NASCAR made history during the 2020 season by moving the All-Star Race to Bristol Motor Speedway for the first time. Now the annual fan-favorite race will move to a new destination for the second consecutive year. Texas Motor Speedway will host the All-Star Open and the All-Star Race while losing a points race in the process.
Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic first reported the news, revealing that another Texas track could host a points race. They confirmed that Texas Motor Speedway would lose one of its Cup Series races while still hosting another. Additionally, they reported that Circuit of The Americas in Austin will take the now-vacant slot. The All-Star Race would also move to later in the season after years of taking place in May.
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COTA is a fan-favorite track for motorsports fans and routinely holds several high-profile events. The state-of-the-art, 3.426-mile road course, has hosted eight Formula One Grand Prixs. It has also served as the location for IndyCar, IMSA, World Endurance Championship, MotoGP and Australia Supercars. Now stock car racing will head to the track three hours south of Texas Motor Speedway.
NASCAR and Bobby Epstein, CEO of COTA, have not confirmed the location change for the 2021 season. However, racing’s governing body reportedly will unveil the schedule in the coming days. If the All-Star Race moves to TMS as expected and Austin joins the fold, it will be the second new track for the 2021 season.
In early June, NASCAR and Dover Motorsports, Inc. partnered to announce a major change to the schedule. They revealed that the 2021 season will feature a race at Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.33-mile concrete track in Lebanon, Tennessee. Dover International Speedway lost one of its two races in the process.
“Thanks to the collaboration of Dover Motorsports and our broadcast partners, we are excited to bring NASCAR racing back to Nashville, a place where the passion for our sport runs deep,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said in a statement. “The Nashville market is a vital one for our sport, and bringing NASCAR Cup Series racing to Nashville Superspeedway will be an integral building block in helping us further deliver on our promise in creating a dynamic schedule for 2021.”
Phelps did not announce the date of the upcoming Nashville race during the original revelation. Now NASCAR will provide the information in the coming days, which could partner with another major announcement about Texas Motor Speedway. According to The Athletic, NASCAR has publicly spoken about adding more road courses to the schedule given their popularity among fans.
