NASCAR: A post-Darlington UFC bout for upset drivers?

NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell jokingly suggested a UFC bout for any drivers upset with one another after the first race at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

After 10 weeks, NASCAR is finally set to return with the The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway tomorrow afternoon.

The most recent live NASCAR action took place back on Sunday, March 8 at Phoenix Raceway, when Team Penske’s Joey Logano led Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick across the finish line to secure his second win in the season’s first four races.

After what amounts to nearly a second offseason caused by the coronavirus pandemic, everybody is ready for NASCAR to be back, even though fans will not be allowed to attend Sunday’s 293-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) oval in Darlington, South Carolina, or any of the other eight recently scheduled races through Sunday, June 21.

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But that doesn’t mean drivers won’t be prone to responding the same way they’d usually respond should they run into some kind of disagreement with another driver or drivers during the race.

However, given the protocols that NASCAR has in place to run a safe and healthy event amid the pandemic, it would be best for everybody not to have any kind of confrontations after the race.

NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell joked that any drivers who end up being upset with one another following this race should have a “separate bout” as a part of UFC Jacksonville so that NASCAR can still successfully showcase the protocols they have in place to run a safe sporting event amid the pandemic, especially with so many eyes watching from around the sports world to see how they pull it off.

Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to NBC Sports.

"“I think from our standpoint, it’s not lost on us the responsibility we have as a sport in showcasing the protocols that we have in place. I would say that we would heavily discourage [confrontations].“We’ve got a lot on the line with this race to be able to race. We understand emotions will be high. Maybe that’s something we call [UFC President] Dana White up and he can arrange a separate bout for those guys in Jacksonville. We can send them down there on Monday, and they could come back and join us for the race on Wednesday.”"

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Following Sunday’s race, there is scheduled to be another race at “The Lady in Black” on Wednesday, May 20, the Darlington 500K. Tomorrow’s race is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET while Wednesday’s race is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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