NASCAR: New 2020 schedule would cause long-term shifts

The updated NASCAR Cup Series schedule for the short-term future would cause more long-term changes to the 2020 season that have not already been made.

NASCAR released an updated schedule to teams for the 2020 Cup Series season that included eight races being contested in the span of under a month.

This schedule was only a short-term schedule, not a long-term schedule, as it did not include any race dates beyond Sunday, June 14.

However, this short-term schedule would still naturally have long-term implications. This was pretty much inevitable all along, given the situation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, and there is nothing wrong with that, as there are really no other options.

But now we know what those long-term implications may be, assuming NASCAR goes ahead with this short-term plan.

So let’s take a look at what has already been changed, what this schedule would change, and the effects that these changes would have on the long-term schedule.

Four races have been contested so far this season, from Monday, February 17 to Sunday, March 8, at the following venues.

• Daytona International Speedway
• Las Vegas Motor Speedway
• Auto Club Speedway
• Phoenix Raceway

Eight races have been postponed, from Sunday, March 15 to Saturday, May 9, at the following venues.

• Atlanta Motor Speedway
• Homestead-Miami Speedway
• Texas Motor Speedway
• Bristol Motor Speedway
• Richmond Raceway
• Talladega Superspeedway
• Dover International Speedway
• Martinsville Speedway

24 races have not been affected, from Sunday, May 24 to Sunday, November 8, at the following venues.

NOTE: * = playoff race

• Charlotte Motor Speedway
• Kansas Speedway
• Michigan International Speedway
• Sonoma Raceway
• Chicagoland Speedway
• Pocono Raceway
• Pocono Raceway (second race)
• Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Kentucky Speedway
• New Hampshire Motor Speedway
• Michigan International Speedway (second race)
• Watkins Glen International
• Dover International Speedway (second race)
• Daytona International Speedway (second race)
• Darlington Raceway*
• Richmond Raceway* (second race)
• Bristol Motor Speedway* (second race)
• Las Vegas Motor Speedway* (second race)
• Talladega Superspeedway* (second race)
• Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval*
• Kansas Speedway* (second race)
• Texas Motor Speedway* (second race)
• Martinsville Speedway* (second race)
• Phoenix Raceway* (second race)

The new eight-race schedule, which spans from Sunday, May 17 to Sunday, June 14, includes two races at Darlington Raceway, two races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and one race at Martinsville Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

One of the two Charlotte Motor Speedway races, the 600-mile race, would be taking place as regularly scheduled on Sunday, May 24. The races at Martinsville Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway would all be serving as replacements for their previously postponed races.

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But the other Charlotte Motor Speedway race, the 310-mile race, and both of the two Darlington Raceway races would effectively be added to the schedule. Darlington Raceway’s initially scheduled race for Sunday, September 6 would likely still be on as planned, given that it is a 500-mile race and the two races on the updated schedule are a 400-mile race and a 310-mile race.

All NASCAR races following the race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 8 had previously been postponed through Saturday, May 9, and as stated, this updated potential schedule runs through Sunday, June 14.

Because only one of the eight races on this schedule is scheduled to take place as initially planned, this means that more races would have to find new dates, races that were not initially postponed in response to the pandemic.

Kansas Speedway had been scheduled to host a race on Sunday, May 31. This would have to change, as this would be the new date for the postponed race at Martinsville Speedway.

Michigan International Speedway had been scheduled to host a race on Sunday, June 7. This would have to change as well, as this would be the new date for the postponed race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Finally, Sonoma Raceway had been scheduled to host a race on Sunday, June 14. This would also have to change, as this would be the new date for the postponed race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Four races had initially been scheduled during this new eight-race span, meaning that the projected race total for the 2020 season would shoot back up from 28 to 32, which is still four shy of the goal to run a full 36-race schedule.

But there would now be seven different venues vying to host these other four races, including three which did not initially have races postponed. This assumes that no other new races are added to the schedule.

These seven venues are Texas Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway, Dover International Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Sonoma Raceway.

Six of the seven already have other events that are still on the schedule, with all but Michigan International Speedway and Dover International Speedway scheduled to host playoff races. Sonoma Raceway, however, has just one race date.

Suffice it to say that while it is a great start, assuming it is put into place, this new short-term schedule is by no means the only change that NASCAR will have to make moving forward. Time will tell what happens next to the 2020 season.