Talladega NASCAR Cup Series playoff race likely moving to semifinal round in 2025

The NASCAR Cup Series playoff race held at Talladega Superspeedway is likely moving to the semifinal round in 2025, according to the tentative schedule obtained by Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic.

Talladega has been a second-round race dating back to the implementation of the four-round knockout playoff format in 2014. While the 2025 Cup Series schedule has not been officially released, the expectation is that the repositioning of Talladega will be one of several changes.

On the current schedule, Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami and Martinsville are semifinal races. Homestead-Miami, along with fellow playoff races at Atlanta and Watkins Glen, are expected to be removed from the playoff schedule and become regular season races. Darlington, Gateway and New Hampshire will shift from hosting regular season races to playoff events.

The tentative 2025 Cup Series playoff schedule is as follows, per Bianchi:

Round of 16
Aug. 31: Darlington
Sept. 7: Gateway
Sept. 13: Bristol

Round of 12
Sept. 21: New Hampshire
Sept. 28: Kansas
Oct. 5: Charlotte ROVAL

Round of 8
Oct. 12: Las Vegas
Oct. 19: Talladega
Oct. 26: Martinsville

Championship 4
Nov. 2: Phoenix

NASCAR working on finalizing international points race

One of the remaining hurdles in the schedule becoming official is NASCAR’s desire to add an international points race. Discussions are taking place with race promoters in both Mexico City and Montreal, the former being the favorite. NASCAR last held a points race outside the United States in 1958 at the Canadian Exposition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. The tentative date for a Mexico City race if a deal is finalized is listed as June 8, 2025.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said last month on his “Dale Jr. Download” podcast that he isn’t in favor of a NASCAR race in Mexico City. Instead, Earnhardt would like to see the Cup Series return to a track like Iowa. Iowa hosted its first-ever Cup Series race earlier this season on June 16.

“NASCAR’s in a tough spot,” Earnhardt said. “They want to go to Mexico, and I don’t think that’s been announced yet. I’m hoping that it’s not going to happen, because I don’t want to go to Mexico. I’d rather go to Iowa, after what I saw. You know I don’t love road courses.”