Why did NASCAR shift the February schedule around?
By Asher Fair
NASCAR is at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend, one week later than initially planned. But why did this end up being the case?
The importance of flexibility was highlighted throughout the world last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, and NASCAR proved to be no exception.
Despite an unexpected 10-week hiatus, the sport managed to run a full 36-race Cup Series schedule, a full 33-race Xfinity Series schedule and a full 23-race Truck Series schedule.
But the pandemic is ongoing, and so are the challenges faced by it.
So is the need for flexibility, and again, that goes for NASCAR as well.
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As a result of pandemic-related restrictions in the state of California, NASCAR was forced to cancel the scheduled race weekend at Auto Club Speedway, which was initially scheduled to be held this weekend.
So how did we end up at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend, when this race was always on the schedule — but scheduled to be run last weekend? Simply put, it made a ton of sense logistically. Last year, when Watkins Glen International was wiped off the calendar due to pandemic-related restrictions in the state of New York, the Daytona International Speedway road course replaced it.
The Daytona International Speedway road course was not on the initial 2021 schedule, but it was called upon when Auto Club Speedway was wiped off.
So instead of going from the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway to Homestead-Miami Speedway and then back to Daytona International Speedway for the road course race, NASCAR made the decision to make Homestead-Miami Speedway the replacement (date-wise) for Auto Club Speedway.
The Daytona International Speedway road course ended up replacing Homestead-Miami Speedway date-wise, marking two years in a row that it has served as the ultimate Plan B.
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The Truck Series is not scheduled to run this weekend, but both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series are. The Xfinity Series race, the Contender Boats 300, is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET this afternoon, and the Cup Series race, the Dixie Vodka 400, is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET tomorrow afternoon.