The NASCAR 2025 schedule is finally out and has been made official. As expected, the Cup Series is going international with a points race in Mexico City, along with major changes to the playoff venues. Richmond Raceway lost a date to aid more road course races on the calendar.

But the major surprise came from the Xfinity and Truck Series schedule, which marked the return of the famed Rockingham Speedway for 2025. This new schedule seems to strike the right balance of pushing the boundaries with new experiments while also paying homage to the traditional roots of NASCAR racing. Fans and racing enthusiasts took to social media platforms to share their thoughts on the new schedule. Even Kyle Busch could not help but chime in with his acknowledgment via his X account.

Kyle Busch takes the credit for positive changes

Rockingham Speedway, better known as the Rock, is a historic racetrack that once used to host NASCAR races as a regular feature. The track was unique with its configuration of a high banking race surface stretched across the length of one mile. It can be considered a short track given its nature and characteristics.

The track opened its doors to racing back in 1965, and the first event was also a NASCAR race. American 500 was the name of the Cup event, and it featured a star-studded driver line-up. Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, Nedd Jarett, Buddy Barker, and Junior Johnson competed in the race. The Cup Series would return to the racetrack every year for two races a year until 2004.

However, dwindling attendance and a multiple switch in the ownership of the racetrack resulted in the absence of NASCAR racing. But, now that the house is back in order, Xfinity and Truck Series will return to one of the historic tracks in 2025. Reacting to this positive development, Kyle Busch shared this via his X account. “I dig the changes. Should be fun. What y’all think??”

Interestingly, Richard Petty holds the record for the most number of wins (11) at Rockingham Speedway. This is combined from the Grand National and the Winston Cup Series races. His rival, Yarborough, on the other hand, is just behind with 7 wins to his name. Adding to this list of multi-race winners at the Rock are Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, and Rusty Wallace.

Matt Kenseth was the last winner at the racetrack in 2004. So you see, the young driver of this generation will have a huge opportunity to experience racing on one of the old-school tracks. But the question remains, how was this made possible, given the track was not capable of hosting NASCAR races?

The state of North Carolina helped in Rockingham’s revival

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Rockingham Properties LLC got ownership of the racetrack in 2018. Their first step after the purchase was to announce the return of racing soon. During the budget recommendations from 2019–2021, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper proposed $8 million of state money to help get the track restored. The Rock also received additional funds from the state budget in 2022 when Copper allocated a budget of $40 million of taxpayer money for three race tracks.

Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, and Rockingham Speedway were the recipients of that allocated budget. In Rockingham’s case, the money was used to pave a new asphalt track and also set up lights across the venue to host night races. The intention was to attract the likes of NASCAR back to its roots, and that is exactly what happened.

Hopefully, the success of next year’s races could spark the return of Cup racing action at the Rock.