The NASCAR Cup Series has announced it will return May 17th. The top racing series will conduct four races in just 11 days.
Thursday (4/30/20) NASCAR said the Cup Series will resume Sunday, May 17th at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. The series will hold a second race at the track three days later.
Next the teams will head to Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina to race Sunday, May 24th. Again, the NASCAR Cup Series will hold a second race at the same track just three days later.
Sun, May 17 – Darlington – 3:30 PM eastern time
Wed, May 20 – Darlington – 7:30 PM eastern time
Sun, May 24 – Charlotte – 6:00 PM eastern time
Wed, May 27 – Charlotte – 8:00 PM eastern time
These races will be run without fans in the stands and safety protocols in place for the teams, track personnel and NASCAR officials.
“NASCAR and its teams are eager and excited to return to racing, and have great respect for the responsibility that comes with a return to competition,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “NASCAR will return in an environment that will ensure the safety of our competitors, officials and all those in the local community. We thank local, state and federal officials and medical experts, as well as everyone in the industry, for the unprecedented support in our return to racing, and we look forward to joining our passionate fans in watching cars return to the track.”
NASCAR plans to run a full season of 36 races this season (including the 10 post-season races). They have said the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway will be run in its traditional Memorial Day Weekend home for the 60th consecutive season. Beyond that no other announcement has been made for race dates for the season.
The NASCAR announcement also revealed “In-race competition procedures remain largely unchanged, though NASCAR will eliminate practice for all events during this opening return slate, as well as qualifying for all events except the Coca-Cola 600.”
You can read more about NASCAR’s return to the track at NASCAR.com here.
By: Buck Stevens
