NASCAR reveals updated potential 2020 schedule to teams

What will the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule end up looking like? We may have a better idea as to when and where racing will resume, as NASCAR reportedly revealed an update to teams regarding the near future.

The coronavirus pandemic has put the 2020 NASCAR season on hold, and there have not been any races contested since Sunday, March 8 at Phoenix Raceway.

Phoenix Raceway hosted the fourth race of the season, as races had already been contested at Daytona International Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in the weeks leading up to the final race before the unexpected stoppage.

The next eight races on the schedule were postponed, but all eyes have been on a potential return to racing, even if that does mean without fans in the grandstands, a likely scenario if racing is to resume anytime soon.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

Now we may have a better idea as to when and where that may take place.

According to a report by Autoweek, NASCAR is looking at running eight races, all in the Southeast, within the span of one month. That eight-race schedule would span from Sunday, May 17 to Sunday, June 14 and include six different tracks, two tracks featuring two races and three mid-week races.

The report states that NASCAR disseminated this schedule to teams earlier this week, although this new partial schedule has not yet been publicly confirmed by the the sport as the official route which will be taken.

The target return date, as has been speculated by several sources in recent days, is Sunday, May 17 with a race at Darlington Raceway, which isn’t scheduled to host a race until the opening round of the playoffs at Sunday, September 6.

This would be a 400-mile race, which would indicate that the plan is still for the Southern 500 to take place at the track in September.

Then on Wednesday, May 20, the same venue would host a 310-mile race before the series would move to Charlotte Motor Speedway for its initially scheduled 600-mile race on Sunday, May 24. Then on Wednesday, May 27, Charlotte Motor Speedway would also host a 310-mile race, before the series would travel to Martinsville Speedway.

Martinsville Speedway would host a race on Sunday, May 31, 22 days after it had been scheduled to host a race on Saturday, May 9. It would host just one race before the series would move to Bristol Motor Speedway for a race on Wednesday, June 3. Bristol Motor Speedway had been scheduled to host a race on Sunday, April 5.

Four days later on Sunday, June 7, Atlanta Motor Speedway would host a race, and one week later on Sunday, June 14, Homestead-Miami Speedway would host a race.

These two tracks were initially scheduled to host races on Sunday, March 15 and Sunday, March 22, and NASCAR had been open to the idea of running them without fans even then before the pandemic ultimately caused both race weekends to be scrapped.

Of the eight races on this schedule, three have effectively been added, as they were not even on NASCAR’s initial 36-race scheduled for the 2020 season. Those three are the two races at Darlington Raceway, assuming the Southern 500 still takes place as planned, and the 310-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The other races that have already been postponed this season are races at Texas Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway and Dover International Speedway. No dates beyond Sunday, June 14 were released.

Notably, this updated potential schedule did not include the Cup Series visiting Texas Motor Speedway for an IndyCar/NASCAR doubleheader on the first weekend in June, as had also been speculated. IndyCar’s 2020 season is currently scheduled to begin on Saturday, June 6 at the track.

The original schedule includes 20 races beyond this date, including 10 regular season races and 10 playoff races.

However, given the fact that three races which weren’t initially on the schedule have been added, it would appear as though at least three races that were initially scheduled won’t take place, considering the fact that 36 races is still the goal for the 2020 season.

This updated eight-race schedule would also involve the removal of three races that are already on the schedule. Kansas Speedway is scheduled to host a race on Sunday, May 31, Michigan International Speedway is scheduled to host a race on Sunday, June 7 and Sonoma Raceway is scheduled to host a race on Sunday, June 14.

Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark. Next

During this eight-race span, there were initially only scheduled to be four races. Due to the eight postponements that reduced the confirmed schedule from 36 races to 28, this would bring the provisional race total for the 2020 season back up to 32, four shy of the goal, with seven tracks seeking replacement dates.

As a result, not only is this eight-race schedule provisional in itself, but it is only for the immediate future as opposed to the entire season. Time will tell which path NASCAR decides to take, both in the short run and in the long run.

Home/NASCAR Cup Series