INDIANAPOLIS — NASCAR is coming back. We already knew that though. That was announced last week. Last Thursday, the NASCAR Cup Series was announced that they will hold four races in a 10 day span beginning next Sunday at the Darlington Raceway. Then, NASCAR will come back to Darlington on Wednesday May 20 and follow that up with the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24 and another race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 27.

On top of that, NASCAR isn’t taking away the Southern 500 from Darlington either, which means that’s three newly added races to the schedule. NASCAR, isn’t going to run 39 races this year, so with three added, three had to go. Now, we know which three.

Speedway Motorsports, Sonoma Raceway and NASCAR today announced the cancellation of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at Sonoma Raceway, originally scheduled for June 12-14, 2020.

Sonoma Raceway has worked closely with NASCAR since the outset of the pandemic-related restrictions to find an alternate date for the wine country event, but a workable time when the series could return to the West Coast given the ongoing uncertainty around large events in California could not be confirmed.

A substitute for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 will be held without spectators at Speedway Motorsports-owned Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 27; the race will be televised on FS1 at 5 p.m. (Pacific). This marks the first time the NASCAR event in Sonoma has been cancelled or rescheduled since its inaugural visit in 1989. NASCAR will return to Sonoma Raceway in 2021.

“We work all year for this event, so this is a huge disappointment for us, for our fans and our sponsors, but we realize it’s part of a larger challenge facing our nation and everyone in the live events business,” said Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president and general manager. “We are excited that NASCAR is coming back to broadcast television and are ready to support the upcoming events at our Speedway Motorsports tracks. We look forward to NASCAR’s return to Sonoma in 2021.”

Toyota/Save Mart 350 weekend ticket holders on file with Sonoma Raceway may choose to receive an event credit for the full amount paid plus an additional 20% or receive a full refund of their purchase price. The 120% credit can be applied toward admissions, including, but not limited to, tickets, camping, fan hospitality and pre-race passes for a NASCAR-sanctioned event during the 2020 or 2021 seasons at any Speedway Motorsports-owned track, including the 2021 NASCAR event in Sonoma.

Fans who have purchased tickets for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 should complete the exchange request form within 30 days at www.sonomaraceway.com/nascar-exchange to start the ticket exchange process.

Another track off the schedule is the Chicagoland Speedway. Illinois, like California, has a large outbreak and can’t hold a race there on their original weekend. So, Chicagoland is canceled for 2020 too.

That left one race and that race is at the Richmond Raceway. But, it’s just one race and that’s the spring race weekend being officially canceled as part of the revised NASCAR schedule. The spring race weekend originally scheduled for April 17-19 had been postponed on March 17 as a result to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NASCAR and Richmond have worked closely with public health officials, medical experts and state and federal officials throughout the development of a realigned NASCAR schedule to ensure the safety of competitors, staff, and the local community. Richmond’s spring NASCAR Cup Series race has been realigned to Darlington as part of NASCAR’s efforts to reschedule all points races for all national series events for the current season. Richmond’s NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race remains postponed for a future rescheduled date.

“As a sport, we continue to be united in the best interests of the safety and well-being of our fans, competitors, stakeholders, and track personnel,” said Richmond President Dennis Bickmeier. “There will be brighter and healthier days ahead in the greater Richmond region when NASCAR returns to Richmond Raceway for the NASCAR Playoff Race Weekend on Sept. 11-12. We look forward to NASCAR’s best getting back on the track at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, May 17 as we launch a new countdown to the return of racing in RVA this fall.”

Ticketholders for the Richmond spring NASCAR Cup Series race may elect to receive a credit for the full amount plus an additional 20% of the total amount paid to apply towards future race events, including, but not limited to, grandstand seating, camping, fan hospitality, and FanGrounds passes. The 120% event credit can be used in a single transaction during the remainder of the 2020 season and entire 2021 season for a NASCAR sanctioned event at any NASCAR-owned tracks, subject to availability. For additional details or other options, fans can visit richmondraceway.com/assistance.

Virginia issued their new plans this past Monday and part of that would make it difficult to hold a race inside of the Commonwealth prior to July 13. Now, we can see the effects of that.

Two of the three races taken off are owned by NASCAR, so it’s a wash for the added races since two of those three, both being at Darlington, are owned by NASCAR too.