NASCAR under the lights returns to RIR in 2018; track will host season playoff race

Richmond International Raceway will host the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series playoff races and bring back spring Saturday racing “under the lights” in 2018, the track announced earlier this week. The decision comes following disappointing ticket sales that some say were attributed to both a sport-wide slump in ticket sales and the track’s decision to move the race to Sunday during the day versus the traditional Saturday night races RIR has hosted in the past.

The track struggled to fill 60,000 seats at April’s NASCAR race weekend; a decade ago there was a hefty waitlist for the sold out 112,000-seat venue.

Richmond will host the Toyota spring race weekend on April 20th – -1st, 2018, and return in the fall with its first Monster Energy Series and NXS playoff race weekend on September 21st through the 22nd, 2018.

The road to the 2018 championships will now lead through Richmond as the track has been added to the select number of tracks who host a Monster Energy Series playoff race. This is a unique opportunity for the Commonwealth to host a pair of major league professional sport’s playoff races at Richmond and Martinsville Speedway, RIR officials said.

The lights will shine once again as the Toyota spring race weekend goes back to Saturday racing in Richmond. With both race weekends under the lights, RIR returns to the tradition it started with its first night race in September 1991 when driver “Handsome” Harry Gant took home the victory. Night racing became an iconic tradition in Richmond for years, and the track is returning to its roots.

“We heard from many fans about returning the spring race to Saturday and getting back ‘under the lights’ for both our 2018 race weekends,” RIR president Dennis Bickmeier. said. “A big part of our identity for 18 years is racing under the lights as there is a different energy in the air on Saturday nights at Richmond. We look forward to bringing back the iconic race weekend experience generations of Richmond fans remember.”

“Richmond has always been a tremendously supportive market for NASCAR,” said Jim Cassidy, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Operations. “Adding it to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, along with the return to Saturday night racing, only will enhance the competition at the track as fans continue to enjoy the iconic Richmond racing experience.”

“The Action Track,” as RIR is known, will now play a vital role in determining the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series champions with playoff races hitting the three-quarter mile “D”-shaped track for the first time in the history of the track. The fall Monster Energy Series race will be the second race in the first round of the playoffs on Saturday, September 22nd, 2018, with the NASCAR XFINITY Series race being the first race of the NXS playoffs on Friday, September 21st, 2018.

Official start times for 2018 NASCAR races will be announced at a later date.

Tickets are available now for both the Monster Energy Series and NXS races at Richmond. To purchase tickets, you can visit the track’s website or call 866.455.7223.