NASCAR postpones Homestead, the last major South Florida sporting event scheduled in March
The last major sporting event scheduled for South Florida has been postponed because of COVID-19. NASCAR announced Friday it will not run races the next two weeks, including its three races scheduled for Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend.
NASCAR’s announcement comes less than 24 hours after the association announced plans to still run the races in Atlanta and Homestead, only without any fans in attendance. Nearly every other major sports league, however, suspended play or operations Thursday. A day later, NASCAR is following suit and postponing events through next weekend, including the Dixie Vodka 400 in Homestead on March 22.
“NASCAR has decided to postpone the race events at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend and Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend,” NASCAR said in a statement. “We believe this decision is in the best interest of the safety and well-being of our fans, competitors, officials and everyone associated with our sport. We will continue to monitor this dynamic situation as we assess future race events.”
NASCAR’s annual trip to South Florida comes far earlier on the schedule this year. In past years, Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted the tour’s season-ending races, but Homestead’s spot on the calendar moved up to March this season. Homestead-Miami Speedway was scheduled to host a NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race next Friday, a NASCAR Xfinity Series race March 21 and a NASCAR Cup Series race — the Dixie Vodka 400 — on March 22.
This year was scheduled to be the 25-year anniversary celebration of NASCAR races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
On Wednesday, the Miami Heat went on hiatus as part of the NBA’s decision to suspend play following Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert’s positive test for the coronavirus. On Thursday, the Florida Panthers, Miami Marlins and Inter Miami all went on hiatus as part of their leagues’ decisions to suspend play, as did all the Miami Hurricanes’ spring sports as part of an NCAA decision to cancel all remaining winter and spring national championships. The PGA Tour, ATP Tour and WTA Tour also suspended play Thursday — leading the cancellation of the Miami Open — leaving NASCAR as one of the few major holdouts planning to compete without spectators in attendance.
On Friday, NASCAR joined most other major professional sports league in halting play and the association’s annual trip to the Miami metropolitan area was a casualty. While the races were not canceled outright, there is no clarity on when the NASCAR season will resume and whether the races will be able to be made up. Since the weekend in Homestead is no longer championship weekend, NASCAR could opt to cancel the race altogether if the pandemic forces an extended hiatus.
NASCAR and Homestead-Miami Speedway already have a policy in place for those who already purchased tickets to the Homestead races to receive a credit for them. Fans “will receive a credit for the full amount paid towards any admissions including grandstand seating, infield, camping, fan hospitality, pit passes, etc., subject to availability,” according to the refund policy. “The credit can be used for the balance of the 2020 or 2021 seasons for a NASCAR sanctioned event at any NASCAR-owned track.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 12:17 PM.
