Report: Talladega moving to NASCAR playoff semifinal round in 2025

The NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway appears poised to move to the Round of 8 next season according to a report in The Athletic.

Talladega’s annual fall race has been in the second round, the Round of 12, since NASCAR moved to its current championship format in 2014.

The 2024 playoffs will feature less unpredictable races at Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami and Martinsville to determine the final cut that sends the final four to Phoenix Raceway to race for a championship.

Talladega will prove to be a controversial decision because the points margins are tightest for that semi-final round and the results at NASCAR’s largest track are often determined by who survives multiple multi-car melees called The Big One .

In already known news Atlanta Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen and Homestead-Miami are all exiting the playoffs next season and will be replaced by Gateway and New Hampshire.

The published 2025 Cup Series playoff schedule as reported by The Athletic is below.

Round of 16

Aug. 31: Darlington
Sept. 7: Gateway
Sept. 13: Bristol

Round of 12

Sept. 21: New Hampshire
Sept. 28: Kansas
Oct. 5: Charlotte Roval

Round of 8

Oct. 12: Las Vegas
Oct. 19: Talladega
Oct. 26: Martinsville

Championship 4

Nov. 2: Phoenix

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