NASCAR: Just two tracks still seeking new race dates
By Asher Fair
Only Michigan International Speedway and Dover International Speedway are still seeking dates to make up their postponed NASCAR Cup Series races this season.
NASCAR released the third installment of the return to racing schedule on Thursday afternoon. Nine Cup Series races have already been contested this season, and there are four more on the second installment of the return to racing schedule.
Beyond these 13 races, there were 19 races on the schedule which had not yet been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, which brought the season race total to 32, four shy of the goal of a full 36-race season.
With Texas Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Michigan International Speedway still seeking replacement dates for the scheduled race weekends which they saw come and go without any action due to the pandemic, NASCAR was in position to announce a full schedule.
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The third installment of the return to racing schedule made progress on that goal. This schedule runs through Sunday, August 2, and it saw races added at Texas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway.
As far as dates are concerned, the race at Texas Motor Speedway replaced the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which was moved to Sunday, August 2 when there was not initially scheduled to be any action due to the now postponed Summer Olympics. The race at Texas Motor Speedway is scheduled to take place on Sunday, July 19.
Meanwhile, the race at Kansas Speedway was slotted in between the newly scheduled races at Texas Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as there was not scheduled to be any racing during this weekend due to the Summer Olympics, either. The Kansas Speedway race is a Thursday race, however, as it is scheduled to take place on July 23.
Both Texas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway also have playoff races scheduled for the round of 8.
These changes bring the scheduled race total up to 34, two shy of the goal. But Dover International Speedway and Michigan International Speedway are still seeking replacement dates for their postponed races.
Both of these tracks are already scheduled to host regular season races in August, with Michigan International Speedway scheduled to host a race on Sunday, August 9 and Dover International Speedway scheduled to host a race two weeks later on Sunday, August 23.
NASCAR released a provisional schedule to the teams before unveiling this third installment, and it extended through the Sunday, August 16 race at Watkins Glen International. It included a doubleheader weekend at Michigan International Speedway with races on Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9.
As for the Dover International Speedway race weekend, it is believed that this will also turn into a doubleheader weekend, with races on both Saturday, August 22 and Sunday, August 23.
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These confirmations would bring the scheduled race total back up to 36, the goal from which NASCAR never wavered even amid times of uncertainty due to the pandemic.