USA Today via Reuters
Aug 29, 2020; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kurt Busch (1) and NASCAR Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr. (19) lead the field to the green flag to start the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
USA Today via Reuters
Aug 29, 2020; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kurt Busch (1) and NASCAR Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr. (19) lead the field to the green flag to start the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
The 2021 NASCAR calendar is officially unveiled, but the sport had to consider the ongoing COVID-19 crisis while creating it. Owing to the health crisis, the sport had to sacrifice practice and qualifying and shorten events to just one day.
According to Executive Vice President Steve O’Donnell, he would love for the fans to see practice and qualifying again. However, he acknowledged that 2021 still has a massive question mark looming over its head. So NASCAR and the teams have been working together to improve efficiency.
It is also worth noting that the teams are keen to focus on the Gen 2 car that will debut in 2022. The good news is that he confirmed that practice and qualifying won’t be completely absent. The drivers and teams will only get this opportunity at brand new tracks.
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Steve O’Donnell says he wants race fans to see practice and qualifying, but next year will see 28 1-day Cup shows without practice and qualifying because of the unknowns as well as teams working toward the Next Gen car in 2022: pic.twitter.com/0xV1e5WzyM
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 30, 2020
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On which tracks will the NASCAR drivers have practice and qualifying sessions?
O’Donnell confirmed that there will be quite a few tracks like Daytona during the 500. He also mentioned the Bristol dirt track, the Coke 600, Nashville, COTA, Road America, Indianapolis, and Phoenix. All of these tracks will have practice and qualifying sessions.
With regards to the other tracks, at least 28 1-day Cup shows will kick off without practice and qualifying. He also mentioned that NASCAR plans to take advantage of what it learned from earlier this year. He even spoke about the prospect of online racing, as it helps engage the fans more than usual.
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He said to MRN’s Woody Cain, “Do some things that put the fans behind the scenes and hopefully bring that access to them. Some virtual, but as much as we can, deliver on some of the things we learned throughout the 2020 season.”
Of course, NASCAR has to focus on finishing off the 2020 season before turning towards 2021. There is some concern since the Gen 2 car is new territory for a majority of drivers. The lack of practice and qualifying will not serve them well in terms of trying to acquire as much data as possible.
