NASCAR: Where would the 2020 season be without COVID-19 stoppage?

Without the unexpected coronavirus stoppage, where would the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season be heading into the upcoming race weekend?

The coronavirus pandemic halted all kinds of plans across the globe, and NASCAR was one of the many sporting leagues affected by all the changes.

While plans were initially for racing to continue but without fans in the grandstands, NASCAR was ultimately forced to postpone multiple races.

But let’s imagine a 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season not affected by the threat of COVID-19.

After Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin won the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, Team Penske’s Joey Logano won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman won at Auto Club Speedway and Logano won again at Phoenix Raceway, the season was brought to a halt.

What if the eight races that were put on hold had gone down as planned?

Here is how we think things would have played out.

Atlanta Motor Speedway – Sunday, March 15, 2020

Chase Elliott’s dominance at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier in the year did not translate to a win despite netting him two stage victories, but at his home track, he picks up where he left off and capitalizes on Hendrick Motorsports’ improvements as an organization to lead the most laps and secure his first victory of the 2020 season.

Homestead-Miami Speedway – Sunday, March 22

Just four months removed from the season finale at the same venue where he secured his second Cup Series championship, Kyle Busch gets into the win column in 2020 with a victory.

Texas Motor Speedway – Sunday, March 29

Eventually, things were bound to go Ryan Blaney’s way after the fast yet disappointing start he had to the 2020 season. He enters Texas Motor Speedway with three career wins, although it easily could’ve been three wins already in 2020, and leaves with his first win of the new year.

Bristol Motor Speedway – Sunday, April 5

The win drought is over. A fast start to the 2020 season results in Jimmie Johnson winning his first race in nearly three years at one of the few tracks where he has actually had some success since his career-worst win drought began back in June of 2017.

Richmond Raceway – Sunday, April 19

After entering the 2019 season without a short track victory, Martin Truex Jr. swept the races at Richmond Raceway, winning the playoff race even after a late spin. He picks up where he left off and dominates for his first win of the new year.

Talladega Superspeedway – Sunday, April 26

Kevin Harvick is able to kick-start Stewart-Haas Racing’s season following a slow start, and he does it a lot earlier than he did last year. He holds off Brad Keselowski in a photo finish to take his first win of the year and his first superspeedway win since July of 2010 at Daytona International Speedway.

Dover International Speedway – Sunday, May 3

A new short track package sees Dover International Speedway’s race much more competitive than the two races there last year, and it results in Kevin Harvick capitalizing on his momentum from last week and taking his second consecutive win.

Martinsville Speedway – Saturday, May 9

Once again, the new short track package provides far more entertainment from a competition standpoint than last year’s package did, this time at Martinsville Speedway. This one comes down between Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, which is quite fitting after last year’s playoff race at the track. Logano prevails for a series-high third win of the year.

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Let’s hope that the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season can pick up again this Sunday, May 17 at Darlington Raceway as planned and that no more postponements or cancellations affect the schedule — other than, of course, all of the postponed races finding new dates later in the year.

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