NASCAR officially announced their plans for the remainder of the 2020 schedule Monday afternoon (Mar. 16) after postponing two straight Cup Series race weekends due to coronavirus concerns. Now, those postponements run through events at Dover International Speedway May 3 as the sport has decided to follow CDC recommendations and take two months off.
In a tweet, NASCAR officially decided to postpone all racing events through May 3 in any of its racing divisions. Their decision makes the race at Martinsville Speedway May 9 the next Cup event in position to run as scheduled.
The series had already postponed race weekends at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway earlier this month. Since that decision Friday, NASCAR officials left open the possibility of returning for the weekend at Texas Motor Speedway on Mar. 27-29. However, the CDC’s Sunday recommendation that gatherings of 50 or more people be avoided for the next eight weeks changed NASCAR’s thinking for the short-term.
The postponement affects all NASCAR-sanctioned series and divisions. As a reminder, that umbrella includes the three main touring series – Cup, Xfinity and the Gander & RV Outdoors Truck series – as well as the ARCA Menards Series and Whelen Modified Tour.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 16, 2020
“We appreciate the patience of our fans and we look forward to returning to the racetrack,” the statement said. “We intend to hold all 36 races this season, with future rescheduling soon to be determined as we continue to monitor this situation closely with public health officials and medical experts.”
In addition to Atlanta and Homestead-Miami, the NASCAR race weekends for Texas, Bristol, Richmond, Talladega and Dover will all be rescheduled. The postponements include the new spring weekend for Homestead-Miami and the first Truck Series event at Richmond Raceway in 15 years.
“What is important now transcends the world of sports and our focus is on everyone’s safety and well-being as we navigate this challenging time together,” the statement concluded.
NASCAR insisted they will complete the full schedule of all 36 events and sources claimed the sport is prepared to race during the Summer Olympics, still set to begin as scheduled July 24 in Tokyo, Japan. It was left unclear what the refund policy was for postponed events, although FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass claimed each individual track had similar options available.
All of the tracks that have postponed races appear to have same policy … go to track website and fill out a form regardless of option — keeping tickets for postponed date, 120% credit for another race in 2020-21 at one of those company's tracks, or a refund. #nascar
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 16, 2020
This story was first reported by Frontstretch’s Dustin Albino.
Per source, #NASCAR will follow CDC guidelines and be out of action for the next eight weeks.
Aiming for a return date of Martinsville (May), and plan on making up missed races through off weekends, racing during Olympics and possibly mid-week.
— Dustin Albino (el-bee-no) (@DustinAlbino) March 16, 2020
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.