May 14, 2020 | By Lee Spencer

NASCAR releases second installment of revised, condensed racing schedule

The second installment of NASCAR’s revised, condensed racing schedule will take the top three touring series to Bristol, Atlanta, Martinsville, Homestead-Miami and Talladega, the sanctioning body announced on Thursday afternoon.

Five NASCAR Cup dates are featured on the new installment, which will carry the schedule through June 21 at Talladega. Other Cup dates are May 31 at Bristol, June 7 at Atlanta, June 10 at Martinsville and June 14 at Homestead-Miami.

Because of the coronavirus threat, all the announced races will be run without fans in attendance.

“As we prepare for our return to racing at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, the industry has been diligent in building the return-to-racing schedule,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer.

“We are eager to expand our schedule while continuing to work closely with the local governments in each of the areas we will visit. We thank the many government officials for their guidance, as we share the same goal in our return—the safety for our competitors and the communities in which we race.” 

All Cup races will be contested at their full scheduled distances for the respective tracks.

“This will be a historic night for NASCAR and Martinsville Speedway as we turn on the lights to host a NASCAR Cup Series for the first time in our 73-year history,” said Martinsville President Clay Campbell. “As a sport, we have worked closely with federal, state, local and public health officials to ensure the safety of the competitors, staff, and our local community. While we will miss hosting our loyal Martinsville race fans for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500, we hope to welcome fans back for the penultimate races of the NASCAR season this fall.”

A NASCAR Xfinity Series race on May 30 will precede the Cup date at Bristol. June 6 at Atlanta will bring the first of four same-day doubleheaders, as NASCAR strives to schedule races within driving distance of the greater Charlotte, N.C., area—the base of operations for most race teams.

Both the Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will race on June 6 at Atlanta, a doubleheader the two series will repeat on June 13 at Homestead. The Xfinity Series also will run June 14 at the Florida track as part of a doubleheader with the Cup Series.

The Xfinity and ARCA Series will share the stage June 20 at Talladega.

“We, like so many passionate race fans, are thrilled to have NASCAR racing again at Talladega Superspeedway," said track president Brian Crichton. "For more than 50 years, this enormous venue has provided some of the sport’s most exciting side-by-side, door-to-door racing resulting in photo finishes.

NASCAR also announced the postponement of events at Kansas Speedway (May 30-31) and Michigan International Speedway (June 5-7), in addition to delaying the Xfinity race at Mid-Ohio (May 30) and the Truck Series event at Texas Motor Speedway (June 5).

Included in the announcement was the cancelation of all national touring series and Whelan Modified Tour events at Iowa Speedway for 2020. The NASCAR Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway scheduled for June 13 has been realigned to Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, June 14. Further Iowa Speedway realignment dates will be announced in the future.