NASCAR O'Reilly Series

NASCAR made some significant changes to its two minor national series in announcements made on the opening day of the 2016 Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour. The announcement made by NASCAR Chairman Brian France had been rumored for months, but France made it official.

Time is ticking down on major sports shortest off-season. A day short of three months is all that separates the last race at Homestead to the action coming up at Daytona. That is like Major League Baseball wrapping up the World Series in October, only to return in January.

"The Chase adds intense pressure and helps you see who has the heart of the champion. Other times we find out who has a spaghetti backbone. Either way, it is fascinating to witness and now Texas Motor Speedway fans will get to see it happen in NASCAR's top three series all in one weekend."

The 34th annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom kicked off on Tuesday morning with a series of announcements from the NASCAR brass. While changes in technology and rules packages dominated the Sprint Cup Series discussion, it was the changes to NASCAR’s XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series divisions.

he NASCAR XFINITY Series is making format changes in a handful of races this season, and the Lilly Diabetes 250 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 23 is a beneficiary.

What do two heat races and a 140-lap main event equal? A new and exciting experience for race fans. That’s what the NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash is bringing to Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, April 23. The ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race is one of only four Dash 4 Cash races for the 2016 season, bringing with it a new on-track race format specific to these four races.

Starting this season, the NASCAR XFINITY Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will decide their champion with a modified Chase format that mirrors the current model in the Sprint Cup Series.

NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell announced today several racing-related innovations to the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, beginning with the 2016 season, designed to ignite and energize the growth of each series.

Using the overwhelming success of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format introduced in 2014 as a guidepost, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France announced today the implementation of a playoff system in both the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Building on the triumphs from 2015, Menards will continue its partnership with Richard Childress Racing's NASCAR XFINITY Series program as a primary sponsor for select races with both the No. 2 Chevrolet with Paul Menard and the No. 33 Chevrolet with Brandon Jones for the 2016 season.