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Coronavirus: NASCAR eliminates practices or qualifiers for rest of season

By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

NASCAR scraps practices, qualifying NASCAR said Tuesday it was discontinuing practices and qualifying for the rest of the 2020 season. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

The rest of the NASCAR season will be held without practices or qualifying sessions, racing officials said Tuesday.

The move by the auto racing series is part of an effort to limit contact among teams, officials and safety workers due to the coronavirus, NASCAR.com reported. Safeguards, including screenings at the circuit’s tracks and limited team rosters, have been in place since NASCAR returned to the track in May after a two-month layoff.

“Following discussions with our race teams and the broader industry, NASCAR will continue to conduct its race weekends without practice and qualifying for the remainder of the 2020 season in all three national series,” Scott Miller, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, said in a statement. “The current format has worked well in addressing several challenges during our return to racing. Most importantly, we have seen competitive racing week-to-week. NASCAR will adjust the starting lineup draw procedure for the Playoff races, and will announce the new process at a later date.”

Only two national series events have had practices or qualifying since NASCAR returned to the track. The Cup Series had same-day qualifying before the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24, and the Xfinity Series had two practice sessions before its first race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 4, NBC Sports reported.

On Monday, Miller told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that practice and qualifying would likely be suspended at least through events scheduled through the weekend of Aug. 21-23 at Dover International Speedway.

“To have practice and qualifying, we have to have more people on the rosters,” Miller said. “There’s a lot more things that need to go on in the garage area, so very much more difficult to execute all the safety protocols with the COVID-19. To get back to anything different than what we’re doing now is really going to take a significant change in sort of the landscape on COVID-19.”

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