This week saw the official release of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series calendar, and it came with some pretty big surprises. We’ll run you through everything that you’ll need to know coming into next season.

For the first time in the history of the Clash, NASCAR’s pre-Daytona event will take place at somewhere other than Daytona International Speedway. In fact, it’ll be hosted inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Fans have been in two minds about this whole debacle. The Clash doesn’t mean much of anything in terms of points or wins; it’s just a prelude to the season to get everyone primed for competition, so its location doesn’t necessarily matter. In fact, hosting it in Los Angeles could actually do wonders for NASCAR’s exposure.

On the other hand, NASCAR fans really love their tradition, and any change from that tradition tends to be pretty poorly received.

World Wide Technology Raceway, also known as Gateway, will host its first-ever Cup Series race on June 5. The 1.25-mile track has hosted 21 Truck Series events since 1998, and it was also part of the Xfinity Series schedule for a brief period of time, but this will be the track’s first instance of hosting a Cup event.

There are also rumors that either the Xfinity Series or the Trucks Series will head to the Portland road course in Oregon. That said, those schedules have yet to be officially released, so we don’t have a guarantee that that’ll happen.

To say 2022's Cup Series schedule is jam-packed would be a little bit of an understatement. Once the series gets started with the Duel at Daytona, there isn’t another weekend off until June 19. And that… is about it. The series just keeps trucking along until the finale at Phoenix Raceway. My heart goes out to all the crew members who will be busting their ass day-in and day-out for months at a time.

After a bit of a weather-fraught debut race, the Circuit of the Americas road course will return to host another round of NASCAR Cup Series schedule for 2022, though this year the race will move up to March instead of taking place in late May.

Texas Motor Speedway also remains on the calendar as the host of May’s All-Star race, maintaining its playoff race position in the latter half of the year as well.

February 6: ClashFebruary 17: Duel at DaytonaFebruary 20: Daytona 500February 27: Auto ClubMarch 6: Las VegasMarch 13: PhoenixMarch 20: AtlantaMarch 27: Circuit of the AmericasApril 3: RichmondApril 9: MartinsvilleApril 17: Bristol dirtApril 24: TalladegaMay 1: DoverMay 8: DarlingtonMay 15: KansasMay 22: All-Star (Texas)May 29: CharlotteJune 5: World Wide Technology RacewayJune 12: SonomaJune 26: Nashville SuperspeedwayJuly 3: Road AmericaJuly 10: AtlantaJuly 17: New HampshireJuly 24: PoconoJuly 31: Indianapolis Road CourseAugust 7: MichiganAugust 14: RichmondAugust 21: Watkins GlenAugust 27: DaytonaSeptember 4: DarlingtonSeptember 11: KansasSeptember 17: BristolSeptember 25: TexasOctober 2: TalladegaOctober 9: Charlotte RovalOctober 16: Las VegasOctober 23: Homestead-MiamiOctober 30: MartinsvilleNovember 6: Phoenix