2020 NASCAR Cup Series (Simpsonverse)
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series is the 72nd season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 49th season for the modern-era Cup Series. The season began at Road America, with the Texaco 250, then at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash and its qualifier, the Gatorade Duel qualifying races and the 62nd running of the Daytona 500. The season will end with the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on December 14, 2020. Adam Petty enters as the defending series champion.
This season was scheduled to be the final year for the Strictly Stock Car II, with the Strictly Stock Car III debuting in 2021. However, when the coronavirus pandemic postponed all NASCAR racing (and therefore, testing) until the month of May, the sanctioning body announced that the debut of the car would be pushed back a year to 2022.
This is the final season for part-timer Brendan Gaughan, along with veterans Blaise Alexander and Jimmie Johnson. This is also the first Cup Series season without Jamie McMurray since 2001 and Paul Menard since 2004.
When the season was put on hold due to the coronavirus, drivers from all NASCAR series, including most Cup Series drivers, participated in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series during that time.
Teams and drivers
Complete schedule
| Manufacturer | Team | No. | Race driver | Crew chief | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMW | Germain Racing | 13 | Casey Mears | Matt Borland | M3 |
| Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | 01 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Tony Eury Sr. | Malibu |
| 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Matt McCall | |||
| 8 | Noah Gragson (R) | Tony Eury Jr. | |||
| 15 | Alex Bowman | Bruce Cook | |||
| 81 | Daniel Hemric | Kevin Hamlin | |||
| Hendrick Motorsports | 9 | Chase Elliott | Alan Gustafson | Camaro ZL1 1LE | |
| 24 | William Byron | Chad Knaus | |||
| 25 | Brad Keselowski | Greg Ives | |||
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Cliff Daniels | |||
| 84 | Landon Cassill | Lance McGrew | |||
| Premium Motorsports | 49 | Garrett Smithley (R) | Pat Tryson | 2019 Camaro ZL1 | |
| Richard Childress Racing | 3 | Austin Dillon | Justin Alexander | Malibu | |
| 30 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Luke Lambert | |||
| 33 | Ty Dillon | Gil Martin | |||
| Spire Motorsports | 87 | Reed Sorenson 4 | Tommy Baldwin Jr. 1 Peter Sospenzo 3 |
2019 Malibu | |
| TBA 47 | |||||
| Dodge | Chip Ganassi Racing | 40 | Bryan Clauson | Jeff Vandermoss | Challenger |
| 41 | Brennan Poole | Billy Scott | |||
| 42 | Ross Chastain | Chad Johnston | |||
| JTG Daugherty Racing | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | Brian Pattie | Charger | |
| 59 | Ryan Preece | Trent Owens | |||
| Petty Enterprises | 7 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Kevin Manion | Challenger | |
| 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Jerry Baxter | |||
| 44 | Chad McCumbee | Mark Tudor | |||
| 45 | Adam Petty | Billy Wilburn | |||
| 46 | Austin Petty | Mike Ford | |||
| Ford | Roush Fenway Racing | 6 | Chris Buescher | Luke Lambert | Roush Mustang |
| 17 | Ryan Newman | Scott Graves | |||
| Team Penske | 2 | Blaise Alexander | Jeremy Bullins | Mustang | |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Todd Gordon | |||
| 22 | Joey Logano | Paul Wolfe | |||
| Wood Brothers Racing | 21 | Clint Bowyer | Greg Erwin | Shelby GT500 | |
| Honda | Favre-Orr Racing | 16 | Parker Kligerman | Joey Knuckles | Civic |
| 37 | Regan Smith | Joe Lax | |||
| 61 | Jeb Burton | Tim Steele | |||
| 90 | Johanna Robbins | Darrell Bryant | |||
| Labonte Motorsports | 09 | Justin Allgaier | Jay Guy | Accord | |
| 52 | Michael Annett | Steve Addington | |||
| 53 | Dakoda Armstrong | Jimmy Elledge | |||
| Lincoln | Front Row Motorsports | 34 | Michael McDowell | Drew Blickensderfer | Continental |
| 38 | Hunter Nemechek (R) | Seth Barbour | |||
| Go Fas Racing | 32 | Alex Labbé | Ryan Sparks | ||
| Yates Racing | 28 | Ty Majeski | Todd Parrott | ||
| 88 | Ryan Reed | Kevin Manion | |||
| 96 | Jason Leffler | Larry Carter | |||
| Nissan | Gaunt Brothers Racing | 96 | D.J. Kennington (R) | Phil Gould | Sentra |
| Michael Waltrip Racing | 51 | Clint Bowyer | Dax Gerringer | ||
| 55 | Brett Moffitt | Chad Walter | |||
| Pontiac | Leavine Family Racing | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Mike Wheeler | Firebird |
| StarCom Racing | 05 | Quin Houff | Joe Williams | Grand Prix | |
| Stewart-Haas Racing | 00 | Cole Custer (R) | Mike Shiplett | Grand Prix | |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Rodney Childers | |||
| 10 | Aric Almirola | Johnny Klausmeier | |||
| 14 | Kyle Larson 6 | Mike Bugarewicz | |||
| Matt Kenseth 47 | |||||
| Toyota | Furniture Row Racing | 77 | Christopher Bell (R) | Jason Ratcliff | Camry |
| 78 | Kurt Busch | James Small | |||
| Joe Gibbs Racing | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chris Gabehart | ||
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Adam Stevens | |||
| 19 | Daniel Suárez | Dave Rogers | |||
| 20 | Erik Jones | Chris Gayle | |||
| Ford 3 Chevrolet 1 TBA 32 |
Rick Ware Racing | 56 | Joey Gase 5 | Jason Houghtaling | 2019 Mustang
2019 Camaro |
| TBA 31 | |||||
| 57 | B. J. McLeod 1 | Lee Leslie 1
Mike Hillman Sr. 3 | |||
| J. J. Yeley 3 | |||||
| TBA 32 | |||||
| 36/58 | David Ragan 1 | Derrick Finley 1 | |||
| Joey Gase 3 | Lee Leslie 3 | ||||
| TBA 32 | |||||
| Ford 1 Toyota 6 |
MBM Motorsports | 66 | Timmy Hill | Steve Idol | 2019 Mustang 1 2019 Camry 6 |
Part-time teams
Note:
- Only teams that have officially announced or mentioned that they hope to compete in 2020 are listed.
| Manufacturer | Team | No. | Race driver | Crew chief | Rounds | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet | Beard Motorsports | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Darren Shaw | 4 | Camaro |
| Kaulig Racing | 61 | Justin Haley | Billy Scott | 1 | Malibu | |
| Dodge | Premium Motorsports | 27 | Reed Sorenson | Peter Sospenzo | 1 | Charger |
| Ford | Rick Ware Racing | 54 | J.J. Yeley | Mike Hillman Sr. | 1 | 2019 Mustang |
| Toyota | MBM Motorsports | 49 | Chad Finchum | Doug Richert | 1 | 2019 Camry |
Manufacturer changes
- Nissan will enter NASCAR competition with Gaunt Brothers Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing, fielding the Sentra.
- JTG Daugherty Racing will switch to Dodge, marking the return of the Charger to the Cup Series; the Charger last ran in the Cup Series in 2012, and had been running in the Grand National Series (without factory support until 2017), as well as being the primary Dodge model in the K&N Pro Series and ARCA Racing Series.
- Chevrolet upgraded the Camaro ZL1 to the ZL1 1LE model. The change was made primarily due to the pointed nose of the base ZL1 causing large multicar wrecks at Daytona and Talladega when attempting to push.
Schedule
| No | Race Title | Track | Date | Time (ET) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texaco 250 | Road America, Lake Elkhart, Wisconsin | January 27 | 1:30 p.m. | Fox |
| Busch Clash Qualifier | Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida | February 9 | 12:00 p.m. | CBS Sports Network | |
| Busch Clash | February 10 | 3:00 p.m. | CBS | ||
| Gatorade Duel | February 14 | 7:00 p.m. | CBS Sports Network | ||
| 2 | Daytona 500 | February 18 | 2:30 p.m. | CBS | |
| 3 | Subway 400 | Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina | February 23 | 3:30 p.m. | Fox |
| 4 | Hickory 276 | Hickory Motor Speedway, Hickory, North Carolina | February 29 | 1:30 p.m. | FS1 |
| 5 | Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube | Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada | March 3 | 3:30 p.m. | Fox |
| 6 | Sherwin-Williams 300 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio | March 7 | 1:35 p.m. | Fox |
| 7 | Mansfield 300 | Mansfield Motor Speedway, Mansfield, Ohio | March 9 | 1:00 p.m. | Fox |
| 8 | Eldora Dirt Derby | Eldora Speedway, New Weston, Ohio | March 10 | 3:00 p.m. | Fox |
| 9 | Budweiser 400 | Riverside Speedway, Moreno Valley, California | March 17 | 3:30 p.m. | Fox |
| 10 | Corona 350 | Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City, Mexico | March 24 | 2:00 p.m. | FS1 |
| 11 | Jacob's Grand Prix | Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown, Kent, England | March 31 | 1:15 p.m.
1:30 p.m. |
Fox |
| 12 | O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 | Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas | April 7 | 2:00 p.m. | FS1 |
| 13 | GEICO 500 | Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, Alabama | April 13 | 6:30 p.m. | Fox |
| 14 | Pinky Malinky 400 | Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth, Pennsylvania | April 20 | 5:30 p.m. | FS1
Nickelodeon |
| 15 | STP 500 | Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway, Virginia | April 28 | 2:00 p.m. | Fox |
| 16 | Gander RV 400 | Dover International Speedway, Dover, Delaware | May 6 | 1:45 p.m. | FS1 |
| 17 | Digital Ally 400 | Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas | May 11 | 8:00 p.m. | FS1 |
| NASCAR Open | Oxford Speedway, Oxford, Maine | May 18 | 6:00 p.m. | FS1 | |
| NASCAR All-Star Race | May 18 | 8:00 p.m. | FS1 | ||
| 18 | Myers Brothers 250 | Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem, North Carolina | May 22 | 5:00 p.m. | Fox |
| 19 | World 600 | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | May 26 | 6:00 p.m. | Fox |
| 20 | FireKeepers Casino 400 | Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan | June 2 | 2:00 p.m. | FS1 |
| 21 | Old Spice 400 | World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Madison, Illinois | June 10 | 4:30 p.m. | Fox |
| 22 | McDonald's 400 | Chicago Motor Speedway, Cicero, Illinois | June 22 | 3:00 p.m. | FS1 |
| 23 | Camping World 400 | Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois | June 23 | 2:30 p.m. | MGM |
| 24 | U.S. Cellular 400 | Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa | June 27 | 3:15 p.m. | NBC |
| 25 | BlackBerry 300 | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada | June 30 | 1:00 p.m. | NBC |
| 26 | McCormick 350 | Delaware Speedway, Delaware, Ontario, Canada | July 1 | 3:00 p.m. | NBC |
| Daytona Late Model Classic | Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida | July 5 | 1:00 p.m. | TBS | |
| 27 | Firecracker 400 | July 7 | 7:00 p.m. | MGM | |
| 28 | Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart | Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Kentucky | July 13 | 7:30 p.m. | MGM |
| 29 | Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire | July 21 | 4:15 p.m. | TBS |
| 30 | Gander Outdoors 400 | Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania | July 28 | 2:30 p.m. | MGM |
| 31 | Go Bowling at The Glen | Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York | August 4 | 2:30 p.m. | NBC |
| 32 | Howard Johnson's 400 | Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, Colorado | August 11 | 2:30 p.m. | MGM |
| 33 | Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race | Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee | August 17 | 6:30 p.m. | MGM |
| Circuit City Summer Shootout | Evergreen Speedway, Monroe, Washington | August 21 | 1:00 p.m. | TBS | |
| 34 | Dollar Tree 400 | South Boston Speedway, South Boston, Virginia | August 24 | 3:30 p.m. | NBC |
| 35 | Greenville 200 | Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Easley, South Carolina | August 31 | 1:00 p.m. | NBC |
| 36 | Southern 500 | Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina | September 1 | 7:00 p.m. | MGM |
| 37 | Hoosier Lottery 400 | Lucas Oil Raceway, Brownsburg, Indiana | September 7 | 2:00 p.m. | MGM |
| 38 | Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard | Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana, (Roval) | September 8 | 5:30 p.m. | MGM |
| 39 | Tyson Holly Farms 400 | North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina | September 15 | 7:00 p.m. | MGM |
| 40 | Federated Auto Parts 400 | Richmond Raceway, Richmond, Virginia | September 21 | 7:30 p.m. | TBS |
| 41 | Bank of America Roval 500 | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina, (Roval) | September 29 | 2:00 p.m. | NBC |
| 42 | TNN 420 | Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee | October 6 | 2:30 p.m. | TNN |
| 43 | Nürburgring Grand Prix | Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany | October 13 | 2:00 p.m. | TBS |
| 44 | Metrolina 250 | Metrolina Speedway, Charlotte, North Carolina | October 16 | 1:00 p.m. | TBS |
| 45 | Talladega 500 | Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, Alabama | October 20 | 2:00 p.m. | NBC |
| 46 | TicketGuardian 500 | ISM Raceway, Avondale, Arizona | October 27 | 2:00 p.m. | NBC |
| 47 | Keystone Light 400 | Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisconsin | November 3 | 2:30 p.m. | NBC |
| 48 | Auto Club 400 | Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, California | November 10 | 2:30 p.m. | TBS |
| 49 | Toyota/Save Mart 350 | Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California | November 17 | 3:00 p.m. | TBS |
| 50 | Ford EcoBoost 400 | Homestead-Miami Speedway, Miami, Florida | November 24 | 2:30 p.m. | MGM |
| 51 | Sega 350 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan | December 1 | 2:30 p.m. | MGM |
| 52 | Myrtle Beach 200 | Myrtle Beach Speedway, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina | December 8 | 1:00 p.m. | NBC |
| 53 | Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 | Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia | December 11 | 3:30 p.m. | MGM |
| NASCAR Thunder Christmas Special 100 | Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, Pays de la Loire, France | December 15 | 1:00 p.m. | TBS |
|}Crown Jewel races in bold
- On March 16, 2020, NASCAR announced all race events through May 3 have been postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. CEO Trevor J. Simpson ultimately decided to run doubleheaders later in the season. To facilitate this, he ordered Talladega Superspeedway to install a lighting system so the GEICO 500 could be run after the Sugarland Shine 250 Truck Series race, then run the 1000Bulbs.com 500 the next day.
- On April 30, 2020, it was announced that racing would recommence on May 17. Races will be run at Darlington, Charlotte, and North Wilkesboro, and will see the revival of the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, TranSouth 500 (as the Bugs Bunny 500, due to the character's 80th anniversary, as well as the 90th anniversary of the Looney Tunes franchise, being celebrated in 2020), Bank of America 500, and First Union 400 (as the Daffy Duck 400). Consideration is also being given for running races at Daytona, Homestead, and New Smyrna (which has never hosted a NASCAR race outside of the Sears All-American Racing Series). All races will be held without fans and, except for the World 600, the field will be set by owners points instead of heat races. To facilitate this, the U.S. Cellular 400 and Camping World 400 were cancelled, and it was also announced that the Toyota Owners 400 would not be made up; further cancellations may follow.
| No. | Race Title | Track | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texaco 250 | Road America, Lake Elkhart | Fox |
| Busch Clash | Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach | CBS Sports Network | |
| Gatorade Duels | CBS Sports Network | ||
| 2 | Daytona 500 | CBS | |
| 3 | Subway 400 | Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina | Fox |
| 4 | Hickory 276 | Hickory Motor Speedway, Hickory, North Carolina | FS1 |
| 5 | Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube | Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada | Fox |
| 6 | Ticket Guardian 500 | Phoenix Speedway, Avondale | Fox |
| 7 | Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 | Darlington Speedway, Darlington | MGM |
| 8 | Bugs Bunny 500 | FS1 | |
| 9 | World 600 | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Charlotte | MGM |
| 10 | Bank of America 500 | FS1 | |
| 11 | Daffy Duck 400 | North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro | MGM |
| Race Title | Track | TV |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota Owners 400 | Richmond Raceway, Richmond | MGM |
| U.S. Cellular 400 | Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa | NBC |
| Camping World 400 | Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet | MGM |
Results
| No | Race Title | Pole position | Most laps led | Winner | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texaco 250 | Blaise Alexander | Jeffrey Earnhardt | William Byron | Chevrolet Camaro |
| Busch Clash Qualifier | Ryan Preece | Ross Chastain | Christopher Bell | Toyota Camry | |
| Busch Clash | Ryan Newman | Brad Keselowski | Erik Jones | Toyota Camry | |
| Gatorade Duel #1 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Brad Keselowski | Adam Petty | Plymouth Superbird | |
| Gatorade Duel #2 | Chase Elliott | Austin Dillon | Blaise Alexander | Ford Mustang | |
| 2 | Daytona 500 | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | Denny Hamlin | Ryan Newman | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | Subway 400 | Kyle Busch | Alex Bowman | Adam Petty | Plymouth Superbird |
| 4 | Hickory 276 | Matt DiBenedetto | Chase Elliott | Blaise Alexander | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube | Kyle Larson | Ryan Blaney | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 6 | Ticket Guardian 500 | ||||
| 7 | Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 | ||||
| 8 | Bugs Bunny 500 | ||||
| 9 | Coca-Cola 600 | ||||
| 10 | Bank of America 500 | ||||
| 11 | Daffy Duck 400 | ||||
| 12 | O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 | ||||
| 13 | GEICO 500 | ||||
| 14 | Pinky Malinky 400 | ||||
| 15 | STP 500 | ||||
| 16 | Gander RV 400 | ||||
| 17 | Digital Ally 400 | ||||
| NASCAR Open | |||||
| NASCAR All-Star Race | |||||
| 18 | Myers Brothers 250 | ||||
| 19 | World 600 | ||||
| 20 | FireKeepers Casino 400 | ||||
| 21 | Old Spice 400 | ||||
| 22 | McDonald's 400 | ||||
| 23 | SpongeBob SquarePants 400 presented by Camping World | ||||
| 24 | U.S. Cellular 400 | ||||
| 25 | BlackBerry 300 | ||||
| 26 | McCormick 350 | ||||
| Daytona Late Model Classic | |||||
| 27 | Firecracker 400 | ||||
| 28 | Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart | ||||
| 29 | Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 | ||||
| 30 | Gander Outdoors 400 | ||||
| 31 | Go Bowling at The Glen | ||||
| 32 | Howard Johnson's 400 | ||||
| 33 | Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race | ||||
| Circuit City Summer Shootout | |||||
| 34 | Dollar Tree 400 | ||||
| 35 | Greenville 200 | ||||
| 36 | Southern 500 | ||||
| 37 | Hoosier Lottery 400 | ||||
| 38 | Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard | ||||
| 39 | Tyson Holly Farms 400 | ||||
| 40 | Federated Auto Parts 400 | ||||
| 41 | Bank of America Roval 500 | ||||
| 42 | TNN 420 | ||||
| 43 | Federated Auto Parts 400 | ||||
| 44 | Metrolina 250 | ||||
| 45 | Talladega 500 | ||||
| 46 | TicketGuardian 500 | ||||
| 47 | Keystone Light 400 | ||||
| 48 | Auto Club 400 | ||||
| 49 | Toyota/Save Mart 350 | ||||
| 50 | Ford EcoBoost 400 | ||||
| 51 | Sega 350 | ||||
| 52 | Myrtle Beach 200 | ||||
| 53 | Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 | ||||
| NASCAR Thunder Christmas Special 100 |