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Up to Speed: NASCAR COVID-19 Therapy Came to Darlington

For a few hours on Sunday, May 17, we got to focus on something other than social distancing, rates of infection and toilet paper shortages.  Some stay-at-home orders may still be in place, but the NASCAR COVID-19 quarantine came to an end… and gave millions a break.

They got to watch a race.

After a two-month suspension of racing, NASCAR returned to live action at Darlington Raceway.  The sport was among the first to return to live performances after the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States.  With little else to watch on TV, some had compared Sunday’s race to the 1979 Daytona 500.  We won’t know the Nielsen ratings for a couple of days, but this much is clear: it was NASCAR’s chance to capture the attention of the country with a classic race at one of the sport’s most storied venues.

Perhaps the day did not quite rise to those levels, but it did have a significance beyond the typical Cup Series event.  Sunday’s race felt much like the 400-miler at Dover International Speedway in the autumn of 2001.  That was first Cup Series race run after the terrorist attacks of September 11, won by one of the sport’s stars in Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Only weeks after that national tragedy, something as fun, yet ordinary, as a stock car race helped the nation to heal.

Nearly 20 years later, NASCAR again delivered a healthy dose of stock car racing therapy.

Darlington proved to be the perfect choice for the NASCAR COVID-19 comeback race.  The track was originally selected for practical purposes, close to the NASCAR hub of Charlotte but still in a rural area with relatively few COVID-19 cases.  But Darlington is also one of the toughest tracks in NASCAR and it presented a significant challenge for the Cup Series teams.

In an attempt to limit time at the track, there was no qualifying or practice. The lack of on-track preparation meant Sunday’s race easily could have been a wreck fest. Lack of parity was also a major concern. There could have been one driver who led 90% of the laps and ran away from the field.

Instead, we got a very competitive race.  No single driver dominated the event, and it was not impossible for drivers in dirty air to move through the field.  Racing from the afternoon into the evening also kept crews on their toes, keeping up with changing track conditions.

In the end, Kevin Harvick did pull away late, building a healthy lead by the time the checkered flag flew and earned the 50th win of his Cup Series career.  That’s a historic milestone to cap off a historically unusual race.

Darlington was a comeback race for everyone involved, but it was an especially meaningful comeback for two veteran drivers.  Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth returned to Cup Series competition after several months on the sidelines.  Newman’s appearance came as a sweet relief after the Indiana native suffered a terrifying crash at the end of February’s Daytona 500.  After sailing into the catchfence and getting hit by another car, Newman was extracted from the No. 6 Ford and appeared to be seriously injured, if not worse.  Yet, just a few days later, he was able to walk out of the hospital, holding the hands of his daughters.  A 15th-place result on Sunday brought closure to a recovery few expected in the initial moments after the accident.  Indeed, the last few months have been a testament to the toughness of NASCAR’s Rocketman.

Kenseth, meanwhile, had not competed in a NASCAR Cup Series race since November 2018.  Nobody expected him to be racing in the sport anytime soon, if ever again.  But when Chip Ganassi Racing needed a replacement for Kyle Larson, Kenseth answered the call.  Like everyone else, he had no practice time before the race. He had also never competed with the No. 42 team or even run a competitive lap with the current aero package.  But Kenseth ran a smart, patient race on Sunday and brought home a 10th-place finish.  Given the circumstances and lack of prep time he had, a top 10 is an impressive achievement.  Even at age 48, the veteran is proving he can still race with the best of them.

On the other end of the experience spectrum, Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek also earned top-10 finishes.  Both rookies made their first Cup Series starts at Darlington and looked like old pros.  Nemechek, driving for Front Row Motorsports, has until now been an afterthought in the Rookie of the Year battle. Most of his adversaries are driving in better-funded equipment.

Even Reddick, winner of the last two NASCAR Xfinity Series titles, has been a little lost in the shadows of Christopher Bell and Cole Custer.  Yet while Bell and Custer had up-and-down races that ended in mid-pack finishes, Nemechek and Reddick thoroughly made the most of their Sunday afternoons.  Both will be worth watching this Wednesday in a shorter Darlington night race.

In addition to the drivers, young and old, who had good finishes, Sunday was a good day for NASCAR as an organization.  It took considerable coordination among the sanctioning body, the teams, the state governments of both Carolinas and local officials to make this race happen.  No doubt everyone did their best to make sure that this event could go off safely.  Yet in an environment where the United States, and indeed the world, is still trying to figure out how to contain COVID-19, running this race was a calculated risk.  By being the first major American sport back in action, a NASCAR COVID-19 comeback opened itself up to extra scrutiny and potential criticism from those who deemed it too early to race.  Dropping the green flag and resuming the season on Sunday took serious courage.

It still may take several weeks to fully learn if returning to live competition was the right call.  But for a single Sunday afternoon, and one race, at least, everything felt relatively normal.  Sports will not make this virus go away, and they will not solve the economic hardships that the United States is facing.  Yet sports, like great art and great music, speak to the human soul.

If NASCAR can keep holding safe events that heal the souls of its fans in these difficult times, racing is a risk worth taking.

NASCAR RACE WEEKEND CENTRAL: DARLINGTON

Bryan began writing for Frontstretch in 2016. He has penned Up to Speed for the past seven years. A lifelong student of auto racing, Bryan is a published author and automotive historian. He is a native of Columbus, Ohio and currently resides in Southern Kentucky.

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Bruce Smith

No, racing this soon is not worth the risk. This was a mistake and they should have waited longer. There was no social distancing during those pit stops. After any given NASCAR race it will be 7 to 10 days before we know if the virus was in the pits. Sooner or later it will be.

Bill B

Or they could go to the grocery store tomorrow and catch it.

Jill P

I was bothered by the spotters not social distancing, but at least they were called out by NASCAR later in the race.

Mike

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”

― C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology (Making of Modern Theology)

janice

at end of race when harvick did burnouts, it hit home, no noise from the stands. he got out of car for interview and mike on boom was in front of him. picture from v/l had him with his mask on.

seeing pre-race ceremonies with remote prayer and anthem and just drivers by cars masked. i guess this is our new normal for a while.

was happy to see ryan newman back. now i have to remember the mid-week racing. i can’t even remember my keycard for the office some times.

i hope no one tests positive. i think they realize what they’re faced with.

David Edwards

I suspect that long term, assuming nobody tests positive, that this will be what will be the norm.

I realize that at some point they will allow spectators, but for the rest? Lots of cost savings to be realized by reducing the both the number of personnel as well as wear and tear on the equipment.

Regardless the important people got paid yesterday and that was the important thing.

Bill B

One reason why it might not stay this way once the dust settles from Covid, there is money to be made during qualifying and practices. At least for the TV folks as that provides programming for which they can generate advertising revenue.

David Edwards

possible. Although they survived without it so will they go back to the old ways? I suspect that many businesses are asking themselves the same question right now.

janice

tracks make money by having camp grounds rented out, a portion of the concessions and the butts in seats. and also there’s the hotels within a certain radius of track.

with the economy in toilet i’m sure people don’t have the extra money to spend thought, so it will be interesting to see what happens. will tracks discount tickets to when fans come back? will they come back? i work with a bunch of people that think the virus is a joke. me, nope, i take precautions and wear my mask.

DoninAjax

People who take the virus as a joke will change their minds when someone they know is affected. Nobody cares about anything until it’s personal. If they have someone in LTC they’re in for a rude awakening.