Insiders tease major NASCAR schedule changes for 2025

The 2025 NASCAR playoff schedule may look drastically different. 

According to Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, three tracks that host playoff races in 2024 won't host playoff races in 2025, shifting the most important part of the NASCAR schedule around. 

The two spoke about these changes on "The Teardown" podcast Sunday. 

Darlington's Labor Day Classic Southern 500 will return as the playoff opener in place of Atlanta, but that wasn't the news that had Bianchi and Gluck stirring. 

Per Bianchi, Homestead-Miami Speedway will not host a playoff race in 2025, instead getting relegated to a March slot on the NASCAR calendar. The move comes amid speculation the track could be planning major renovations in 2025 to gain NASCAR's championship weekend back for 2026. 

"No Homestead in the playoffs," Bianchi said. "It's going to supposedly move to March." 

Homestead-Miami hosted NASCAR's finale weekend every year from 2002-19. After hosting a summer race in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the track held its 2021 race in early March, before being tapped as a playoff race again for 2022, 2023 and 2024. 

While fans won't be happy to see a beloved track lose such an important date, it could pay off in the long run, as moving the track's date to early in the season could give the facility time for needed renovations that would bolster its application to return as the host of championship weekend. 

Bianchi also reported that Watkins Glen will be removed from the playoffs in 2025, with the road course's expected replacement being the "Magic Mile" of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. New Hampshire held a playoff race every year from 2004-18, when the track was relegated to just one race in the middle of the summer. 

The other track being added to the 2025 playoff schedule will be World Wide Technology Raceway, according to Bianchi. The 1.25-mile oval sits just outside of St. Louis, and with fantastic attendance over the first three years of Cup races held at the track, rewarding the St. Louis area with a playoff date in 2025 seems like a perfect fit for a city that is filled with rabid sports fans. 

Bianchi noted the decision to move St. Louis to a later date was likely influenced by IndyCar's 2025 schedule, which placed its race in St. Louis on June 15, just after St. Louis' traditional spot on the NASCAR calendar. 

The track probably would not want two major events so close to each other. Plus, the move also makes sense from a logistical standpoint, with both races able to attract big crowds without overlapping. 

While the full 2025 schedule has still not been released, these potential major moves on the playoff schedule could drastically impact the chase for the championship and future scheduling moves that NASCAR could make.