The 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule will expand to 24 events, and will feature new stops at superspeedways in Homestead, Fla., Las Vegas, Nev., Loudon, N.H. and Nazareth, Pa., according to officials of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.
Two of the tracks, the Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, are 1.5-miles in length and represent the fastest layouts on which the second-year series will compete. The South Florida track hosted a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series exhibition race in early November and will be the site of the 1996 season's opening event on March 17.
The soon-to-be-completed Las Vegas facility will close the 1996 campaign on Nov. 3 and carry in excess of $600,000 in posted awards -- the largest event purse in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history.
The week of Sept. 1 will be an exciting part of the 1996 schedule, starting on Thursday, Sept. 5 with a return to Richmond (Va.) International Raceway and finishing on Sunday, Sept. 8 at the 1.058-mile New Hampshire International Speedway.
One of America's premier road courses, the 2.454-mile Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, will host a series race on Aug. 25. The sixth addition to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series roster of 23 facilities is Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway USA. The newly resurfaced, 0.596-mile oval's event is set for Aug. 31. Nazareth Speedway and Pennsylvania's debut on the series schedule is set for June 30.
"The unbelievable success of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in its debut season enables us to move up to the next level much quicker than anyone would have thought possible," said Dennis Huth, NASCAR Vice President for Administration. "The millions of NASCAR fans who were excited by the series' many close finishes in 1995 won't be disappointed by what they'll be seeing next year."
"We're pleased, also, to be bringing NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series excitement to new parts of America, notably in the New England market."
In addition, racing purses will increase dramatically, said Huth, from $1.2 million to more than $4 million in posted awards in 1996. Broadcast television's presence in the series also will grow, along with an enhanced national radio broadcast schedule.
Each event on the 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule again will be televised, with up to five events set for broadcast by CBS Sports, which carried two races last season. Turner Sports and WTBS will join series cable system partners ESPN and The Nashville Network. In addition, MRN, The Motor Racing Network, which broadcast six events in 1995, will carry a majority of next season's races.
"The entire motorsports community is aware of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series incredible success story in its inaugural season," said Huth. "We are going to continue building on that solid foundation, along with our founding and new track operators, Sears Craftsman, Detroit's three truck manufacturers and our many racing teams."
Huth also announced that nine of NASCAR's touring divisions will hold concurrent events with 15 of the 24 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races in 1996. NASCAR Winston Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National division and Grand National North, NASCAR Winston West Series, NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour, NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR REB-CO Northwest Tour, NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour and NASCAR Goody's Dash Series will have one or more companion events.
"Combining one or more of these divisions with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series proved extremely popular with our fans and track operators in 1995," noted Huth. "It's made tradititional weekends even bigger and conferred instant star-quality on first-time events."
Twenty-three tracks in 20 different states are due to host NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events in 1996. They include include:
For Additional Information contact NASCAR Public Relations, 408-438-3392.
