NASCAR: One governor won’t approve return to racing
By Asher Fair
Just one governor has not approved NASCAR’s plan to return to action in his state. That state is scheduled to host two races next month.
NASCAR is reportedly “close” to revealing a full 36-race 2020 Cup Series schedule, with modifications from the original schedule as a result of the postponements and cancellations brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
NASCAR has not seen any real-life action since Sunday, March 8, but live action is scheduled to resume tomorrow afternoon at Darlington Raceway with what is slated to be the first of nine races over a 36-day span from tomorrow through Sunday, June 21.
Coupled with the four races that already took place this season before the pandemic hit and caused everything to be put on hold, these nine races are slated to bring the race total to 13 for the 2020 season by Sunday, June 21.
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On the original schedule, there are just nine more regular season races and the original 10 playoff races beyond this date, meaning that the schedule now consists of 32 races as opposed to the original 36. Four tracks are seeking new race dates.
With two races at Darlington Raceway and one race at Charlotte Motor Speedway slated to replace the regular season races at Richmond Raceway, Chicagoland Speedway and Sonoma Raceway, the four tracks seeking replacement race dates are Texas Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Michigan International Speedway.
One track not seeking any replacement dates at the moment is Pocono Raceway, which is scheduled to host a doubleheader the weekend after the final weekend included in this updated schedule.
But that could change.
The Pennsylvania governor has not given the green light for these races to run as planned on Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28, which is apparently the lone hindrance to NASCAR revealing a new and complete 36-race schedule.
Democrat Tom Wolf has refused to accept any proposal from NASCAR about a return to racing at Pocono Raceway, saying that Pennsylvania is not ready to make a decision about competition at the Tricky Triangle, even without fans in the grandstands.
According to NBC Sports, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell stated that series officials had a call scheduled Friday with Governor Wolf to see if Pennsylvania would be “good to go”.
With the green light, he stated that the plan “would be set” and that officials “feel really good about the schedule in place”, as long as things stay the same or continue to improve as far as the pandemic is concerned.
Unfortunately, that was not able to happen this soon.
More Wolf: " The area that they want to have this gathering in is actually in the red right now, red zone, red phase, so I told them Pennsylvania is not ready to make a decision.”
— Dan Gelston (@APgelston) May 15, 2020
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Pocono Raceway remains on the schedule for its original two races dates for the time being, but that is subject to change. In the meantime, don’t miss NASCAR’s return to action this Sunday, May 17 with the The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway. It is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.