NASCAR on Thursday released its '17 schedule, and the sanctioning body "decompressed one of the most anxiety-ridden moments of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, moving Talladega Superspeedway from its place as a second-round elimination race by swapping" its fall date with that of Kansas Speedway, according to Brant James of USA TODAY. Drivers have "fretted the presence" of Talladega in the transfer spot as restrictor plate races "present unpredictability because of their penchant for multi-car crashes that can drastically alter finishes and driver points." The '17 Cup schedule "remained unchanged in terms of venues because of five-year sanctioning agreements the series began securing last season," but there "was some date-shuffling." Other moves include Texas Motor Speedway's spring date shifting to April 9 and moving from Saturday to Sunday, Dover Int'l Speedway moving to June 4 and Michigan Int'l Speedway's second date "returning to its early August spot" (USA TODAY, 5/6). TMS President Eddie Gossage said that "feedback from the ticket-buying public caused" the track to move its spring date to a Sunday (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/6). In K.C., Tod Palmer notes other changes "might be on the horizon for the Chase schedule, including the addition of a road-course race, but those changes won't happen until at least" '18 (K.C. STAR, 5/6).
HIT THE GROUND RUNNING: ESPN.com's Bob Pockrass noted while "coming out against North Carolina House Bill 2, had not considered" moving the All-Star Race "from its traditional spot over the controversial law." The '17 Cup season also will "spread over 40 weeks instead of 41, meaning there will be two off-weekends (April 16 for Easter and Aug. 26) instead of three" (ESPN.com, 5/5). In Las Vegas, Ron Kantowski notes the "quirk in the calendar will push" the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway "back onto the same weekend as the Pac-12, Mountain West and Western Athletic Conference college basketball tournament hoopfest in Las Vegas for the first time in many years" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 5/6).
