NASCAR Shifts Regular-Season Finale to Indy Amid Multiple 2018 Schedule Changes

NASCAR announced a slew of schedule changes Tuesday, the most notable of which will see the regular season's final race move from Richmond International Raceway to Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning in 2018.

According to ESPN.com's Bob Pockrass, NASCAR's playoff schedule will also receive an overhaul. Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been tabbed to host the postseason's first race, which was formerly hosted by Chicagoland Speedway.   

Furthermore, NASCAR announced Charlotte's road course has been added to the first round of the playoff schedule and will be the new elimination event for the postseason's opening stage. 

"I think a lot of it had to do with what we’ve heard from the fans over a period of time,” NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Jim Cassidy said, per NASCAR.com's Holly Cain. "As the playoffs have continued to evolve and we’ve incorporated elimination into the playoffs, we’ve heard from our fans that they like to see some different variety in the places that we go during the playoffs."

The third first-round playoff race will take place at Richmond's shot track. 

One more change of note: The Daytona 500, which was run on Feb. 26 this year, will return to President's Day Weekend and kick off the NASCAR season on Feb. 18, 2018.