SerpApi.Org
With the passion and support shown at North Wilkesboro over the weekend, rumors are starting to swirl about the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Now, the rumor mill has hit a fevered pitch.
It started picking up steam last week when Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO Mike Burch appeared on the Gluckcast with Jeff Gluck. Burch said to expect Dover back on the schedule.
‘There will be racing at Dover’
“There will be racing at Dover,” said Burch on last week’s Gluckcast. “This idea that Dover is on decline or on its way out, no, there are too many passionate race fans.
“It’s one of our biggest-selling races ticket-wise; you don’t move a race if you sell tickets, you don’t move a race if you have corporate support.”
Dover was a two-date track on the Cup Series schedule until 2020. It became a one-date track in 2021. This year, while it hosted the All-Star Race, it was the first year that Dover wasn’t a points race in the Cup Series.
Burch went on to talk about rotating the All-Star Race to different tracks after saying there will be racing at Dover. This has opened the door to more speculation on the 2027 Cup Series schedule.
All-Star Race rumors
On Monday’s episode of Door Bumper Clear, Freddie Kraft dropped some rumors that he has been hearing as it relates to both Dover and the All-Star race. And he’s hoping the All-Star Race does not return to North Wilkesboro. It was simply too electric for that in his view.
“I did want to say Mike Burch said Dover is coming back,” said Kraft. “Which we were worried a little bit about. I mean, it’s such a perfect place.
“Just great crowds always there, so loud, and just so it’s good to see they’re coming back.
“It’s probably not going to be the All-Star race. Thank God. Yeah, I heard a crazy rumor going into this weekend that maybe the All-Star was going back to Wilkesboro.
“I hope that’s not the case because that place was electric last night. I don’t know where it’s going to go. I heard Loudon.
“It’s going to be an SMI track. It’s not going to be Bowman Gray, but Loudon, Nashville, maybe something like that. But it’s going to be rotating, I think, or at least go somewhere else next year.
“And it’ll be interesting.”
Dale Jr. predicts Coronado return in 2027
Earlier this month, Dale Earnhardt Jr. predicted NASCAR would return to San Diego and Naval Base Coronado for a re-up in 2027. He said this in response to Kevin Harvick saying he was hopeful it would be a one-off and not back-to-back, based on how the reception of the first Chicago Street Race and then the successive trips back, not matching the reception of the first.
To keep the Race on the Base special, Harvick was hoping not to return to San Diego next season and to do more one-offs in other areas of the country where NASCAR fans could get a new experience.
Regardless, Earnhardt Jr. said he’s hearing it will return next season.
“But I do want to say, man, I heard the rumor that we might be going back next year,” said Earnhardt. “I think it might be a two-year deal instead of a three-year deal. I’m just hearing some rumors. But Harvick said on his podcast or his show that it’s probably better left one and done.”
“You know, you just… And I totally get what he’s saying. I guess they can’t. I guess… Maybe NASCAR would love to do it once. But maybe the reason why they have to do it twice is to get the commitment from the other side.
“Because it’s a big lift. It’s a big lift for the Navy.
“I’m sure there’s some stuff going on with the city and everything there. And maybe that side said, no, man, we can’t just do this once. So maybe there was a reason why it had to be two years.”
