NASCAR Sets Third Portion Of Revamped Schedule

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR officials confirmed the third installment of the restructured 2020 schedule on Thursday afternoon, encompassing 23 races across all three national divisions and the ARCA Menards Series.

The new stretch of races runs from June 26-28 at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway through Aug. 2 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Among the confirmed races Thursday are seven NASCAR Cup Series events, six NASCAR Xfinity Series races, five NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series rounds and three races for the ARCA Menards Series.

The mid-summer schedule also includes a Wednesday night date for the NASCAR All-Star Race, set for July 15 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The format for the All-Star Race will be confirmed at a later date.

“We are thrilled to announce the return of the NASCAR All-Star Race and are hard at work to make sure the 2020 edition lives up to the tradition of being one of the most wildly entertaining and unpredictable events of the season,” said Greg Walter, executive vice president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway. “In addition, we will work hard with our state and local officials to explore what options are available, if any, to have this race enjoyed by fans in person. Entertaining fans at the track is part of who we are, but we want to do so in a way that everyone feels comfortable with given current health concerns.”

NASCAR’s return to racing will continue at Pocono at the end of June, featuring the ARCA Menards Series on June 26 before the NASCAR Truck Series and NASCAR Cup Series split the event card on June 27. The Xfinity Series and Cup Series will race on June 28.

Five national-series races over three days falls in line with the original plan for the NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader weekend at Pocono. The June events will mark the first time in the modern era that Cup cars have run two races at the same track on consecutive days.

The Xfinity Series and Cup Series will then move to Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 4-5, with the Xfinity cars running on the IMS road course in a doubleheader with the NTT IndyCar Series before the Cup cars take center stage on the 2.5-mile oval for the Brickyard 400.

Kentucky Speedway will host a NASCAR Xfinity Series double dip on July 9-10, followed by the NASCAR Truck Series on July 11 and the NASCAR Cup Series on July 12.

The Cup Series date, originally scheduled as a Saturday night event, will now run in daylight as a Sunday-afternoon affair.

July 15 will see the ARCA Menards Series join the Cup Series at Charlotte for an afternoon event, which will precede the NASCAR All-Star Open and All-Star Race later that night.

NASCAR’s three national series will then move to Texas Motor Speedway, where the Xfinity Series and Truck Series will share the billing on July 18 before the Cup Series embarks on a Sunday-afternoon event on July 19.

All four series will tackle Kansas Speedway at the end of July, with the Cup Series running a Thursday-night event on July 23, while the Truck Series contests a doubleheader on July 24-25.

The ARCA Menards Series event at Kansas will roll off on July 24, after the first Truck race, and the Xfinity Series hits the track in similar fashion following the Trucks on July 25.

NASCAR’s third batch of races concludes with a Cup Series visit to New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Aug. 2.

Several schedule realignments took place during the third batch of return to racing events. Those changes include:

– The July 9 Xfinity Series race at Kentucky Speedway was realigned from New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
– The ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races on July 24 and July 25, respectively, were realigned from Chicagoland Speedway.
– The NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway on July 25 was realigned from Iowa Speedway.

Fans will not be permitted to attend the events at Pocono Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway or Kentucky Speedway.

Charlotte Motor Speedway noted that “options for fan entry are being evaluated in consultation with state and local health officials, but no decisions have been finalized at this time,” while Kansas Speedway is planning to run its July races without spectators.

Texas Motor Speedway stated Thursday that it has developed with NASCAR “a comprehensive plan and continues to work with state and local officials to determine the size and scope of the number of race fans who will be able to attend the weekend’s events.”

Lastly, New Hampshire Motor Speedway said that “it’s unclear at this time if fans will be allowed access” for the track’s Aug. 2 Cup Series race.

From a broadcast perspective, FOX Sports will conclude its portion of the calendar with the Kentucky Speedway weekend and the NASCAR All-Star Race festivities, while NBC Sports will air events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before taking over the balance of the Cup Series and Xfinity Series schedules starting at Texas Motor Speedway on July 18.

FOX Sports will continue to be the exclusive home for the Gander Trucks throughout 2020.

The full slate of announced races, with broadcast times and locations, is below.

NASCAR National & ARCA Menards Series Updated Schedule (June 26-Aug. 2)