NASCAR Releases Schedule for 2014 Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR fans can begin planning for the 2014 Sprint Cup Series, as the schedule was announced on Tuesday.

According to Chris Estrada of MotorSportsTalk, the schedule is basically the same as this year's, excluding a few anticipated changes.

Darlington and Kansas Speedways will trade dates for their spring races, while Texas Motor Speedway’s event will take place on Sunday, Apr. 6, to avoid conflicting with the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four on the preceding Saturday night.

The Associated Press (h/t the Washington Post) reports that any major changes will probably take page in 2015, when NBC takes over the final 20 races of the Cup schedule and NASCAR may have freedom with race dates.

The season begins with the Daytona 500 (Feb. 23) and ends at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 16). The 10 races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup remain in the same order as previous years.

The full schedule is available here, via Holly Cain of NASCAR.com.

Additionally, according to Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR's senior vice president of racing operations, the new Air Titan track drying system—which reduces drying time during rainfall—will be available at every Sprint Cup race weekend in 2014:

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Having the Air Titan at each NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend allows us to meet a very important goal set by our Chairman and CEO, Brian France: to drastically decrease track-drying time to the best of our ability and ensure our fans in the stands and those watching on TV get to see each race on its scheduled day.

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The new drying system and slightly altered schedule will most likely increase fan attendance at this year's NASCAR events.

With less rain delays and a jam-packed schedule at competitive tracks, it will surely be another unpredictable season of racing in 2014.