Dale Jr's take on the change...
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Florida NASCAR calendar is getting a major makeover.
NASCAR made the first significant changes to its schedule in years by shuffling the 2020 season into a freshened new sequence that tries to meet the wants of fans to the best of its current ability.
Daytona gave up its traditional and often rain-wrecked July 4th weekend for the final race of the regular season, when the playoff field will be completed.
“The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will continue to be one of the cornerstone events on the NASCAR schedule and will now serve as the final race of the regular season,” Daytona International Speedway president Chip Wile said in a statement. “Daytona International Speedway strives to deliver the most exciting racing for our fans and this date change adds another layer of drama and excitement with a potential walk-off home run moment for a driver to solidify a playoff berth.”
Homestead-Miami Speedway will no longer host the last race of the playoffs, instead hosting a race on March 22. ISM Raceway outside Phoenix will take over Homestead’s finale slot.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway got July 5th to give the iconic track back-to-back summer holiday weekends.
Pocono Raceway will run both its 400-mile races on back-to-back June afternoons, Martinsville Speedway got a Mother's Day race under the lights and also a slot in the playoffs — one of three short tracks featured in NASCAR's 10-race playoffs. Even better for Martinsville, it got the penultimate race for the championship finale.
Bristol and Richmond short tracks both joined the playoffs, as did Darlington Raceway.
[Popular on OrlandoSentinel.com] Coke Zero Sugar 400: NASCAR reaches midseason mark at Daytona on a roll » The season ends one week earlier than usual, but still includes 38 events that run from a Feb. 9 exhibition race at Daytona through the finale on Nov. 8 at renovated ISM Raceway outside of Phoenix. That includes consecutive weekends off for the first time in the modern era so that NBC Sports can focus on the Tokyo Olympics.
Charlotte Motor Speedway retained the All-Star race, but Speedway Motorsports chairman Marcus Smith told The Associated Press he was amenable to moving the event to Nashville in 2021.
Smith said IndyCar was also welcome to negotiate doubleheader weekends with a handful of SMI-owned tracks, among them are Las Vegas during its new playoff date in late September that offers cooler temperatures than last year's sun-roasted playoff opener. IndyCar has not raced at Las Vegas since Dan Wheldon's fatal 2011 accident there.
Smith also welcomed talks with IndyCar on the “Roval” at Charlotte Motor Speedway and as a NASCAR companion to Texas during its fall event. IndyCar's aims each year to end its season earlier than any of Smith's ideas for SMI-owned tracks.
Although he is open to doubleheaders with IndyCar as soon as next season, Smith was a firm `No' on midweek races. Fans have asked more short tracks, road courses, and even dirt track Eldora Speedway to be added to the stagnant annual schedule. NASCAR was handcuffed by five-year sanction agreements with its existing track partners and won't have the flexibility to add new venues to the schedule until the contracts expire in time for the 2021 schedule.
It meant NASCAR could only swap its existing partners to the interests that suited all the parties involved. There have been calls for midweek races, but Smith was firm in that it was not a financial risk he was willing to make with one of the eight SMI venues with Cup races. He would have done a doubleheader, but said he believes it should be a unique event and special to Pocono.
SMI scored victories in moving Atlanta into a weather-friendlier date in March, as well as the first visit to Texas moving a week after hunting season opens. Bristol is now the first elimination race of the playoffs, while the roval at Charlotte is the eliminating race of the second round of the playoffs. Las Vegas also follows the Feb. 16 Daytona 500 as the first race of NASCAR annual trip West.
if they’re gonna play screw around wi the schedule, they should give Daytona the last race of the year, Alpha/Omega
oh, yeah, pls vote for the Glen as we’re going for a 4pete, thx
ISM Raceway outside Phoenix will take over Homestead’s finale slot.
That’s a big change.
I have no problem with it. Nothing else has worked. The sport will be extinct in 10 more years unless things change. This is creative and, maybe, better. Homestead never made any sense to me as the finale. The other changes are a plus overall, at least to me.