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Kansas Speedway picks up second Cup date in 2011

Tue 10th, August 2010

Kansas City, KS (Sports Network) - NASCAR has awarded Kansas Speedway a second Sprint Cup Series race, starting in 2011.

Speedway officials announced on Tuesday that the 1.5-mile track will host its first Sprint Cup race on June 5, and the second event will take place on October 9, which will be the fourth race in the Championship chase.

Kansas has hosted a Cup race in the fall each year since the track opened in 2001.

"Our fan support for the past 10 years has been tremendous, and as a result of that support and the new Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, we are fortunate enough to gain an additional NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race starting in 2011," track president Pat Warren said.

While Kansas will receive a second date, Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA revealed that it will lose one of two season races, beginning next year. International Speedway Corporation, the parent company of both tracks, made a request to NASCAR earlier this year that its second date at ACS be transferred to Kansas. NASCAR approved the realignment, with ACS running their only Cup event next year on March 27. The first of the two dates at the two-mile California track had been scheduled for the week after the season-opening Daytona since 2005.

"The second Cup date to Kansas Speedway will provide a huge incremental economic benefit for the state as well as the local community," ISC chief executive officer Lesa France Kennedy said. "Last studies indicated that a second Cup date will provide an additional $100 million annually in economic benefits."

Phoenix International Raceway, also an ISC-owned track, announced today its two Cup dates for next season. Phoenix's April race will be moved to February 27, one week following the Daytona 500. The spring event at Phoenix has normally run on a Saturday night, but next year's race there will be contested during the daytime on Sunday.

The second fall race at Phoenix will remain as the penultimate event in the Chase, as it will run on November 13.

"Phoenix will be the first and last stop NASCAR makes in the West," track president Bryan R. Sperber said. "It's a great privilege for us to help celebrate the excitement of a new season in February and to help crown season champions as the year winds down with the Chase in November."