Pocono Raceway in conjunction with NASCAR announced details for the doubleheader Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event to be held at the raceway in 2020.
MENCS Cup series competitors will qualify on Friday utilizing the standard single-car qualifying format. This qualifying round will set the field for MENCS Race No. 1 to be held on Saturday of race weekend. Impound rules will be in effect.
For Race No. 2 on Sunday, all drivers who finish on the lead lap will invert their finishing order for the starting grid.
MENCS teams will use the same car for both races. Current plans are for both MENCS races to be 350 miles in length, however, there is some discussion regarding the distance for Race No. 1 that could possibly lead to changes.
The doubleheader race weekend wil also includes NASCAR Xfinity series, NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, and ARCA events.
The current race weekend schedule is as follows:
2020 Pocono Raceway NASCAR Doubleheader Schedule (tentative):
Thursday, June 25
Camping Will Begin at 12 Noon ET for race fans.
- AMS Practice & Qualifying
- General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200 AMS Race (80 Laps/ 200 Miles)
Friday, June 26
- NASCAR Cup Series Practice
- NGOTS Practice & Qualifying
- NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – Single Car, Impound & Field Invert For Second Race
Saturday, June 27
- NXS Practice
- NGOTS Race (80 Laps/200 Miles)
- NASCAR Cup Series Race No. 1 (TBD Laps/TBD Miles)
Sunday, June 28
- NXS Qualifying
- NXS Race (90 Laps / 225 Miles)
- NASCAR Cup Series Race No. 2 (140 Laps/350 Miles)
So what happens if you have non-repairable damage or blow a motor in the first (Saturday) race? Are you unable to compete in the Sunday race? If so, that could lead to a very boring Saturday race since one could lose a full race of points.
Kevin
Thanks for reading. I’m sure there is a backup car/engine process in place. However, a concern by some has been that even though they can utilize a backup car/engine, teams generally do not want to unless absolutely necessary (understandably so). Therefore, it may make them more risk averse for Saturday leading a less than stellar race.