(Reuters) – NASCAR will hold 13 races between May 30 and June 21 but no fans will be in attendance in an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, organizers said on Thursday.
The races include events at Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
The NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Series and the ARCA Menards Series will all see action in the newly released schedule.
The popular racing series, which postponed events in mid-March due to the global pandemic, had previously said it would return to action on May 17 at Darlington Raceway, making it the first major sport in the United States to resume competition.
“As we prepare for our return to racing at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, the industry has been diligent in building the return-to-racing schedule,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president.
“We are eager to expand our schedule while continuing to work closely with the local governments in each of the areas we will visit.
“We thank the many government officials for their guidance, as we share the same goal in our return – the safety for our competitors and the communities in which we race.”
NASCAR also announced the postponement of events at Kansas Speedway May 30-31, Michigan International Speedway June 5-7, the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio May 30, and the Gander Trucks Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, previously scheduled for June 5.
It also canceled all NASCAR national series races and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Iowa Speedway for the 2020 season.
The NASCAR Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway, scheduled for June 13, has been realigned to Homestead-Miami Speedway on June 14.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Stephen Coates)
