NASCAR: The most important regular season race of the playoff era?

The most notable schedule change ahead of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season was the relocation of the championship race to Phoenix Raceway. As a result, this afternoon’s race at the track became the most important regular season race of the playoff era.

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule features the same number of races, 36, at the same number of venues, 23, and the same number of races at each venue as recent schedules have. But there were quite a few changes to the schedule from 2019 to 2020 when the schedule was confirmed back in March of 2019.

The biggest change was the relocation of the championship race from Homestead-Miami Speedway to Phoenix Raceway.

The four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) oval in Avondale, Arizona has never hosted the season finally before, while he four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Homestead, Florida hasn’t not hosted the season finale since the 2001 season when New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted it.

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From 2002 to 2019, Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted only the season finale; it did not host a regular season race.  Since it was added to the schedule in 1999, it has hosted only one race each year, and that is set to be the case again this year. This year’s race at the venue is scheduled to take place in two weeks on Sunday, March 22.

When the four-turn, 1.058-mile (1.703-kilometer) New Hampshire Motor Speedway oval in Loudon, New Hampshire hosted the season finale back in 2001, it did so after hosting a race in July as well.

But this was before the playoff era began in 2004. Since the playoff era began, there has never been a race at the host of the season finale prior to the season finale, much less in the regular season.

That is set to change this season, and it is set to change in quite a significant manner. Over the offseason, NASCAR introduced alterations to the rules packages for tracks one mile in length or less. Even at 1.022 miles in length, Phoenix Raceway qualified as a one-mile oval for the purposes of these changes.

These changes came after the short track races were an overall disappointment in the 2019 season with the introduction of the new low downforce package.

This Sunday’s 312-lap FanShield 500 at the track is set to be not only the first short track race of the season but the first short track race with this new package. Perhaps most notably, it is also set to serve as a preview for the event that is slated to determine the 2020 champion in November.

Which drivers will thrive as a result of these changes? Which teams will be better suited to run at the front? Which manufacturer will be at an advantage? Who will struggle?

There has never been a more significant regular season race in terms of championship implications in the playoff era.

Tune in to Fox at 3:30 p.m. ET this afternoon for the live broadcast of the FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Will this race provide key insight into what the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season finale will look like eight months down the road?