(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
By Aaron Bearden
NASCAR is back… But it’s going to look a bit different.
The NASCAR Cup Series will kick off the sport’s return to action on Sunday at Darlington Raceway, running the Real Heroes 400. The on-track product will likely look similar to most other weekends, but the situation surrounding it will largely be different.
Here are a few things to note heading into NASCAR’s return.
There will be no fans
When the cameras pan out to show the field battling off of Darlington’s fourth turn and down the front straightaway, the grandstands will mostly be empty. Save for the potential for spotters or other staff placed in the stands, the seats traditionally filled by race fans will lay barren at all NASCAR races through at least June 21.
A decision was made to run without fans in order to give NASCAR the potential to restart the season earlier – a move critical for race teams and the sport itself as it tries to get through all 36 planned Cup races.
Running without fans isn’t something that anyone in the field wants to go through, but it’s a necessary evil to get NASCAR restarted.
That said, it’s a shame fans can’t attend. They’d be treated to a show, because…
There will be no practice or qualifying, either
When the Cup field hauls off into Darlington’s treacherous first turn on Lap 1, it’ll be the first real lap they’ve made on the weekend.
In an effort to shorten the race weekends, limit exposure and remove the need for a backup car, NASCAR has scrubbed qualifying and practice from most upcoming events. The lone exception is the May 24 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which will host qualifying prior to the race.
The field for Sunday’s race was set by a random draw that split competitors up into three groups of 12 based on their position in the owner’s point standings – 1-12 in group one, 13-24 in group two and 25-36 in group three. The remaining four positions were awarded to open teams and ordered based on their spot in the standings.
The Real Heroes 400 starting lineup can be seen here.
Wednesday’s second race at Darlington will utilize an invert of the top-20 finishers from the first event, while positions 21-40 will line up as they finished Sunday’s race.
Xfinity and Truck fields may be larger than usual
In an effort to avoid causing underfunded teams at the back of the grid to miss races, NASCAR has expanded the field for its two secondary national tours.
The Xfinity Series will increase from 36 cars to 40, opening up the door for the tour’s first 40-car field since 2018. Truck Series fields have also been bumped up to 40 entries, a sizable increase from the standard 32. The Truck Series hasn’t seen a 40-truck field since the 1998 season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“This move is critical for the long-term health of the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series,” Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vp of competition, said in a release. “There are many new full-time and part-time team owners who have made significant commitments to our sport and secured sponsorship to participate this season.
“NASCAR wants to enable these teams to fulfill their commitments and grow their businesses without being affected by circumstances out of their control.”
There will be a competition caution
With no practice or qualifying, it only makes sense to stage a competition caution early in the festivities to allow teams to see where they stand.
NASCAR will do just that in Sunday’s kickoff race, throwing the caution flag at Lap 30. This yellow will be a controlled caution, allowing teams to make lengthy pit stops without losing track position.
The top-20 cars will pit first, followed by the remainder of the field on the ensuing lap. Competitors will retain their track position so long as they don’t lose a lap.
To make sure no one tries to stay out to regain a lap, there will be no wave-around awarded under the caution.
Interaction will be minimal
Fans aren’t the only ones in for a different experience. Teams, media and even the drivers themselves are in for a surreal experience starting on Sunday.
Everyone attending will go through a health-screening process, including temperature testing and an overall assessment. They’ll all be tasked with wearing masks and practicing social distancing as possible through the majority of the proceedings.
Teams with the necessary resources have been recommended to keep road crews and shop crews separated, meaning even crew chiefs have largely been avoiding race shops.
Crews attending will be spread out from each other, and they’ll also be smaller than the norm. NASCAR eliminated four positions from each crew, though the roles removed were left up to each team’s choosing.
Spotters will be placed on the top rows of grandstands or elsewhere and kept far apart from each other, meaning they may have difficulty clearing their drivers at certain parts of tracks.
Media at the tracks will be minimal, with just a handful of reporters and press photographers covering the events on-site. Even the race calls from FOX Sports’ Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon will be handled remotely at the company’s Charlotte, North Carolina studio.
Few are in for a more surreal experience than the drivers themselves. They’ll be effectively isolated from the rest of the people on-site, screened in a different location and spending the majority of their time at the track in their motorhomes. Drivers will walk to their cars with 15 minutes remaining before the race, with their cars already gridded.
The same distancing is expected during the post-race procedures. The winning team can’t celebrate with any physical contact, and drivers will go through the start-finish line interview and pictures in victory lane without their teams.
The schedule’s going to be a bit crazy
NASCAR was already set for a new-look 2020 schedule, but the pandemic has forced all involved to get creative and make widespread changes.
Gone are trips to Chicagoland Speedway, Sonoma Raceway and Iowa Speedway, as well as one of two Cup races at Richmond Raceway. In their places are busy weeks and weekends at Darlington, Charlotte, Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway from May 17 through June 21.
There are 20 races between four series planned over the next 36 days, including nine Cup races. The Xfinity Series will contest seven events, including a doubleheader weekend at Homestead. Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series teams have three races planned, and a single ARCA Menards Series race is scheduled for Talladega.
The early schedule is a blitz, with seven races planned for 11 days including a mix of weekday runs and busy weekends. The latter half of the schedule sees packed weekends take precedent, with only one mid-week show at Martinsville.
Things are still subject to change based on weather or the pandemic, but the next month is poised to be the busiest in recent NASCAR history. If you’re a diehard fan that’s been desperately missing stock car racing, you’re in for a treat.
The field could get a bit weird, too
Although to be fair, it already has.
Matt Kenseth’s surprise return and Ryan Newman’s feel-good recovery from his Daytona 500 crash highlight a Cup Series field that will look slightly different from the one last seen at Phoenix Raceway. But things could change again in a moment’s notice.
Teams and drivers will be subject to health screenings at every race. If any competitor tests positive for COVID-19, is found to be symptomatic or has a fever over 100 degrees, they will be unable to enter the facility and compete.
That leaves the potential for anyone – a spotter, tire-carrier or even driver – to be removed from action for two weeks or more, potentially with just hours to find a replacement.
If things go to plan and competitors are sufficiently distancing themselves, the hope is that this never comes into play. But in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak in the paddock, the field could see new faces pop up over the coming weeks.
