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NASCAR Announces 8-Week Postponement of 2020 Schedule, Returning For Martinsville May 9

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.

“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.

This story was first reported by Frontstretch’s Dustin Albino.

About the author

Adam Cheek joined Frontstretch as a contributing writer in January 2019. A 2020 graduate of VCU, he works as a producer and talent for Audacy Richmond's radio stations. In addition to motorsports journalism, Adam also covered and broadcasted numerous VCU athletics for the campus newspaper and radio station during his four years there. He's been a racing fan 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.

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Mike

Well. Crap.

Y’all be safe & see ya in May.

kb

The weenies working at these “think tanks” that dictate social policy (read social engineering) must be peeing with glee watching us rats work are way thru the maze to get that cheese, ah..I mean toilet paper!

John W.

Hopefully destroying our economy and the economic lives of many people will be worth it.

kb

It is a pathetic time in our society. All this to destroy a political opponent who up until this point has made America prosperous for all. A successful economy under THIS President is a no no. They could not get him on their Russian hoax, Ukraine hoax, all the lies they spread, etc. so they resort to this. The hatred is diabolical. As the swamp rats always say to justify their disgusting ways, “by any means necessary”….no matter the cost.

Mike

Since we’re talking politics, Ron Paul has an OpEd which captures my own cynicism. Keep in mind he is a medical doctor.

*****

Governments love crises because when the people are fearful they are more willing to give up freedoms for promises that the government will take care of them. After 9/11, for example, Americans accepted the near-total destruction of their civil liberties in the PATRIOT Act’s hollow promises of security.

It is ironic to see the same Democrats who tried to impeach President Trump last month for abuse of power demanding that the Administration grab more power and authority in the name of fighting a virus that thus far has killed less than 100 Americans.

Declaring a pandemic emergency on Friday, President Trump now claims the power to quarantine individuals suspected of being infected by the virus and, as Politico writes, “stop and seize any plane, train or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease.” He can even call out the military to cordon off a US city or state.

State and local authoritarians love panic as well. The mayor of Champaign, Illinois, signed an executive order declaring the power to ban the sale of guns and alcohol and cut off gas, water, or electricity to any citizen. The governor of Ohio just essentially closed his entire state.

The chief fearmonger of the Trump Administration is without a doubt Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Fauci is all over the media, serving up outright falsehoods to stir up even more panic. He testified to Congress that the death rate for the coronavirus is ten times that of the seasonal flu, a claim without any scientific basis.

On Face the Nation, Fauci did his best to further damage an already tanking economy by stating, “Right now, personally, myself, I wouldn’t go to a restaurant.” He has pushed for closing the entire country down for 14 days.

Over what? A virus that has thus far killed just over 5,000 worldwide and less than 100 in the United States? By contrast, tuberculosis, an old disease not much discussed these days, killed nearly 1.6 million people in 2017. Where’s the panic over this?

If anything, what people like Fauci and the other fearmongers are demanding will likely make the disease worse. The martial law they dream about will leave people hunkered down inside their homes instead of going outdoors or to the beach where the sunshine and fresh air would help boost immunity. The panic produced by these fearmongers is likely helping spread the disease, as massive crowds rush into Walmart and Costco for that last roll of toilet paper.

he madness over the coronavirus is not limited to politicians and the medical community. The head of the neoconservative Atlantic Council wrote an editorial this week urging NATO to pass an Article 5 declaration of war against the COVID-19 virus! Are they going to send in tanks and drones to wipe out these microscopic enemies?

People should ask themselves whether this coronavirus “pandemic” could be a big hoax, with the actual danger of the disease massively exaggerated by those who seek to profit – financially or politically – from the ensuing panic.

That is not to say the disease is harmless. Without question people will die from coronavirus. Those in vulnerable categories should take precautions to limit their risk of exposure. But we have seen this movie before. Government over-hypes a threat as an excuse to grab more of our freedoms. When the “threat” is over, however, they never give us our freedoms back.

kb

My humble opinion Fauci is in love with himself and is on every talk show known to man. He seems to speak with forked tongue. He is a career swamp rat who has been in the “health” sector of big gubmint from decades, if I read correctly. He is lamenting the shortage of this and that, well Dr. ANTNEE, what have you been doing all these years?????? Just asking for a friend. I am very weary of this guy the more he speaks. I believe he is part of the problem and seems to be enjoying stoking the flames of mass hysteria!

I agree with Dr. Paul.

wildcatfan2016

Interesting article from Ron Paul. He’s right that losing our rights thru fear is easy getting them back nearly impossible. And watching the financial impact of this is terrible.

Be safe everyone.

WJW Motorsports

Thanks Mike. Ron is right on the money on this one.

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