NASCAR confirms 2012 Sprint Cup schedule

NASCAR confirmed the 2012 Sprint Cup schedule on Wednesday, and for better or worse, it's little changed from the existing calendar. Despite recent calls by some drivers for the addition of a road race to the Chase playoff series, the same 10 oval races will decide next year's championship, once again concluding at Homestead-Miami Speedway (LEFT).

"We believe the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule will once again provide fans with what they've come to expect every season – the world's most exciting and competitive form of motorsports," NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said. "Next year's schedule has a few adjustments that we think will be good for the fans and good for the overall flow of the season. One thing will remain constant, however, and that's the intense competition we see week in and week out from our drivers and race teams."

As previously announced, the season-opening Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway will start one week later with the running of the preseason "non-points" Shootout at Daytona on Feb. 18. The Daytona 500 has been run on the Presidents' Day weekend for 40 years. However, the 54th annual running of the "Great American Race" will be pushed back to Feb. 26.

Another minor change involves Kansas Speedway. In an effort to maximize time needed to repave that track, Kansas' spring date moves up from early June to April 22, after Texas. And the track's Chase date gets swapped with Talladega. Other adjustments to the slate include:

• The race dates for Phoenix International Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway have been moved a week later, to March 4 and March 11, respectively.
• Texas Motor Speedway's spring date will be moved to April 14, to accommodate the traditional open week for the Easter holiday.
• Daytona's summer event and Kentucky Speedway's race will swap weekends, as the July 4 holiday falls mid-week next year. Kentucky's race will be June 30; Daytona will run on July 7.

As in past years, FOX will broadcast the first 13 races of next year's schedule. TNT will follow, broadcasting the next six. ESPN/ABC will broadcast the final 17 events. Race start times will be announced at a later date.

NASCAR will also release the 2012 schedules for the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at a later date.