The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule was revealed in a live stream on Tuesday afternoon (March 26), and it features numerous changes in each of the tracks’ contract year.
ISM Raceway becomes the season finale on Nov. 8, with the 2020 champion celebrating in the desert, while former title race host Homestead-Miami Speedway moves to March 22.
Atlanta Motor Speedway’s first date has been pushed back to March 15, and the series will head out for its West Coast Swing right after the Daytona 500.
Martinsville Speedway’s March date is moved to Mother’s Day weekend in May, and the race will be held under the lights for the first time. Meanwhile, The Paperclip’s fall date becomes the cutoff race of the playoff’s final trifecta.
Chicagoland Speedway will host a race on Father’s Day, moving its date to June 21. No changes to Dover International Speedway’s spring event, but the fall date is bumped out of the playoffs to Aug. 23.
Pocono Raceway will host the modern era’s first-ever weekend doubleheader, with both its Cup races being held on July 27 and 28 (Saturday and Sunday, respectively).
The weekends of July 26 and Aug. 2 won’t see any action on track, as the sport takes two weeks off for NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.
Daytona International Speedway’s second date becomes the regular season finale, resulting in the regular season getting bookended by the World Center of Racing. The Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway moves to the July 4 weekend.
Darlington Raceway will kick off the 10-race playoffs while keeping its historic Labor Day weekend slot, and Bristol Motor Speedway’s night race moves to Sept. 19 to become the cutoff race for the first round. Richmond Raceway’s second date is between those two races, while its first date becomes a day race.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s playoff date has been pushed back two weeks, as well, to Sept. 27.
Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports and NBCSN, said the network worked with NASCAR to create this new schedule.
“We enjoyed collaborating with NASCAR and their track partners to create what we think will be our most exciting schedule yet in 2020,” Miller said.
2020 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule
Adam Cheek joined Frontstretch as a contributing writer in January 2019. A 2020 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, he covered sports there and later spent a year and a half as a sports host on 910 the Fan in Richmond, VA. He's freelanced for Richmond Magazine and the Richmond Times-Dispatch and also hosts the Adam Cheek's Sports Week podcast. Adam has followed racing since the age of three, inheriting the passion from his grandfather, who raced in amateur events up and down the East Coast in the 1950s.