Las Vegas Motor Speedway to host 2 Cup Series races in 2021

The Pennzoil 400 will return to its traditional first weekend in March and will be run March 7. It will be the fourth race of the season instead of the second, as it was this year when it was in February.

The South Point 400 fall race will again open the second round of the playoffs. It will be run Sept. 26.

“We’re extremely happy to have our spring date moved back into March,” LVMS president Chris Powell said. “It’s better for our fans, partners and everyone involved with our event to have a little separation from the (season-opening) Daytona 500.”

NASCAR announced its 36-race schedule Wednesday with some notable changes, including new road course races at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and Road America in Wisconsin and an oval event at Nashville Superspeedway. A dirt race on the high banks of Bristol, Tennessee, also was added.

Dropped from the schedule were intermediate tracks Kentucky Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway. Michigan, Dover and Texas Motor Speedway each lost one of two Cup Series points races, but the NASCAR all-star race will move to TMS after a one-year run at Bristol.

Atlanta Motor Speedway and Darlington Speedway in South Carolina added a second race. The NASCAR race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will switch to the IMS road course after 27 years of racing on the big oval. The new “Brickyard Weekend” also will feature an IndyCar Series race.

LVMS companion races, including Xfinity and NASCAR truck series events, will be announced at a later date. Race times for the Pennzoil 400 and South Point 400 also will be determined later.

Annual and individual NASCAR weekend tickets are available at lvms.com or by calling the ticket office at 1-800-644-4444.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.