Nascar relaunched!

If the United States is hit hard by the coronavirus, the competition could still resume there. This is the wish of the White House, which organized a videoconference a week ago between President Donald Trump and several American sports leaders including Lesa France Kennedy, vice-president of the board of directors of the Nascar.

« The governor of Texas gave us the green light to run, Eddie Gossage, the president of the Fort Worth circuit, declared at the end of the event. We are now working to find a date. Our sport is unique because the competitors in the cars do not have physical contact, like in most other sports.»

It's done ! Last night, Nascar announced that the 2020 Cup Series season would resume on Sunday, May 17, at the Darlington oval (South Carolina). An event that will be the first in a series of four – all behind closed doors of course – organized over 11 days on two different circuits: Darlington and Charlotte (North Carolina).

Nascar schedule in May 2020:

- Sunday May 17: Darlington (400 miles)

- Wednesday May 20: Darlington (500 km)

- Sunday May 24: Charlotte (600 miles)

- Wednesday May 27: Charlotte (500km)

« Nascar and its teams are delighted and impatient to return to competition, and are aware of the responsibility that this creates, underlined Nascar vice-president Steve O'Donnell. Nascar will resume in a safe health environment for our competitors, officials and all members of our community. We thank local federal authorities and medical experts, as well as everyone in the industry, for the unprecedented support that made this return to competition possible. »

All the entities mentioned participated in this recovery plan behind closed doors and strict measures will be applied in the paddock. Everyone present must wear a mask, social distancing must be respected and everyone will be asked upon arrival for a test proving that they are not contaminated by Covid-19.

On a sporting level, it should be noted that none of these events scheduled for this month will offer free practice or qualifying, with the exception of the Coca-Cola 600 (May 24) and that the race on May 17 will not replace the Southern 500 scheduled during Labor Day Weekend and which should open the Playoffs, with Nascar wanting to maintain the initial schedule for its final phases.

Furthermore, while no date beyond May 27 has yet been announced, Nascar has repeatedly repeated that it wants to maintain a 36-meet schedule.