NASCAR: How a schedule change sent a race into indefinite suspension

Because of an early-season shift in NASCAR Cup Series race dates, one track has seen its annual race indefinitely suspended as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

When Phoenix Raceway was named the host of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season finale last March, that announcement carried with it the idea of the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) oval in Avondale, Arizona hosting the final race before the offseason.

Unfortunately, the track ended up hosting the final race before another lengthy pause in action. Just four races had been contested this season when the coronavirus pandemic brought the sports world to a screeching halt, and NASCAR has now postponed the next seven races on the schedule.

NASCAR Cup Series postponements and cancellations: TRACKER

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There is no definitive answer regarding when the season will get back underway.

Next non-postponed/canceled race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule: TRACKER

Martinsville Speedway is currently scheduled to host the next non-postponed race on Saturday, May 9, but this is subject to change. NASCAR still plans to run all 36 races on the schedule.

2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule: TRACKER

The four races that were contested prior to this unexpected stoppage were contested at Daytona International Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway and Phoenix Raceway.

But the fifth race on the schedule, the one that was scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 15 without fans before it was officially postponed, got the short end of the stick.

Atlanta Motor Speedway has only not hosted one of the first four races of the season four times going back to the 1982 season, and all four of those seasons were seasons in which it did not host an early-season race at all; it hosted the penultimate race of the regular season in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, the first four seasons after it lost its second race date.

From 1982 to 2010, it hosted either the season’s third or fourth race and an additional race later in the season. From 2015 to 2019, it hosted the second race on the schedule, the first after the traditional season-opening Daytona 500.

That makes 34 of 38 seasons leading up to 2020 in which it hosted one of the season’s first four races. Unfortunately, it was set to host the fifth race on this year’s schedule, as NASCAR made several changes to the schedule when it was revealed last March.

The race at Atlanta Motor Speedway ended up falling behind the three-week West Coast Swing, which was moved up by one week this year. With the Daytona 500 opening the season like usual, this meant that the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) oval in Hampton, Georgia could be no earlier than fifth on the schedule.

Of course, while Atlanta Motor Speedway got the short end of the stick here, one track made out, and that track was Auto Club Speedway. For nine consecutive seasons leading into this season, the four-turn, 2.0-mile (3.219-kilometer) oval in Fontana, California hosted the fifth race of the season. But this season, it hosted the third.

A make-up race date has not yet been determined for the race Atlanta Motor Speedway, and make-up dates have not yet been determined for any of the other postponed races, either.

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For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.

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