NASCAR Cup Series: Top 5 races to watch in 2020
1. Phoenix 500
- Phoenix Raceway
- Race 36/36 (Championship)
- Sunday, November 8 at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC
Of course, the #1 race to watch for this season is the championship race!
For those who have been living under a rock, for the first time since the 2001 season, Homestead-Miami Speedway will not host the final race of the season this year. The race at the track has been moved to the sixth race of the year.
Instead, that gig belongs to Phoenix Raceway. This race also marks the first championship race on the west side of the United States since 1986 when the championship was determined at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.
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When the 2020 realignment was announced last March, there were some mixed reactions about Phoenix Raceway getting the title race and not Homestead-Miami Speedway, especially after the March race at Phoenix in 2019 featured only about 5.3 green flag passes per lap, according to NASCAR’s loop data.
But last month, NASCAR announced a big change to the package for 2020 at the short ovals, including Phoenix Raceway, to lower the downforce levels compared to last season. As a result, fans should expect to see far more passing this year than last year, and we can expect to see the most competitive title race in years.
What if the 2017 season’s penultimate race at Phoenix was actually the championship race? That race featured Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin getting into it and then Matt Kenseth passing Elliott for the win. What if either or both were championship-winning moves?
Plus, in the current playoff format, every driver who has won the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway has won the championship, and on four of the six occasions, the Phoenix winner has been a Championship 4 driver as well.
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The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to begin on Sunday, February 16 with the 62nd annual Daytona 500. The race is set to go green at 2:30 p.m. ET, with live TV coverage set to be provided by from Fox.