Sweeping changes highlight 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule

A new championship venue, a doubleheader and significant moves highlight a radically different schedule for the 2020 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

NASCAR’s premier division still features the same tracks and 36 races, but some venues find new homes on the calendar.

The most significant change is the championship round changing from Homestead-Miami Speedway to the ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Homestead served as the championship decider since 2002 and now moves to the sixth race of the season on March 22.

The regular season sees some deviations with the west coast swing of Las Vegas, ISM and Auto Club moving immediately after the Daytona 500 and Atlanta shifting from race number two to five to March 15 to accomodate for better weather.

Martinsville’s first race has been moved to a Saturday night show on Mother’s Day weekend on May 9th and Kansas’ spring outing moving to May 31, the weekend after the Memorial Day Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte.

The other foremost change is Pocono Raceway playing host to the series’ first modern-era doubleheader on June 27 and June 28. The lengths of the two races on the 2.5-mile triangular oval is still to be determined.

Daytona swaps 60-year tradition of racing on the Fourth of July weekend with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, now making it the final race before The Playoffs. Steve O'Donnell, exectuive vice president and chief racing development officer, noted that having the 2.5-mile superspeedway flank the regular season will provide a new element of engagement.

"Quite fittingly, the birthplace of NASCAR will host the bookend races to the 2020 regular season," Steve O’Donnell, executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said. "Racing in Daytona – particularly in the summer under the lights – never fails in delivering intense and unpredictable action. There’s no question this venue will create some incredible drama as drivers make one last push for a playoff spot."

The postseason will kick off at the Darlington Raceway on its traditional Labor Day weekend. The Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which hosts race one of the playoffs this year, now moves to September 19.

The playoffs also feature key cutoff venues with the Bristol Motor Speedway night race moving from its traditional August date to the end of round 1 on Saturday, September 19. The Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL once again serves as the end point of Round 2 while Martinsville moves to the penultimate round of the season on November 1. The season ending race at Phoenix will be on November 7, one week earlier than recent years.

"The fans and the industry as a whole have been vocal about the desire for sweeping changes to the schedule, and the 2020 slate is a reflection of our efforts to execute against that feedback," O’Donnell continued. "These changes are a result of unprecedented consensus-building with our race tracks and broadcast partners; something we look to continue into 2021 and beyond."

2020 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Schedule