Staff Report
NASCAR Wire Service
NASCAR today announced the next slate of races in its return to racing, featuring events at Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Series and the ARCA Menards Series will all see action in the newly released schedule.
NASCAR had previously announced that Darlington Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway would host the first two weeks of racing following a two-month stoppage of action due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Like those two weekends of races, the newly announced dates will also be run without fans in attendance.
“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,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “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.”
Bristol Motor Speedway will be the next track on the schedule following Charlotte, hosting an Xfinity Series race on May 30 followed by the NASCAR Cup Series on May 31. Atlanta Motor Speedway (June 6 and 7) will feature a race by each of the three national series, including a double-header on Saturday with the Xfinity Series and Gander Trucks.
Martinsville Speedway will then host a mid-week NASCAR Cup Series race under the lights on Wednesday, June 10, three days after racing at Atlanta.
Homestead-Miami Speedway will be next on the list, hosting a NASCAR Cup Series night race on Sunday, June 14, that will be preceeded by an Xfinity Series race earlier in the day. That will be the second of two Xfinity Series races at Miami, which will also be part of a double-header with the Gander Trucks on Saturday, June 13.
The announced slate will wrap up at Talladega Superspeedway, starting with an ARCA Menards Series and Xfinity Series double-header on Saturday, June 20, and the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday, June 21.
In addition, NASCAR today announced the postponement of events at Kansas Speedway (May 30-31); Michigan International Speedway (June 5-7), the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio (May 30) and the Gander Trucks Series race at Texas Motor Speedway previously scheduled for June 5, as well as the cancelation of all NASCAR national series races and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Iowa Speedway for the 2020 season. The NASCAR Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway scheduled for June 13 has been realigned to Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, June 14. Further Iowa Speedway realignment dates will be announced in the future.
The NASCAR Cup Series will return to racing at Darlington Raceway this Sunday, May 17, with a 400-mile event scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX, FOX Deportes, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
The second installment of events is as follows:
All the above dates will continue to be run without fans in attendance. The remainder of the adjusted schedule for all NASCAR series will be announced at a later date.
Mooresville NC to Homestead FL is 800 miles. No more driving to the tracks. Wheels up in 30 minutes. Back to flying teams to the track in small planes. Another step back to normal.
JD, you call races with no fans back to normal?
From the article, this needs special attention: “All the above dates will continue to be run without fans in attendance. The remainder of the adjusted schedule for all NASCAR series will be announced at a later date.”
The big three series have lucrative TV contracts which draws sponsorship.
Short track racing can’t operate without ticket revenue. Ticket revenue is what pays the bills in short track racing. Ticket revenue and concessions stands, from people at the track pays the bills. If fans can’t attend, short track racing isn’t going to happen.
There was just a segment on the news discussing the upcoming Cup race, and how there will be NO sporting events with large crowds for many months to come. This includes the NHL, NBA, MLB, etc.
I kind of agree with Dareal. Your normal anytown USA short track cannot feasibly operate without fans in the stands, or with very restrictive attendance rules.
What the states do from here will determine the future. Even if states loosen up restrictions, local government can impose new restrictions.
Some track owners and promoters may even decide it’s not worth the risk.
It’s never ever going to go away until a vaccine is discovered.and THOSE don’t grow ON trees. Either WE get over living with the constant threat or we JUST shut it SOCIETY down all togethurr
Half doing it HALF not is never really going to work
TJ, stop making sense. It just doesn’t work for most around here.
A medical authority recently posted a history of vaccine developments. It takes 20-30 years to get a vaccine to where it is decent with useful effectively. We are still trying to develop a vaccine for HIV and there is still no vaccine. This authority said the history shows it is impossible to have a vaccine in a few months, by December, as Trump is promising. If this wasn’t so deadly serious, this promise by Trump would be laughable.
Keep in mind that Trump is merely a carnival barker, just as Lindsey Graham said.
The obituary pages in the newspaper are giant sections now. What used to be a page or two is now 13-15 pages long.