NASCAR's diamond in the rough amid the pandemic

Amid a season full of changes to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the Coca-Cola 600 is a diamond in the rough, scheduled to go on as planned from the very beginning.

The first four races of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season took place as planned at Daytona International Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway and Phoenix Raceway.

Then the coroanvirus pandemic struck, and there were no races after Sunday, March 8 until the season resumed this past Sunday, May 17 with a previously non-scheduled race at Darlington Raceway to end this 10-week hiatus that saw iRacing dominate the racing scene.

A total of eight races were postponed by the pandemic originally. Because of the two installments of the new schedule which were recently released, more races have been booted from their original dates.

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In working on the new schedule, NASCAR confirmed nine Cup Series race dates from Sunday, May 17 to Sunday, June 21, a 36-day span that is slated to bring the 2020 season’s race total from four to 13, halfway to what is still desired to be a 26-race regular season schedule leading into the 10-race playoffs.

The first two of these nine races took place at Darlington Raceway. The second two are scheduled to take place at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with one this Sunday, May 24 and the other next Wednesday, May 27.

Then there are races scheduled to take place at Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway from Sunday, May 31 to Sunday, June 21.

But this Sunday’s race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Charlotte Motor Speedway oval in Concord, North Carolina is a true diamond in the rough, the rough being the pandemic that has swept across the globe and wreaked havoc on most plans from March up until now.

When NASCAR released the 2020 schedule back on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, Charlotte Motor Speedway was scheduled to host the Coca-Cola 600 on its traditional date: Memorial Day Sunday.

This year, that date is Sunday, May 24.

This 400-lap race is still scheduled to happen on Sunday, May 24, and it is the only race on NASCAR’s newly confirmed nine-race calendar that did not see its date changed in any way at any point during this pandemic.

There is also the element of Memorial Day Weekend which this lack of change carries. This upcoming weekend is known for racing, traditionally hosting crown jewel races across NASCAR, Formula 1 and IndyCar. The three races contested across these three series total 1,261.772 miles in length at some of the most iconic venues in the world.

But Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix was canceled altogether for 2020, and IndyCar’s Indianapolis 500 was postponed to Sunday, August 23.

NASCAR’s Coke 600, however, stands strong — even without fans in the grandstands.

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It is ironic in itself that NASCAR’s “diamond in the rough” is, in fact, a crown jewel race, one you don’t want to miss this Sunday, May 24. Be sure to tune in to Fox beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway.

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NASCAR’s diamond in the rough

By Asher Fair | May 23, 2020

Amid a season full of changes to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the Coca-Cola 600 is a diamond in the rough, scheduled to go on as planned from the very beginning.