NASCAR: Here's what the final 2020 schedule should look like

NASCAR is close to confirming a full 36-race 2020 Cup Series schedule, despite the unexpected 10-week hiatus. Here is what it should look like.

NASCAR has been back in action following an unexpected 10-week hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic for exactly one month now. The 2020 season was halted on Friday, March 13 after just four Cup Series races had been contested.

Since NASCAR’s return on Sunday, May 17, eight more Cup Series races have been contested, and just like that, we are only one race shy of the halfway mark of the 26-race regular season.

Of course, based on the current schedule, we have already hit the halfway mark of the regular season, as the schedule consists of just 24 races prior to the 10-race playoffs.

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But two tracks are still seeking replacement dates for races which were scheduled to have taken place in May and June, and those replacement dates are expected to be announced in the near future.

Fortunately for those two tracks, both are already scheduled to host regular season races in August. It is believed that both of those race weekends will turn into doubleheader weekends.

Fortunately for NASCAR, doubleheaders are no longer uncharted territory. The sport announced the first ever Cup Series weekend doubleheader at Pocono Raceway all the way back in March of 2019 when the initial 2020 schedule was revealed, and that doubleheader is scheduled to go down as planned next weekend (Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28).

The two tracks still seeking replacement dates are Michigan International Speedway and Dover International Speedway, which are scheduled to host races on Sunday, August 9 and Sunday, August 23, respectively.

It is believed that the former will host its postponed race from Sunday, June 7 on Saturday, August 8 and that the latter will host its postponed race from Sunday, May 3 on Saturday, August 22.

That would result in five races in a 16-day span and a total of seven races in the month of August, from the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, August 2 to the race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 29.

As far as the rest of the schedule is concerned, the only other change that is expected to come that hasn’t been made already is to the playoff schedule.

The Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) music festival was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada from Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17, but due to the pandemic, it has been postponed and is now scheduled to take place between Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 4

This is the week after the scheduled date for the Las Vegas Motor Speedway round of 12 playoff race (Sunday, September 27). As a result, it is expected that Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway will swap dates, with Las Vegas Motor Speedway set to move to the round of 8 on Sunday, October 25.

No official changes to the playoff schedule have been made at this time.

As for the remainder of the regular season schedule, there are several things that don’t look like they did originally. Texas Motor Speedway’s regular season race was scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 29, but it was postponed to Sunday, July 19.

This date originally belonged to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, so New Hampshire Motor Speedway moved to Sunday, August 2, which was originally an off weekend due to the 2020 Summer Olympics. The Summer Olympics have now been postponed until 2021.

Kansas Speedway’s regular season race was scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 31, but it was postponed to Thursday, July 23.

The following weekend (Saturday, July 25 and Sunday, July 26) remains an off weekend for the Cup Series, as it was originally slated to be due to the Summer Olympics.

Here is what the remaining 2020 schedule should look like.

NOTE: * = playoff race

Race 13 – Sunday, June 21 – Talladega Superspeedway
Race 14 – Saturday, June 27 – Pocono Raceway
Race 15 – Sunday, June 28 – Pocono Raceway
Race 16 – Sunday, July 5 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Race 17 – Sunday, July 12 – Kentucky Speedway
Race 18 – Sunday, July 19 – Texas Motor Speedway
Race 19 – Thursday, July 23 – Kansas Speedway
Race 20 – Sunday, August 2 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Race 21 – Saturday, August 8 – Michigan International Speedway
Race 22 – Sunday, August 9 – Michigan International Speedway
Race 23 – Sunday, August 16 – Watkins Glen International
Race 24 – Saturday, August 22 – Dover International Speedway
Race 25 – Sunday, August 23 – Dover International Speedway
Race 26 – Saturday, August 29 – Daytona International Speedway
Race 27* – Sunday, September 6 – Darlington Raceway
Race 28* – Saturday, September 12 – Richmond Raceway
Race 29* – Saturday, September 19 – Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 30* – Sunday, September 27 – Texas Motor Speedway
Race 31* – Sunday, October 4 – Talladega Superspeedway
Race 32* – Sunday, October 11 – Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval
Race 33* – Sunday, October 18 – Kansas Speedway
Race 34* – Sunday, October 25 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Race 35* – Sunday, November 1 – Martinsville Speedway
Race 36* – Sunday, November 8 – Phoenix Raceway

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For a full broadcast schedule for the remaining races on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, visit NASCAR’s website.

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NASCAR: Here’s what the final 2020 schedule should look like

By Asher Fair | Jun 17, 2020

NASCAR is close to confirming a full 36-race 2020 Cup Series schedule, despite the unexpected 10-week hiatus. Here is what it should look like.