After a hiatus of about two months because of the coronavirus pandemic, NASCAR is returning to competition Sunday with a Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway. The stock-car racing sanctioning body recently announced a modified schedule through June 21, with additional race dates to be announced later.
“As we prepare for our return to racing at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, the industry has been diligent in building the return-to-racing schedule,” NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said. “We are eager to expand our schedule while continuing to work closely with the local governments in each of the areas we will visit. We thank the many government officials for their guidance, as we share the same goal in our return – the safety for our competitors and the communities in which we race.”
The modified schedule includes two doubleheader weekend for the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck and Xfinity series and midweek racing. Below, is the new schedule:
DATE, TRACK, SERIES, RACE DISTANCE, TV NETWORK, START TIME (ET)
May 17, Darlington, Cup, 400 miles, FOX, 3:30 p.m.
May 19, Darlington, Xfinity, 200 miles, FS1, 8 p.m.
May 20, Darlington, Cup, 500 km, FS1, 7:30 p.m.
May 24, Charlotte, Cup, 600 miles, FOX, 6 p.m.
May 25, Charlotte, Xfinity, 300 miles, FS1, 7:30 p.m.
May 26, Charlotte, Truck, 200 miles, FS1, 8 p.m.
May 27, Charlotte, Cup, 500 km, FS1, 8 p.m.
May 30, Bristol, Xfinity, 160 miles, FS1, 3:30 p.m.
May 31, Bristol, Cup, 266 miles, FS1, 3:30 p.m.
June 6, Atlanta, Truck, 200 miles, FS1, 1 p.m.
June 6, Atlanta, Xfinity, 251 miles, FOX, 4:30 p.m.
June 7, Atlanta, Cup, 500 miles, FOX, 3 p.m.
June 10, Martinsville, Cup, 263 miles, FS1, 7 p.m.
June 13, Homestead, Truck, 201 miles, FS1, 12:30 p.m.
June 13, Homestead, Xfinity, 250 miles, FOX, 3:30 p.m.
June 14, Homestead, Xfinity, 250 miles, FS1, 12 p.m.
June 14, Homestead, Cup, 400 miles, FOX, 3:30 p.m.
June 20, Talladega, Xfinity, 300 miles, FS1, 5:30 p.m.
June 21, Talladega, Cup, 500 miles, FOX, 3 p.m.
Race weekends at Chicagoland Speedway and Iowa Speedway have been cancelled, along with the first of two originally-scheduled NASCAR weekends at Richmond Raceway. Race weekends at Kansas Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and a Truck Series weekend at Texas Motor Speedway have been postponed.
Races scheduled, so far, will be single-day shows and will be conducted without fans in attendance. At-track schedules will include little to no practice time and race starting grids set by drawing instead of traditional qualifying sessions.
Teams will operate with limited personnel at the race track, and attending personnel will be required to undergo regular screenings, wear personal protective equipment and practice social distancing.
“NASCAR and its teams are eager and excited to return to racing and have great respect for the responsibility that comes with a return to competition,” O’Donnell said. “NASCAR will return in an environment that will ensure the safety of our competitors, officials and all those in the local community. We thank local, state and federal officials and medical experts, as well as everyone in the industry, for the unprecedented support in our return to racing, and we look forward to joining our passionate fans in watching cars return to the track.”
NASCAR halted its regular schedule March 13, ahead of the Atlanta Motor Speedway race weekend and four races into the 2020 Cup schedule. Races have been completed at Daytona International Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway and Phoenix Raceway. Winners, so far, in 2020 include Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman and two-time winner Joey Logano.
