NASCAR Cup Series: Comparing the 2019 and 2020 schedules
By Asher Fair
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule differs from the 2019 schedule in many ways. How do the two schedules compare?
NASCAR revealed the 36-race 2020 Cup Series schedule on Tuesday, and while the same 36 races that are on the 2020 schedule were on the 2019 schedule, a plethora of changes have been made.
From start to finish, the 2019 schedule consists of a total of 41 weekends. Not including the weekends during which qualifying for the season opener, the Daytona 500, at Daytona International Speedway, the Clash at Daytona and the All-Star Open and All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway are scheduled to take place, the 2019 schedule consists of 39 weekends.
Meanwhile, the 2020 schedule consists of a total of 40 weekends and a total of 38 weekends not including the weekends during which these events are scheduled to take place.
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Not including these events, only 13 of the 36 races on the 2019 schedule are scheduled to take place during the same weekends in both the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Only 15 of the 36 races on the 2019 schedule are scheduled to keep their positions on the 2020 schedule in terms of what race number they are.
In fact, eight of the 36 races on the 2019 schedule are scheduled to take place at least four weekends earlier or later in the 2020 season. These races are the spring race at Martinsville Speedway, both races at Pocono Raceway, the summer race at Daytona International Speedway, the summer race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the fall-turned-summer race at Dover International Speedway, the season’s lone race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the season’s lone race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Additionally, the second off weekend of the 2020 season is scheduled to take place six weekends later in the season than the second off weekend of the 2019 season is scheduled to take place.
Here is a comparison of the 2019 and 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedules. This list includes weekend number, race number in each season and a list of the races, including the non-points-paying races and events, on each season’s schedule.
Weekend # - Race # (2019) - Race # (2020): 2019 schedule, 2020 schedule 1 - N/A - N/A: Daytona 500 – Qualifying, Daytona 500 – Qualifying 1 - N/A - N/A: The Clash at Daytona, The Clash at Daytona 2 - N/A - N/A: Daytona 500 – Duels, Duels at Daytona 2 - 1 - 1: Daytona 500, Daytona 500 3 - 2 - 2: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway 4 - 3 - 3: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway 5 - 4 - 4: ISM Raceway, ISM Raceway 6 - 5 - 5: Auto Club Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway 7 - 6 - 6: Martinsville Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway 8 - 7 - 7: Texas Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway 9 - 8 - 8: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway 10 - 9 - N/A: Richmond Raceway, OFF 11 - N/A - 9: OFF, Richmond Raceway 12 - 10 - 10: Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega Superspeedway 13 - 11 - 11: Dover International Speedway, Dover International Speedway 14 - 12 - 12: Kansas Speedway, Martinsville Speedway 15 - N/A - N/A: All-Star Open at Charlotte, All-Star Open at Charlotte 15 - N/A - N/A: All-Star Race at Charlotte, All-Star Race at Charlotte 16 - 13 - 13: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway 17 - 14 - 14: Pocono Raceway, Kansas Speedway 18 - 15 - 15: Michigan International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway 19 - N/A - 16: OFF, Sonoma Raceway 20 - 16 - 17: Sonoma Raceway, Chicagoland Speedway 21 - 17 - 18 and 19: Chicagoland Speedway, Pocono Raceway (x2) 22 - 18 - 20: Daytona International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway 23 - 19 - 21: Kentucky Speedway, Kentucky Speedway 24 - 20 - 22: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway 25 - 21 - N/A: Pocono Raceway, OFF 26 - 22 - N/A: Watkins Glen International, OFF 27 - 23 - 23: Michigan International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway 28 - 24 - 24: Bristol Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International 29 - N/A - 25: OFF, Dover International Speedway 30 - 25 - 26: Darlington Raceway, Daytona International Speedway 31 - 26 - 27: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway 32 - 27 - 28: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway 33 - 28 - 29: Richmond Raceway, Bristol Motor Speedway 34 - 29 - 30: Charlotte Motor Speedway (Roval), Las Vegas Motor Speedway 35 - 30 - 31: Dover International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway 36 - 31 - 32: Talladega Superspeedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway (Roval) 37 - 32 - 33: Kansas Speedway, Kansas Speedway 38 - 33 - 34: Martinsville Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway 39 - 34 - 35: Texas Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway 40 - 35 - 36: ISM Raceway, ISM Raceway 41 - 36 - N/A: Homestead-Miami Speedway,
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Which schedule do you prefer for the NASCAR Cup Series, the 2019 schedule or the 2020 schedule? Only six of the 36 races on the 2019 schedule have been completed, so there are still roughly 10 and a half months before the 2020 season is scheduled to get underway, leaving fans with plenty of time to digest the many changes that have been made to the schedule.