Kentucky may get Cup date as NASCAR landscape shakeup likely

Get ready for a changing landscape on the NASCAR schedule front in the coming years.

After several years with the status quo in the Sprint Cup Series calendar some recent business dealings may have a dramatic impact on the slate as soon as the 2011 season.

Last week's ruling in favor of International Speedway Corporation and NASCAR in the Kentucky Speedway lawsuit paves the way for a Sprint Cup date to come to the track, despite the loss in court.

Track mogul Bruton Smith will likely transfer a race weekend in 2011. (Getty Images)

Since the original owners first filed the suit, claiming NASCAR was unfair in its practice of awarding Sprint Cup Series dates to tracks, Speedway Motorsports Inc. purchased the 1.5-mile facility.

SMI head Bruton Smith stated he was willing to move an existing race from one of the company's other properties to Kentucky but would only request approval from NASCAR once the lawsuit was settled or the claim dropped.

Now that the ruling has come down, Smith will apply for realignment with NASCAR and more than likely will transfer a race weekend by 2011.

Where that date comes from is the magic question and with Atlanta, Texas, New Hampshire and Charlotte in its portfolio -- all tracks that host two Cup races -- there are plenty to choose.

Atlanta remains the most likely target of losing its spring race, which has suffered from low attendance in recent years, with the new Labor Day weekend event staying put after a successful debut last season.

There is also the option Smith could buy one of the two existing tracks not under SMI or ISC ownership, Dover or Pocono and harvest a date from either.

There appears to be some similar thinking going on within the halls of ISC in regards to Kansas Speedway, which recently announced plans to build a luxury hotel and casino on track property.

The new complex is expected to generate millions of dollars in revenue for the track, company and state and ISC plans to bring a second NASCAR weekend to the speedway by 2011.

As with SMI, that event will have to come from another ISC property as it is unlikely NASCAR would add a 37th points race to an already long and overcrowded schedule.

Martinsville Speedway, the smallest track on the schedule in terms of size, seating capacity and media market, has drawn speculation as a potential donor. But don't rule out Auto Club Speedway outside Los Angeles, which has suffered since a second race was brought there a few years ago.

Despite bringing NASCAR to the nation's second-largest market twice a season, it might make better business sense to reduce the schedule to one ACS trip a year and the potential for sellout during its new spot in the Chase schedule than to play to less-than-full grandstands two times a year.

There's also the issue of the bad PR stripping a Martinsville race will generate from long-time and traditional fans who have grown weary of the seemingly constant change NASCAR has gone through this decade.

Still stinging from the decision to move the Southern 500 from storied Darlington Raceway to Fontana in 2005, losing a race at the historic Martinsville track would no doubt further alienate this core group of fans.

The Kansas and Kentucky scenarios could cause NASCAR to overhaul the Cup schedule in a major way by 2011 and shift other dates around to make better sense.

Perhaps a better mix of tracks within the Chase will be in order and there will be a move away from the glut of 1.5-mile speedways that currently occupy the playoff season. And there's also the chance the annual All-Star Race in Charlotte will move off its stand-alone weekend and become a mid-week affair, freeing up a coveted May time slot for another track.

The anticipated shuffling won't be relegated to the Sprint Cup circuit by any means. It appears the Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series will also have a new look with some changes coming in 2010.

The Milwaukee Mile, which has hosted professional auto racing since 1903, will not host NASCAR's No. 2 and 3 divisions next season with the Wisconsin Fair Board not able to come to terms with a suitable promoter to put on the popular weekend.

NASCAR has vowed to take those races in each series to other tracks as the sanctioning body did when Memphis Motorsports Park and Ohio's Mansfield Motorsports Park were shuttered over the last two seasons.

But finding a home isn't as easy as one might believe with the struggling economy still playing havoc with many racetrack operators. Iowa Speedway, which hit a home run with its inaugural Truck and Nationwide Series events last season, could inherit second races for each division. Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado Springs, Colo. -- which hosted both series for several years -- could also creep back into the picture.

But take a good look at the NASCAR schedules across the board because the winds of change are blowing hard and it appears we're in line for a major shakeup.