CHARLOTTE, N.C. - It will be a summer in the South for NASCAR: The stock car series announced Thursday it will stick to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee for June races - all of them without fans.
NASCAR has now set plans for 20 races - including nine in the top-tier Cup Series - as it returns to the track after being shut down for more than two months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Cup Series is scheduled to resume Sunday at Darlington Raceway and run four times in 11 days at the South Carolina track and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Each track will also host a second-tier Xfinity Series race during that span, when Charlotte will also host a third-tier Truck Series event.
Then NASCAR will go to Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee on May 30 for an Xfinity Series race, with the Cup Series running there the next day. The track is roughly three hours' driving distance for most of the teams based in the Charlotte area. Some drivers could fly privately to the track via helicopter.
NASCAR will then race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with the Truck Series and Xfinity Series on June 6 and the Cup Series on June 7. The track in Hampton, Georgia, is at least a four-hour drive, though, and teams could need hotels.
The Cup Series will race for a third time on a Wednesday night at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia on June 10.
Then all three national series will run together and require air travel with two full days at Homestead-Miami Speedway in South Florida. The Truck Series and Xfinity Series will race June 13, then the Xfinity Series will run again on June 14 in a warmup for the Cup Series that day.
NASCAR will then go to Talladega Superspeedway, with the ARCA Series and the Xfinity Series racing June 20 and the Cup Series running June 21. The teams can drive to the Alabama track, but many might use hotels.
NASCAR postponed events at Kansas Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, the Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and the Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway scheduled for June 13 was moved to Homestead-Miami Speedway on June 14.