NASCAR returns to action May 17 at Darlington Raceway

            NASCAR has officially announced its intent to return to the racetrack starting May 17 at Darlington Raceway with no spectators. In an official press release on Wednesday, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell said, “NASCAR will return in an environment that will ensure the safety of our competitors, officials and all those in the local community. We thank local, state, and federal officials and medical experts, as well as everyone in the industry, for the unprecedented support in our return to racing, and we look forward to joining our passionate fans in watching cars return to the track.”

The Cup Series will race at Darlington on May 17, 2020, at 3:30 pm on FOX. Two days later, the Xfinity Series will run at Darlington on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, at 7:30 pm on FS1. The Cup Series will return to Darlington a day later on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, at 7:30 pm on FS1.

Four days later, the NASCAR shifts to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the traditional Memorial Day race the Coke 600 on Sunday, May 24, 2020, on FOX. The Xfinity Series will have their Memorial Day race a day later on Monday, May 25, 2020, at 7:30 pm on FS1. On Tuesday, May 26, 2020, the Gander Outdoors Trucks Series returns to action in Charlotte at 8 pm on FS1. Finally, the Cup Series will have its final race in Charlotte on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, at 8 pm on FS1.

One key takeaway from this revised schedule is that these races will not replace the upcoming Southern 500 on Labor Day Weekend. After May 27, no other races are scheduled at this time. Additional schedule updates will be revealed at a later date. While the racing resumes, NASCAR will check temperatures and symptom checks for all crew and drivers, as reported by Jeff Gluck, who tweeted that crews and drivers will not be tested for COVID-19 as there are not enough tests available for the virus.

NASCAR's John Bobo says crew/drivers will not be tested for the virus. There aren't enough tests available for that and NASCAR doesn't want to take up the tests that do exist. So they will just have to do temperature checks and symptom checks. — Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) April 30, 2020

Getting NASCAR back for the month of May is a welcoming site for racing fans who have been waiting patiently for racing to resume and a sense of return to normalcy as we continue to deal with COVID-19. As NASCAR Hall of Famer, Darrell Waltrip would say, “Bogey, Bogey, Bogey boys, let’s go racing.”

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