NASCAR returns to Homestead this weekend. Here’s what you need to know
NASCAR returns to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend and gives South Florida its first live professional sporting event since the coronavirus pandemic put sports on hold three months ago.
Four races, highlighted by the Dixie Vodka 400, will take place at the race track. There will be two each on Saturday and Sunday as NASCAR’s three racing series — the Cup Series, the Xfinity Series and the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series — continue to make up for the two months of racing lost due to COVID-19. The races in Homestead were originally supposed to take place March 20-22.
Here’s what you need to know heading into the weekend.
How to watch
Saturday begins with the first of two NASCAR Xfinity Series races. The 167-lap, 250-mile race starts at 3:30 p.m. on Fox. The Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race, which is 134 laps and 201 miles, will serve as the nightcap. It’s scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start on Fox Sports 1.
The second 250-mile Xfinity Series race will take place at noon Sunday on Fox Sports 1. The NASCAR Dixie Vodka 400 closes out the quartet of races. The 267-lap race begins at 3:30 p.m. on Fox.
Select fans allowed
The Dixie Vodka 400 will be the first NASCAR race to allow people in the grandstands since the sport resumed on May 17. Up to 1,000 South Florida service members and their families will be honorary guests for Sunday’s race and will represent the Homestead Air Reserve Base and U.S. Southern Command in Doral.
No fans are allowed at the Xfinity Series or truck series races.
All guests attending the race will be screened before entering, required to wear face coverings and maintain 6 feet social distancing. They also will not have access to the infield, among other revised operational protocols.
“The race day experience is going to change,” NASCAR executive vice president Daryl Wolfe said. “The world has changed for a lot of reasons. That’s the reason we’re starting small, being very measured in our approach. Race fans, we know how much they enjoy the race day experience. We love that they’re on track and at the track and enjoying the best racing on the planet, but we also recognize the race day experience is going to change. So whether we supply PPE to guests that come in, have water available, concession stands will be open, adjusting procedures based on what we learn. We’re all going into this in a very measured approach. The race day experience will be different. It’s just different times. Fans will have to adjust to that. We will have to adjust on how we’re addressing these issues for fans. We think we have a very, very good plan in place, very detailed plan.”
Banning Confederate flag a ‘huge, pivotal moment’
NASCAR on Wednesday announced that it is banning the display of the Confederate flag from all of its events and properties.
“The presence of the confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry,” NASCAR said in a statement. “Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special.”
Bubba Wallace, the lone full-time black driver on any of NASCAR’s three national series, commended the announcement prior to Wednesday night’s race Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. Wallace on Monday had called on NASCAR to ban the confederate flag.
“Props to NASCAR and everybody involved,” Wallace, whose No. 43 Chevrolet Camero featured a Black Lives Matter paint scheme on Wednesday, told Fox Sports 1, which broadcast the race. “[NASCAR president Steve] Phelps and I have been in contact a lot, just trying to figure out what steps are next, and that was a huge, pivotal moment. A lot of backlash for the sport, but it creates doors and allows the community to come together as one. And that’s what the real mission is here.”
A slew of NASCAR’s top drivers have shown their support of the movement, which has come amid social unrest around the globe following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, on May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer drove a knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes while he was face down on the ground.
More than 20 NASCAR drivers past and present put together a video on Sunday before the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 in Atlanta saying they can no longer be silent in the face of racism and that they are ready to listen and learn.
“I was just really proud of the drivers who got involved,” seven-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Jimmie Johnson said. “Honestly proud of NASCAR and what they did, but it’s been a personal journey on a much deeper level this week for me to listen and learn. As a lot of us drivers started chatting about the week and experience and a lot of this was led by Bubba. Really have to give him a ton of credit and Ty Dillon. The accountability that those two really put on the garage area ... it made a difference, and I think that resonated with a lot of people. I spent a lot of time listening and learning this week, and that message rang clear with many of my other driver friends, and we kind of found that message, and that was the message that made it into the video.”
Kyle Busch added: “I think you’re seeing a lot more people be a lot more proactive in these issues in the recent weeks of things happening. As far as all the other drivers and us all getting together and just having a say, we wanted to put out a powerful statement and a message, and so I feel like we all did that together with NASCAR, and went well from all of our standpoints, so we’re happy to be able to do that and show our support to the black community.”
The drivers to know
Kevin Harvick, one of four drivers with multiple wins this season, is the NASCAR Cup Series points leader heading into Sunday’s race with 452 through 11 races. The rest of the top 10 include Joey Logano (424 points, two wins), Chase Elliott (405 points, 2 wins), Martin Truex Jr. (381 points, one win), Brad Keselowski (380 points, two wins), Ryan Blaney (361 points), Alex Bowman (352 points, one win), Denny Hamlin (335 points, two wins), Kyle Busch (326 points) and Kurt Busch (318 points).
Chase Briscoe and Noah Gragson are the top-two drivers in the Xfinity Series with 340 and 336 points, respectively, after eight races. Each has two wins this season.
Austin Hill leads the trucks series standings with 163 points through four races heading into the weekend.
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