NASCAR to Resume Racing On May 17th, 2020

NASCAR will reactivate itself for its first race since March 8th with a 400 mile Cup Series race at Darlington, SC on May 17th. Everything in the sports world–and the rest of the world, shut down in mid March due to the Covid-19 epidemic. There will be no fans in the stands for the race, but it will be televised by FOX at 3:30 Eastern time. NASCAR will take protective precautions, including health screenings and social distancing.

The organization has scheduled seven events (four Cup Series, two Xfinity Series races, and one truck race) through May 27th. The first three will be in Darlington, and the remaining four will be in Charlotte, in an effort to limit travel for the race teams. At this time, no other events have been scheduled for later in the season, but NASCAR has stated it wants as close to a full slate of races as possible. The May 27th event is the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte, and is the only race that will have qualifying. To fit that many races in a short time frame, some races will be run during the week in prime time. All will be televised either by FOX or FS1. TV ratings should be good assuming other sports are still on hiatus.

Joey Logano won that last NASCAR race on March 8th, the FanShield 500 in Phoenix. Here’s some highlights: