Northern California raceway faces ‘huge disappointment’ for the second time in a week
For the second time in less than a week, a prominent Northern California raceway has altered its schedule involving a major auto racing event.
Sonoma Raceway on Friday announced the Toyota/Save Mart 350, one of NASCAR’s few road course races each season, has been canceled for 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to raceway officials, this is the event’s first cancellation or reschedule since NASCAR began appearing there in 1989. Sonoma is expected to host the event next year.
Originally scheduled for June 12-14, a substitute race is now slated for Charlotte on May 27. It will run without fans present and air on Fox Sports 1.
“We work all year for this event, so this is a huge disappointment for us, for our fans and our sponsors, but we realize it’s part of a larger challenge facing our nation and everyone in the live events business,” Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president and general manager, said in a statement. “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.”
Refund and credit information can be found at sonomaraceway.com.
Friday’s announcement comes days after the National Hot Rod Association and Sonoma Raceway announced the NHRA Sonoma Nationals Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event, scheduled for July 24-26, has been postponed. A reschedule date has not been set.
In all, three NASCAR races have been moved to the Carolinas, including Cup Series events in Chicago and Richmond. NASCAR, which paused its season in March due to coronavirus concerns, will resume its schedule May 17 at Darlington Raceway.
“Due to the current pandemic, NASCAR has faced several difficult decisions, including realigning race dates from several race tracks,” NASCAR said in a statement. “These decisions were made following thorough collaboration with local and state government officials from across the country, including the areas of the affected race tracks. We thank all our fans for their support, and we look forward to our return to racing.”