With the turn of the decade comes a new NASCAR Cup Series schedule. On Tuesday, NASCAR announced the 2020 slate, with various yet sweeping changes made from previous years.
Perhaps the biggest change is moving the season finale, which has been at Homestead-Miami Speedway since 2002 as part of the Ford Championship Weekend, will be moved to ISM Raceway. Homestead had lost its Ford sponsorship for 2020 and beyond, which suggested a potential change. Since 2005, ISM has been the penultimate race of the Cup season. Homestead’s date will shift to the sixth race of the year.
Since the inaugural race in 1959, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway has been held on the 4th of July weekend (1998 was the lone exception due to wildfires in the area). However, that will change in 2020 as Indianapolis Motor Speedway, whose Brickyard 400 currently serves as the regular season finale, takes over its slot. Meanwhile, the regular season will start and end at Daytona. The West Coast Swing of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, and ISM will now place after the season-opening Daytona 500.
Martinsville Speedway, which had lights added in 2017, will feature a Cup race under the lights for the first time in 2020 with its Mother’s Day weekend. Darlington Raceway will open the 2020 playoffs, while Bristol Motor Speedway will close out the first round.
In a new wrinkle, Pocono Raceway‘s two race dates will be consecutive — consecutive days, that is. The track’s Cup races will be on June 27–28 in a doubleheader, while the Summer Olympics will allow for a two-week break on 26 July and 2 August.
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