for the Nationwide Series, the circuit that has been known as the Busch Series for 26 years.

The series will again begin its season at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 16 and end it at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 15.

There also will be two international events for the second consecutive season. The series will return to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Aug. 2, and for a fourth consecutive year, the schedule includes a race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in Mexico City, Mexico. However, for the first time in the event's brief history, it will move from its previous date on the first Sunday in March to April 20.

Some of the key changes to the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule include:

-- An historic doubleheader at California Speedway with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on Feb. 23.

-- The Mexico City race trades slots with the event weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.

-- Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s race will now fall one week earlier on March 1 and starts an early-season domino effect where three other races precede their dates by one week from last season: Atlanta Motor Speedway [March 8]; Bristol Motor Speedway [March 15]; and Nashville Superspeedway [March 22].

-- The order of the two races following the season's first open week [March 29] also moves up one week. The spring race at Texas Motor Speedway will be April 5 with the Phoenix event on April 11.

-- Also, the addition of lights at Chicagoland Speedway will facilitate an inaugural Friday night show for the series on July 11.

There will be nine “stand-alone” events: Nashville [March 22 and June 7]; Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez [April 20]; Kentucky Speedway [June 14]; The Milwaukee Mile [June 21]; Gateway International Raceway [July 19]; O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis [July 26]; Circuit Gilles Villeneuve [Aug. 2]; and Memphis Motorsports Park [Oct. 25].

The NASCAR Nationwide Series has 35 races on its schedule in 2008 -- 26 combination events with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and three in conjunction with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. There are 26 race tracks on the schedule divided among 20 states, Canada and Mexico.

The 2008 schedule follows. Starting times and television information will be available at a later date.

2008 NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES SCHEDULE

Date Site

Feb. 16 Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 23 California Speedway
March 1 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 8 Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 15 Bristol Motor Speedway
March 22 Nashville Superspeedway
April 5 Texas Motor Speedway
April 11 Phoenix International Raceway
April 20 Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
April 26 Talladega Superspeedway
May 2 Richmond International Raceway
May 9 Darlington Raceway
May 24 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
May 31 Dover International Speedway
June 7 Nashville Superspeedway
June 14 Kentucky Speedway
June 21 The Milwaukee Mile
June 28 New Hampshire International Speedway
July 4 Daytona International Speedway
July 11 Chicagoland Speedway
July 19 Gateway International Raceway
July 26 O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis
Aug. 2 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Aug. 9 Watkins Glen International
Aug. 16 Michigan International Speedway
Aug. 22 Bristol Motor Speedway
Aug. 30 California Speedway
Sept. 5 Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 20 Dover International Speedway
Sept. 27 Kansas Speedway
Oct. 10 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Oct. 25 Memphis Motorsports Park
Nov. 1 Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 8 Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 15 Homestead-Miami Speedway