NASCAR will be returning to racing on Sunday, May 17, at Darlington Raceway.

This comes after NASCAR has been holding races on the virtual racing platform “iRACING” since March 22, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

NASCAR will be one of the first sports to resume without fans in the stands. The decision comes after North Carolina governor Roy Cooper deemed racing an essential business. However, normal operations will undergo many changes to ensure short-term and long-term health among racing teams.

NASCAR will keep workspaces separated unless absolutely necessary, and groups of people who work closely will have little to no interaction with other groups. Additionally, haulers and race cars will have an open space of six feet minimum between them, and those spaces must remain clear.

For Darlington, the Cup garage and motor coach lot in Turn 3 will be the new “garage.” Twenty haulers will be in the traditional Cup garage, and the balance of the field will be in the motor coach lot. Inspection of vehicles will also correspond with the order in which teams enter the garage: as soon as a team enters, it would unload the car and proceed to inspection.

To make arrangements to race again, NASCAR has changed their schedule for this season. The updated schedule has two installments.

“As we prepare for our return to racing at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, the industry has been diligent in building the return-to-racing schedule,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “We are eager to expand our schedule while continuing to work closely with the local governments in each of the areas we will visit. We thank the many government officials for their guidance, as we share the same goal in our return – the safety for our competitors and the communities in which we race.”

As of right now, the events originally scheduled for Richmond Raceway on May 20, Sonoma Raceway on June 14 and Chicagoland Speedway on June 21 have all been cancelled due to the schedule changes. However, all three events are currently expected to return for the 2021 season.

For all of NASCAR’s series of competition, there will no longer be practice or qualifying rounds for all races, except at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24. The starting order will be drawn at random for each event.

Despite having no fans in the stands, NASCAR hopes for success in the ratings. The ratings also might see a boost because leagues such as MLB, the NHL and the NBA – which normally dominate ratings at this time of the year – will not be playing due to COVID-19.

As for the racing itself, the drivers have been anxious to get back into the seat of a race car for quite some time now. Becoming the first winner of an in-person race since March 8 will carry extra emotion, and the driver will certainly be remembered for it.

Some key storylines before the green flag waves again include Matt Kenseth making his first start since November 18, 2019 in the #42 car, replacing Kyle Larson. Ryan Newman will be back inside of the #6 machine for Roush Fenway Racing after he was hospitalized due to his Daytona 500 crash on February 16. Both drivers have received “playoff waivers,” making them eligible to compete for a championship this season.

There were only four races completed prior to the stoppage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The winners were Denny Hamlin with two wins, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman.

Over the seven virtual races held in the NASCAR Pro Invitational Series, William Byron, driver of the #24 car, leads the field with three wins. He looks to continue his success and get his first win in real life at Darlington. Erik Jones was the winner of The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway last year.

NASCAR and all of the drivers competing in the race on Sunday will honor various healthcare workers. Through a collaboration between NASCAR, FOX Sports and the race teams, each driver’s name will be replaced above the driver-side window with the name of an individual healthcare worker currently battling the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, The Real Heroes Project logo will be displayed on the side panel of each race car.

The healthcare workers honored on the cars are selected in part by local FOX affiliates from cities across the country. They will serve as grand marshals for The Real Heroes 400 and appear in an on-air mosaic to simultaneously give the command for drivers to start their engines.

Although it may be strange watching the race at home and without fans in the stands, NASCAR has done its part in showing their appreciation for the front-line heroes and healthcare workers that have made these races possible.

Let’s go racing again.

Photo courtesy of Motor Authority