NASCAR recently announced its 2025 schedule and comes bearing good news. ‘The Rock is back!’

Can you believe that it’s been a decade since the Rockingham Speedway was shut down? However, it will soon be filled back with the loud revs, the wild crowd cheering, and the intense racing that it was known for. The historic track will host both the NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series during the only off-weekend for the Cup Series in 2025.

The Truck Series will race on Rockingham track on Friday, April 18, and the Xfinity Series will take center stage on Saturday, April 19. Although the track will not be part of the Cup Series lineup, this would not stop our beloved Cup drives from going racing at the iconic track. And, there’s a perk!

The Rock is truly iconic! Be it Matt Kenseth winning the final race at Rockingham in 2004 or the legendary Dale Earnhardt‘s 1994 win where he held off Rick Mast in the final seconds to win the race and clinch his seventh Cup Series title. Rockingham Speedway was a regular on the NASCAR National Series schedule, hosting a total of 120 races in the Cup and Xfinity Series from 1965 to 2004.

According to NASCAR Executive Vice President Ben Kennedy, after continued efforts, the track is finally ready for an action-packed race. On a recent episode of Sirius XM NASCAR Radio; he said, “It’s been a while since we have been back to The Rock, but we have been there a number of times. The facility looks like it is in great condition. They are going to do a really good job promoting it.”

Further disclosing the perk for NASCAR fans, Kennedy revealed, “We are not going to have the Cup Series racing that weekend. We might get a couple of our cup drivers, they wanna go and compete, and jump in a Truck or Xfinity car that weekend. That’ll be fun to watch.”

Like Kennedy mentioned the weekend, while the Xfinity and Truck will race on the Rock, the Cup will have an Easter break on that weekend. It is the only break the drivers will get in the entire season. Although surely many Cup drivers would jump on the opportunity to skip the break and rather go racing on the legendary track. But why was the track shut for so long?

As NASCAR expanded in the early 2000s, Rockingham Speedway fell behind as the sport focused on newer tracks and regions. However, the iconic track was never really forgotten. There were continued efforts for its revival after being dropped from the Cup and Xfinity Series schedules in 2004. The track joined the ARCA Menards Series in 2008 but was removed again by 2010. A brief return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series followed, with races held in 2012 and 2013 but availing no success.

Fast forward to 2018, when concrete efforts started for the track’s revival. Rockingham Properties LLC bought the old NASCAR track for $2.8 million and promised to restore it. The track underwent renovations, with government support also helping to accelerate the process. In 2022, the State of North Carolina provided $9 million to Rockingham Speedway in May 2022 as part of a larger $45.8 million grant program aimed at helping 17 motorsports venues recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Past drivers who have ‘The Rock‘ fresh in their memories

The NASCAR Truck Series didn’t race at Rockingham Speedway during its time on the Cup and Xfinity Series schedules, but when it made a brief comeback in 2012 and 2013. These races were won by Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson, respectively. Several current Cup Series drivers, including Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, and Chase Elliott, competed in those Truck Series races at Rockingham. They all would be pumped to go back there after a decade!

It’s been a while since Rockingham has been on the NASCAR schedule, so there aren’t many drivers in the Xfinity or Truck Series today who have raced there before. A few, including Jeb Burton, Matt Crafton, Ty Dillon, Grant Enfinger, and Ryan Sieg, have some experience at Rockingham from their time in the National Series. Before shutting operations in 2004, the Rockingham Speedway hosted 42 NASCAR Xfinity Series events between 1982 and 2004, with Jamie McMurray winning the last four. Who knows, maybe the retired veteran would make a comeback in the 2025 season.

How excited are you for ‘the Rock‘? What are some of your memories of the past races and moments? Share with us in the comments below.