NASCAR, Pocono Raceway officials outline 2020 Doubleheader format

NASCAR and Pocono Raceway officials announced on Saturday the finer details of next year’s inaugural venture into a doubleheader set for June 26-28.

Both Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races are tentatively scheduled for 350-miles (or 140 laps around the 2.5-mile oval) with the Saturday race’s length subject to change. Both the Xfinity Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series will run on Friday and Sunday with the ARCA Menards Series running on Thursday.

“One of our prominent drivers was the original champion of that concept,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior executive vice president of competition. “We looked at each other and said, ‘Hmm, I’m not sure everyone will buy into it.’ Actually, everybody did. It was pretty universally accepted as a cool way to go, and something we thought would put on a good show.”

Saturday’s race lineup will be determined by a normal Busch Pole Qualifying session to be held on Friday June 26. The order for Sunday’s round will be set by inserting the lead lap finishers in the first race, with cars off the lead lap starting behind them.

Teams must use the same car for both races with necessary measures in place to determine the use of a backup car. Scott Miller, NASCAR senior executive vice president of competition, indicated that teams are allowed to perform general maintenance including changing valve springs and repairing minor damage.

Backup cars will be allowed subject to NASCAR approval.

“We’re certainly going to be lenient in a situation like this and being as flexible as we can with the teams,” Miller said. “It’s not out of the question they could crash Saturday and bring a fully prepared car here Sunday morning. It would be a team by team basis of how they wanted to handle a crisis situation.”

Here’s the tentative schedule for the weekend:

           –Thursday, June 25: ARCA series race (80 laps, 200 miles).

           –Friday, June 26: Practice and qualifying for Cup (Race I) and the Gander Outdoor Truck Series.

          –Saturday, June 27: Xfinity practice, truck race (80 laps, 200 miles), Cup Race I (TBD distance but likely around 350 miles)

          –Sunday, June 28: Xfinity qualifying, Xfinity race (90 laps, 225 miles), Cup Race II (140 laps, 350 miles)