Cup Series opens with big storylines - Marin Independent Journal

NASCAR

Cup Series opens with big storylines

Regular Season Champion Tyler Reddick, driver of the Upper Deck Toyota, poses with Curtis Polk, 23 XI Racing co-owners, NBA Hall of Famer, Michael Jordan, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, after the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway last September. MEG OLIPHANT — GETTY IMAGES

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By Shane Connuck

The Charlotte Observer

Another season of NASCAR gets underway this weekend.

Reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano begins the chase for his fourth career title in the Daytona 500 at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, kicking off an unprecedented year for the sport. Stock car racing’s highest circuit is set for a novel in-season tournament and will compete internationally, while the sanctioning body introduces several competition changes.

Here are the top 5 storylines to follow in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season:

NASCAR to debut in-season tournament >> There will be a bracket, and a champion, long before the playoffs start in the fall.

NASCAR’s new in-season tournament begins June 28 at Atlanta and will feature races at the Chicago Street Course, Sonoma and Dover before concluding July 27 with the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. Drivers will compete head-to-head, starting with a field of 32 drivers, shrinking to 16, eight, four and then the final two remaining drivers will battle for a $1 million prize.

Seeding will be determined by the results of races from Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono in June that precede the five-race event.

Lawsuit continues between Jordan’s team and NASCAR >> NASCAR’s motion to dismiss the case was denied Jan. 10 by U.S. District Court judge Kenneth Bell.

A jury trial is now set for Dec. 1, before the 2026 season. NASCAR is appealing injunctions in the U.S. Court of Appeals that require the sanctioning body to allow 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to compete this Cup Series season with three chartered cars each.

23XI, the team owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, jointly filed an antitrust lawsuit on Oct. 2 against NASCAR along with Front Row.

NASCAR set for international Cup Series points race >> Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City will host NASCAR for a historic weekend in June.

The first international Cup Series points race since 1958 is set for 3 p.m. June 15. An Xfinity Series race will be run that weekend in Mexico City, as well.

Bristol will host a MLB game >> On Aug. 2, the Atlanta Braves play the Cincinnati Reds in a regular-season game inside Bristol Motor Speedway.

It will be the first Major League Baseball game in the state of Tennessee, held at the race track that previously hosted a college football game between the Volunteers and Virginia Tech that shattered the single-game attendance record.

Coke 600 will be streamed exclusively >> NASCAR is now under its new media rights deal through 2031.

Amazon Prime and Warner Bros. Discovery will now each broadcast five races in the middle of the season, respectively, as longtime partners Fox Sports and NBC Sports are only carrying 14 of the 38 races each.

The Coca-Cola 600 on May 25 in Concord will be the first race that streams on Prime Video, followed by Nashville, Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. TNT Sports takes over for the aforementioned five-race tournament, starting June 28 at Atlanta.