“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,” said Brian France, NASCAR chairman and CEO. “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.”

One of those adjustments takes place during NASCAR’s playoffs – the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – and could affect the strategy during the championship run. Talladega Superspeedway’s Chase event moves up two weeks to Oct. 7, becoming the fourth race in the Chase. Often labeled as the wild-card track in the Chase, Talladega’s grueling test is now staged during the first half of the Chase.

Talladega swaps its Chase date with Kansas Speedway (Oct. 21) to accommodate Kansas’ repave, scheduled for after the track’s spring event. As such, Kansas’ spring date has also been moved. Kansas now will be the eighth race of the season on April 22. Talladega’s spring event moves to May 6, and Dover International Speedway’s spring event returns to its traditional spot on June 3.

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 54th annual Daytona 500 will run on Feb. 26.

The race dates for Phoenix International Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway have likewise been moved a week later, to March 4 and March 11, respectively.

Two other featured adjustments to the 2012 schedule:

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 in 2012, as the July 4th 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.

2012 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

The Virginia native from Chesterfield fought off numerous challenges from Jimmy Johnson, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch to win the last event before NASCAR’s 10-race version of a playoff begins next Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The victory was Hamlin’s second at his home-state track and his series-leading sixth of the season, which gives him the top seed for the playoff races.

Twelve drivers qualify for the playoffs and their points are recalculated beginning at New Hampshire. Each of the 12 drivers get 5,000 points plus 10 bonus points for each win this season. Hamlin’s six wins put him atop the list with 5060 points. Jimmie Johnson, who finished third Saturday night, is seeded second with five wins, for 5050 points. Kyle Busch, runner-up Saturday night, will be seeded fourth. Regular-season points leader Kevin Harvick, who was ninth Saturday night, will be seeded third.

Rounding out the top 10 finishers Saturday night were Joey Logano, Marcos Ambrose, Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, A J Allmendinger and Carl Edwards.

Drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup include Hamlin, Johnson, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth and Bowyer.

This was the 26th race of the 2010 season and most drivers were focused on winning because 10 of the top 12 spots in the series standings were decided before the green flag fell on the Air Guard 400 at Richmond.

Edwards drove away to a good lead while Montoya, Allmendinger and Bowyer raced hard for the second spot. Actually, Bowyer, who started the race 12th, needed only a 28th-place finish to clinch the 12th and final position in the Chase. Biffle, who was 11th in the standings starting the race, needed only a 42th-place finish to clinch a spot. Biffle was cruising around mid-pack in the early going.

After 25 of 400 laps, Edwards held a half-second lead over Montoya and Allmendinger with Bowyer and Johnson just behind. David Reutimann was next, followed by Logano, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard and Stewart.

Reutimann brought out the first caution after a tap from Kurt Busch on the 57th lap turned him around. Reutimann remained on the lead lap and did no apparent damage to his Toyota.

Jason Leffler had to park his Toyota about this time and his withdrawal from the race clinched a spot in the Chase for Biffle.

On the restart at Lap 63, Edwards was out front with Johnson right behind him. Bowyer was next, followed by Stewart, Allmendinger, Montoya, Kenseth, Keselowski, Menard and Kurt Busch.

Bowyer took the lead shortly before the 100-lap mark with Edwards and Johnson in tow. Hamlin had worked his way to fourth place. Allmendinger was fifth.

Hamlin took the lead a few laps later and the top 10 included Bowyer, Johnson, Allmendinger, Kenseth, Montoya, Stewart, Edwards, Burton and Kyle Busch.

Terry Labonte brought out the second caution of the night on Lap 145 when a cut tire sent him into the wall.

Hamlin had the lead on the restart at Lap 152 but Johnson took over a couple laps later. Hamlin, Johnson and Bowyer swapped the lead like trading cards before a caution came out on Lap 226 for raindrops.

When the race restarted on lap 241, Hamlin was back out front.

According to a report from SIRIUS Satellite Radio, via Jayski, Smith was suspended after being arrested and charged with three felony counts of fraudulently attempting to obtain a controlled substance in Missouri in July.

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said:

The adjustments and realignment of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule will make for an exciting race season next year. The revised schedule provides better situated dates for the tracks, a more challenging lineup for the drivers and ultimately more intrigue for the fans.

One of those changes comes early, as the second race of the season will be held at Phoenix International Raceway on Feb. 27, a week after the season-opening Daytona 500. PIR replaces Auto Club Speedway in Week 2. Texas Motor Speedway fills in the vacated Phoenix spot on Saturday, April 9 for what will be an exciting night race in the Lone Star State.

Southern California’s Auto Club Speedway will now run its race date on March 27, providing the track and its fans an optimum point in the schedule.

The series’ 36-race schedule will feature two realigned events. A second Kansas Speedway date follows the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and will be held on Sunday, June 5. And for the first time in a decade the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series realigns to a new track with a race at Kentucky Speedway. The Kentucky race will be held under the lights on Saturday, July 9.

The 2011 “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” – consisting of the season’s last 10 races, during which the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship is decided – will begin at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 18.

Chicagoland’s previous race date was in early July, a slot that went to the realigned event at Kentucky. New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which previously had the first Chase date, will now have the second, on Sept. 25.

Sprint Cup Schedule

Changes are highlighted in yellow.

* New to Sprint Cup Schedule

# New to Chase

Also released today were the 2011 schedule for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, highlighted by a second race at Iowa and Chicagoland speedways, and the 2011 schedule for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, which will see nine races moved to different dates on the calendar.

All three national series – NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – will begin their seasons at Daytona International Speedway’s “Speedweeks,” with a weekend culminated by the Daytona 500. The traditional “non-points” Budweiser Shootout at Daytona will provide fans a NASCAR Sprint Cup preview, on Saturday night, Feb. 12, followed by qualifying for the “Great American Race” to be held on Sunday, Feb. 13.

All three series will end their seasons with another tradition – Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Nov. 18-20.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series will consist of 34 races, all featuring the new car that is being run a total of four times this season.

Iowa Speedway, which joined the schedule in 2009, receives a second date in 2011. The series will visit the Newton, Iowa, facility for the first time on Sunday, May 22 and return on Saturday, Aug. 6.

A new date has been added at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday, June 4. The series returns on Saturday, Sept. 17 as part of a NASCAR national series tripleheader featuring the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday, Sept. 18 and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Friday, Sept. 16.

Last season’s successful inaugural event at the Road America road course in Wisconsin returns in 2011 on Saturday, June 25, the weekend before the Friday, July 1 race at Daytona International Speedway.

A previous stand-alone event at Kentucky Speedway now will be part of the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup/NASCAR Nationwide Series weekend on Friday, July 8.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series will be paired with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on three weekends, at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, April 23 and Saturday, July 23 and at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis on Saturday, July 30.

The 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will consist of 25 races, one of which will be announced at a future date.

Phoenix International Raceway, which traditionally hosted the penultimate race in November, will host the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Friday, Feb. 25.

Darlington Raceway, which returned to the schedule in 2010 after an absence of six years, moves from August to Saturday, March 12.

Michigan International Speedway’s truck race, previously held in June, will accompany its late-summer NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday, Aug. 20.

Two additional date shifts in the fall have stand-alone events at Kentucky Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, moving a month later on the schedule. The series races at Kentucky on Saturday, Oct. 1 followed by Las Vegas on Saturday, Oct. 15.

Nationwide Series Schedule

Changes are highlighted in yellow.

 Camping World Truck Series Schedule

Note: One additional date to be added to schedule.

Changes are highlighted in yellow.