If all goes according to plan, the NASCAR Cup Series will resume its 2020 season on May 17 at Darlington Raceway, contesting a new-look makeshift schedule primarily in the Southeast amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The season has been on hiatus since March 13 when the United States declared a national state of emergency just before the race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Daytona 500 and West Coast events at Las Vegas, Fontana and Phoenix are the only races to have taken place to date.

Due to the pandemic, and a limited number of states close to the race shops in Charlotte, North Carolina, with loosened restrictions, the first six races back will take place in the Carolinas and Virginias without fans in attendance.

Autoweek obtained a copy of this schedule disseminated to teams this week.

- Sunday, May 17 | Darlington 400

- Wednesday, May 20 | Darlington 310

- Sunday, May 24 | Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte

- Wednesday, May 27 | Charlotte 310

- Sunday, May 31 | Martinsville

- Wednesday, June 3 | Bristol

- Sunday, June 7 | Atlanta

- Sunday, June 14 | Miami

The schedule will not resemble its original complexion due to the shutdown. The first four races taking place at Darlington and Charlotte is a matter of logistical convenience. South Carolina has loosened restrictions compared to rest of the country, and it’s a two-hour trip from most of the team shops in the greater Charlotte area.

The same logic applies to having the next two races close to home at Charlotte Motor Speedway, on the originally schedule All Star and Coca-Cola 600 weekends.

It was also important for NASCAR to contest four consecutive races with the 550-hp, high-downforce package, since teams had a surplus of these cars prepared for races at Atlanta, Homestead and Texas prior to the shutdown.

While the exact details are expected to be released this week, NASCAR is expected to place limits on organizational employees permitted on the grounds of the first several events. According to sources within the industry, face masks and temperature checks every time someone reenters a facility will be among the regulations put in place to limit the risk of coronavirus exposure.

The races will be unlikely to contain live pit stops, which would mean five additional crew members not even needed at the track.

Race lengths have only been issued for the races at Darlington and Charlotte, with NASCAR waiting to see if restrictions are loosened before the races at Martinsville, Bristol, Atlanta and Miami.

NASCAR is feeling a degree of urgency to resume competition because revenue is primarily derived from its television contract with Fox Sports and NBC Sports. Teams only collect television money once races are completed.

Further, sponsorship packages are dependent on races taking place on television.

As a result, the entire financial structure of the sport is dependent on the NASCAR Cup Series conducting anything remotely similar to its originally scheduled 36-race season.

This has all been made possible by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper confirming that race shop employees were considered essential workers, despite a statewide stay-at-home order continuing through May 8.



However, not every shop has reopened due to a few local governments enforcing the stay-at-home order on team facilities.



Cooper revealed on Thursday that he was having conversations with NASCAR executives over a plan to safely resume racing in North Carolina.

"I’ve been in contact with NASCAR officials, track owners, team owners—they have come forward with a plan to try to protect their employees, a proposal that there would be no fans in the stands," Cooper said. "Right now our public health officials are examining their proposals and they’re also talking to local governments there—their (shops) are in several counties around Charlotte, Cabarrus, Iredell and Mecklenburg—about how they would run their (shops) and to get the cars ready, they need a couple of weeks ahead of time.

"We’ll be coming forward with an announcement on that pretty soon after we’ve had more conversations with public health officials and with NASCAR officials."

It remains unclear where the Xfinity Series and Gander Truck Series fits into the current plans.



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