NASCAR announced on Thursday the sport will resume the 2020 season starting on May 17, but without fans during the pandemic.
“NASCAR and its teams are eager and excited to return to racing, and have great respect for the responsibility that comes with a return to competition,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer told ESPN. (RELATED: President Trump To Attend Season-Opening Daytona 500)
NASCAR announced Thursday that it will resume its season without fans starting May 17. https://t.co/RC6XMHLpsF
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 30, 2020
“NASCAR will return in an environment that will ensure the safety of our competitors, officials and all those in the local community,” he added.
The first race will start May 17 at the Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, with a total of 7 races over an eleven-day span. (RELATED: ‘A Man Of The People’: NASCAR Drivers Praise Trump After Daytona Appearance)
Hello, would you like to see the new NASCAR schedule for May? pic.twitter.com/xzZtvXoyp8
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) April 30, 2020
According to the report:
NASCAR’s revised schedule goes only through May and has a pair of Wednesday races, fulfilling fans longtime plea for midweek events. The first race is scheduled for Darlington, NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway, followed by a second race at the 70-year-old, egg-shaped oval track three days later.
“This has been a proactive effort to put our motorsports industry back to work and boost the morale of sports fans around the world, while at the same time keeping the health and safety of all who will be on site the top priority,” Marcus Smith, president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports shared.
“Sports fans around the world need this, a return to some sense of normalcy with live sports on TV, and NASCAR is uniquely positioned to deliver it from a competition standpoint,” he added.
NASCAR follows the UFC with being the only other sport to announce a return to playing after everything was put on hold in March due to the coronavirus outbreak.