Daytona Beach, FL -- NASCAR released 36-race Nextel Cup schedule for 2006

NASCAR officials announced their Nextel Cup schedule for next season but made very few changes from 2005.

The season will open with the Daytona 500 on February 19th and end at the Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford 400 on November 19th.

The only changes from this year were a couple of swapped dates. Richmond's first race will precede Darlington in 2006 as will the Kansas Speedway and Talladega.

February 19 - Daytona International Speedway

February 26 - California Speedway

March 12 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway

March 19 - Atlanta Motor Speedway

March 26 - Bristol Motor Speedway

April 2 - Martinsville Speedway

April 9 - Texas Motor Speedway

April 22 - Phoenix International Raceway

April 30 - Talladega Superspeedway

May 6 - Richmond International Raceway

May 13 - Darlington Raceway

May 20 - NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge - Lowe's Motor Speedway

May 28 - Lowe's Motor Speedway

June 4 - Dover International Speedway

June 11 - Pocono Raceway

June 18 - Michigan International Speedway

June 25 - Infineon Raceway

July 1 - Daytona International Speedway

July 9 - Chicagoland Speedway

July 16 - New Hampshire International Speedway

July 23 - Pocono Raceway

August 6 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway

August 13 - Watkins Glen International

August 20 - Michigan International Speedway

August 26 - Bristol Motor Speedway

September 3 - California Speedway

September 9 - Richmond International Raceway

September 17 - New Hampshire International Speedway

September 24 - Dover International Speedway

October 1 - Kansas Speedway

October 8 - Talladega Superspeedway

October 14 - Lowe's Motor Speedway

October 22 - Martinsville Speedway

October 29 - Atlanta Motor Speedway

November 5 - Texas Motor Speedway

November 12 - Phoenix International Raceway

November 19 - Homestead-Miami Speedway