America has been affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic with schools closed for the remainder of the year and the postponement of sports. But good news: it was announced on May 1, that the sport of auto racing is set to return. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) made the announcement after previously running IRacing events, which are computerized simulation races, giving sports fans a sign of hope that a return was in the future. NASCAR will resume the Monster Energy Cup Series season May 17. at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.

The 2020 season began at Daytona International Speedway with the 62nd running of the Daytona 500 Feb. 16. The race began on a sunny Sunday afternoon with President Donald Trump serving as the Grand Marshal. It began to rain 30 laps into the race, which ultimately postponed the race till the next day on Monday, Feb. 17.

The race resulted in a last-lap wreck of Ryan Newman who crashed into the wall and proceeded to flip over while leading, resulting in Denny Hamlin taking the victory and completing the second closest finish in a Daytona 500. While Newman was down, his car was on fire and he was unable to get out on his own. He was then rushed to a nearby hospital where it was announced he was in serious conditions. Days later it was known he was stable and would make a full recovery. Newman was cleared last Wednesday, and he is now eligible to compete for the 2020 Nascar Championship.

According to an article published by Yahoo Sports, Nascar may be the most-watched sport this year with people tuning in even if they don’t watch it. 

“I think we’re going to have millions of fans that will tune in who otherwise wouldn’t who will see how great our sport is,” President Steve Phelps said.

NASCAR will run 5 more races within the next 7 days, and with hopes of having other sports return even if that means no fans. Nascar will race the next three races at Darlington and Charlotte. To view the full season schedule visit SportingNewscom. While that means NASCAR is one of the sports to return to regular competition they will be doing so without fans. Ultimately America could see one part of normal society be brought back.