NASCAR News: Organisers announce which races won't feature on revised calendar

The current NASCAR season has been on forced hiatus since March, though is due to get going again on 17 May with a return to action at Darlington as part of a string of races in North and South Carolina to be held behind closed doors this month.

Sonoma Raceway has hosted a road course race on the NASCAR calendar every year since 1989, but the 2020 Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup Series race weekend planned for June 12-14 has been called off.

Charlotte Motor Speedway's 27 May race will serve as a substitute on the calendar, another track owned by SMI.

NASCAR intends to return to Sonoma in 2021.

"We work all year for this event, so this is a huge disappointment for us, for our fans and our sponsors, but we realise it's part of a larger challenge facing our nation and everyone in the live events business," said Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president and general manager.

"We are excited that NASCAR is coming back to broadcast television and are ready to support the upcoming events at our Speedway Motorsports tracks.

"We look forward to NASCAR's return to Sonoma in 2021."

Richmond Raceway has also lost its spring race, which was already postponed due to the pandemic.

Additionally, Chicagoland Speedway has lost its lone race weekend on the schedule (18-21 June).

The track spent seven years as the playoff opener before being shifted earlier in the season in 2018.

The intermediate speedway has had a place on the schedule every year since 2001.

"The difficult decision to realign our race events was a combination of where we fell on the schedule, proximity to NASCAR's teams and the safety and well-being of our community and larger NASCAR industry," said Chicagoland President Scott Paddock.

"We will miss the roar of the engines at Chicagoland Speedway this season, but we will be rooting for and supporting our NASCAR colleagues at Darlington Raceway as competition returns on Sunday, 17 May."