NASCAR Returns: Resetting the Season

After an eight-race layoff due to the Coronavirus pandemic, NASCAR returns to action next weekend with a series of makeup races.  The nation's premier stock car racing association is the first major sport to return from the shutdowns of March and April.  

First up on the new schedule is Darlington Raceway.  The South Carolina oval will play host to the first of two events in the revamped schedule.  Sunday, May 17, will be the Darlington 400 and then the following Wednesday, May 20, will be the Darlington 310.  This unique approach of NASCAR holding doubleheaders will help the sanctioning body maintain it's typical 36-event regular schedule.  

New Schedule

Here is a quick look at the revamped short-term schedule so you can get a feel for where the races are being held.  You'll notice quickly that most of these dates are close to where most of NASCAR's teams are headquartered (North Carolina) and make for easy doubleheader style events due to the much more simplified logistics and reduced travel. 

Race Event                  Track                                          Date / Time                              
Darlington 400           Darlington Raceway                Sunday, May 17 – 3:30 p.m.
Darlington 310           Darlington Raceway                Wednesday, May 20 – 7:30 p.m.
Coca-Cola 600            Charlotte Motor Speedway    Sunday, May 24 – 6 p.m.
Charlotte 310             Charlotte Motor Speedway    Wednesday, May 27 – 8 p.m.

This updated schedule carries the sport through the end of May.  NASCAR will make further announcements about June racing as the schedule unfolds.  Certainly, states that are relaxing some of their shutdown guidelines and their proximity to North Carolina and how far the teams must travel will play a role in determining the June schedule.  

In addition to the condensed schedule, NASCAR will also be adhering to a number of CDC guidelines to keep the drivers/crews/track workers safe during these events.  Social distancing and the lack of spectators at the races will be the most notable changes.  These guidelines will be enforced until further notice, and we're looking at the distinct possibility that NASCAR races the remainder of the 2020 schedule without fans in attendance and with social distancing practiced at the tracks. 

Current Standings

Since the NASCAR Cup Series has only raced on four tracks to this point, and we've taken a two-month break from action, we need to revisit where teams and drivers were performing before the layoff.  A good place to start would be to quickly visit the championship point standings.  A few minutes spent there will help us to get a handle on who was doing what before the layoff. 

Certainly the Chevrolet drivers were vastly improved over their 2019 campaigns out of the gate this season.  Drivers like Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and Jimmie Johnson were off to fast starts.  They still have a way to go yet to catch up to Ford's top drivers.  Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski were setting a pretty torrid pace.  The biggest surprise was Toyota's seemingly step-back from last season's dominant performance.  Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500, but the other ovals since have not been so kind to that manufacturer's drivers.  Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and some others have a lot of catch up to do when we resume racing.

Although there was no physical racing action the last two months, many drivers stayed sharp with iRacing and kept their senses and hand-eye coordination finely tuned.  That should help as the drivers return to their real race cars next week.  Although the two forms of racing are vastly different in some respects, the competitive juices that iRacing kept flowing and the laser-sharp focus and concentration that it requires helped get the drivers through this down time. 

News Update

We do have a bit of driver news to report during the shutdown.  Kyle Larson was easily the biggest headline.  The former Chip Ganassi Racing driver was released by his team and suspended indefinitely by NASCAR after uttering a racial slur during an iRacing event.  He will not be in the No. 42 Chevrolet when racing resumes next weekend.  Instead, Matt Kenseth will come out of retirement and pilot the CGR No. 42 Chevrolet.  His veteran presence, unflappable personality and general skill will be a welcome buoy for this race team to fill-out the remainder of 2020.  

From a fantasy racing perspective, this race team takes a bit of a hit in value.  Larson was off to a great start, and the move to Kenseth is a mild downgrade.  However, Kenseth will present fantasy racing value in many formats.  He'll come at a cheaper price in salary leagues, and he'll be a lower tier in tiered driver groups.  However, he'll still deliver solid racing results in this strong team.  

The other big driver news to report is the return of Ryan Newman.  He was injured in a last-lap crash during the Daytona 500 and has been sidelined since.  The two-month break has allowed Newman to heal and return to racing.  The veteran will climb back into the No. 6 Ford of Roush Fenway Racing at Darlington and plans to continue the full season.  It remains to be seen if Newman will still race at a high level after the brain-bruise injury and long absence.  All eyes will be watching Newman closely in the first couple races after his return.

Drivers Streaking Before the Break

Joey Logano – The driver of the No. 22 Penske Racing Ford was on fire.  Logano hated to see the action come to an end.  He had grabbed Las Vegas and Phoenix victories and was sitting second overall in the championship point standings before COVID-19 put a stop to the show.  Logano should be eager to resume racing, and continue to dice and slice the small and intermediate sized tracks.  The 30-year-old veteran is a good fit for the upcoming Darlington and Charlotte tracks, so hitting the ground running should not be a problem for the No. 22 team.

Kevin Harvick – The Stewart Haas Racing star was sitting atop the championship point standings when NASCAR skidded to a halt in March.  Harvick hadn't won any races to this point, but his first four events yielded 159 laps led, two Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes.  We saw a lot of the No. 4 Ford Mustang running up front at the start of this season.  The layoff was unfortunate, but Harvick should be mentally equipped to pick up where he and the team left off.  He is a one-time winner at Darlington and three-time winner at Charlotte, so there's a fair chance he could steal a win in NASCAR's return to racing.   

Denny Hamlin – The Daytona 500 winner has been the top performing Toyota driver thus far.  Hamlin has been more consistent and had some better luck than both Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. to this point.  The driver of the No. 11 Toyota grabbed a strong sixth-place finish at Fontana to go along with his Daytona win.  However, 17th- and 20th-place finishes at Las Vegas and Phoenix are a bit concerning.  It seems that Joe Gibbs Racing has some catch up work to do on the smaller and intermediate ovals.  However, Hamlin is off to a nice start and should improve at both Darlington and Charlotte.

Chase Elliott – The most popular driver in NASCAR had a nice start to his 2020 campaign.  Elliott overcame subpar Daytona and Las Vegas outings with much better finishes at both Phoenix and Fontana.  In his last start before the shutdown, the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet grabbed the pole, led 93 laps and finished seventh at Phoenix.  Elliott carries that two-race Top-10 streak to Darlington next weekend for the double header in our return.  The high-groove racing action of the South Carolina oval should suit Elliott well in his return. 

Drivers Treading Water Before the Break

Ryan Blaney – Like the rest of his Penske Racing teammates, Blaney showed great speed to start the season.  However, improbable bad luck and bad breaks kept the No. 12 Ford team from collecting the finishes Blaney deserved.  The young driver looked great and led 77 combined laps in the first three events, but only nabbed a Top-5 finish at Daytona.  Blaney's bad luck culminated in a crash and premature exit from our last race in Phoenix.  The break must have been maddening for this young driver.  Blaney should be ready and eager to go at Darlington.  He's had great speed, and now maybe the proper results will follow.           

Kyle Busch – Last season's champion hasn't exactly set the world on fire in the first four events of 2020.  Busch suffered an engine failure in the Daytona 500, and he followed that with a subpar effort at Las Vegas.  The No. 18 team rebounded well at both Fontana and Phoenix with Busch collecting strong second- and third-place finishes right before the shutdown.  The team's arrow was definitely pointing north before the break, and it was a shame to see Busch hang up his helmet for eight weeks.  The Joe Gibbs Racing star should continue to point this team to better finishes in the coming weeks.   

Brad Keselowski – The driver of the No. 2 Ford was just getting adjusted to life with his new crew chief, Jeremy Bullins, when the world got turned upside down.  Keselowski had good speed in the season-opening Daytona race.  He led 30 laps but crashed out before the end, which has been typical for him at that oval.  The Penske Racing star rebounded to seventh-, fifth- and 11th-place finishes in the three subsequent races, and went into the break in good shape.  Keselowski is ninth in the standings, but looking to climb higher.  The veteran driver has been a past winner and good performer at the two upcoming ovals of Darlington and Charlotte, so you could say we have a very high outlook for Keselowski in the coming races.

Jimmie Johnson – The farewell tour had gotten off to a good start for Johnson.  Aside from a Daytona 500 crash and poor finish, the seven-time champion had grabbed a pair of Top 10's and one Top 15 in his three races since the opener.  The fast start to the 2020 season has been a big contrast to his prior three seasons of racing.  Johnson sits fifth overall in the championship points, and he's in good shape as racing resumes at Darlington.  Now the focus shifts to the No. 48 team moving forward.  How will the long layoff affect the veteran driver?  Will it break their momentum?  Will it hurt their chemistry?  All questions to be answered in the remainder of May at Darlington and Charlotte. 

Drivers Struggling Before the Break

Martin Truex Jr. – Arguably one of the most dominant drivers of the last three seasons needed a mulligan after those first four races.  The stoppage was probably best timed for Truex and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team.  Truex led a scant 15 laps in those first four events.  Qualifying was way off with a 16.8 average start position.  He had two DNF's (Daytona and Phoenix) and two subpar finishes at Las Vegas and Fontana.  This driver and team needed a timeout and the racing gods provided one.  It seems the departure of long-time crew chief Cole Pearn cut far deeper than we would have thought.  A slow start was almost inevitable, but this was borderline disastrous had their not been a stoppage in racing.  Hopefully, Truex and crew chief James Small spent a lot of time together getting on the same page during the shutdown.    

William Byron – We had very high hopes for Byron coming into the 2020 season, and unfortunately he stumbled out of the gates to start the year.  The qualifying efforts have been off a bit, the speed to lead laps has not been present, and the adjustments to improve during races has not materialized.  It's all led to just one Top-10 and two Top-15 finishes and a lowly 21.8 average finish across the first four races.  The bright side is that Byron earned that one Top 10 in the race right before the break with a hard-fought 10th-place finish at Phoenix.  The young Hendrick Motorsports driver has dominating the iRacing circuit since the shutdown, but we know he's eager to get back inside a real race car.        

Erik Jones – The young Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been terribly invisible through the first four events of 2020.  Both qualifying and finishing have been way off, and Jones hasn't had the speed to lead a single lap thus far.  He did grab a Top-10 finish at Fontana, but has failed to crack the Top 15 in the other three events.  Jones sits a distant 20th-place in the driver standings, and he's looking to find some answers.  Toyota teams in general have been down to start the season, but Jones has been worse than the norm.  The No. 20 team surely spent a good portion of the layoff looking for some answers.  Jones won last season's Darlington race, so that's a bit of good news for this driver and team in the return to action.

Christopher Bell – The Rookie of the Year candidate has had a disastrous start to the season.  The new Leavine Family Racing driver has two DNF's and all four finishes outside the Top 20 in his opening four races of this season.  The stoppage to racing was well-timed for the No. 95 team.  The break has allowed Bell to spend some time with crew chief Jason Ratcliff and to hopefully craft a strategy out of this slow start.  The LFR team is a satellite Joe Gibbs Racing team, so you know the equipment and technical support are top notch.  The ability to rebound should be ample, and Bell's talent is beyond question.  This driver and team make a good buy-low candidate in season-long league, and a driver to potentially target if they heat up after the break in DFS and salary cap leagues.