2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule released

CONCORD, N.C. – Tuesday afternoon, NASCAR announced the Cup Series schedule for the 2020 season.

And it features plenty of shake-ups, including a double-header weekend, an additional night race and a new season finale.

"I commend NASCAR on this," NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon said. "I'm impressed with what they've done."

Some of the most notable changes revolve around a revamped, 10-race playoffs, which will begin with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and ultimately crown a champion at ISM Raceway next season. 

The cutoff races in the playoffs will fall at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course and Martinsville Speedway.

Speaking of Martinsville, the track will hold a Saturday night race under the lights on Mother's Day weekend.

"That night race at Martinsville, I can't wait for that," Gordon said. "At night, you're going to see the rotors glow, you're going to see the sparks flying -- we might even be able to see the tempers flaring from inside those cars at night."

Pocono Raceway, meanwhile, will host an unprecedented double-header weekend in late June, holding Cup Series races on Saturday, June 27, and Sunday, June 28.

Additional alterations to the regular season include the West Coast swing moving to directly after the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 shifting to the July 4th weekend and the summer race at Daytona International Speedway becoming the final race of the regular season.

"Daytona being the final race going into the playoffs, how significant that's going to be of maybe getting somebody into the playoffs that hadn't been in there already," Gordon said, "or just how it might shake things up and knock somebody out."

Check out the full 2020 slate below and stay tuned to HendrickMotorsports.com for more reaction to the schedule shake-up.

2020 NASCAR CUP SERIES SCHEDULE