2020 World Stock Car Championship

2020 World Stock Car Championship Season
Season
Races	33
Start Date	March 8
End Date	November 29
Awards
Special Event Winners
Icebreaker Sweepstakes:	TBD
Donington Grand Prix:	TBD
Daytona 1776:	TBD
Lime Rock Grand Prix:	TBD
← Previous: 2019	Next: 2021 →

The 2020 World Stock Car Championship is the 71st season of World Stock Car Championship racing and the 52nd of the sport's "modern era". The season began on March 8 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park with the 75th running of The Icebreaker Sweepstakes, and concluded on November 29 in Austin, Texas. The season was heavily-affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the Donington Grand Prix and separation of the Independent's Trophy into a full support series for 2020.

The November 29 finale is the latest the series has concluded in the modern era.

Schedule

Due to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 schedule was changed significantly during the season as detailed below:

Rd Date Race Circuit 1 8 March The Icebreaker Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Thompson, Connecticut 2 10 May Round of Phoenix Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Arizona 3 17 May Round of Virginia Virginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia 4 20 May Round of Martinsville Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia 5 24 May Round of Concord Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Concord, North Carolina 6 31 May Round of North Carolina Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina 7 6 Jun Round of South Carolina Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina 8 14 Jun Round of Tennessee Memphis International Raceway, Memphis, Tennessee 9 21 Jun Round of Nashville Nashville Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee 10 4 July Daytona 1776 Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida 11 8 July Round of Volusia Daytona Grand Prix Course, Daytona Beach, Florida 12 12 July Round of Sebring Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida 13 18 July Round of Fulton Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia 14 22 July Round of Atlanta Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia 15 26 July Round of Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Raceway, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 16 2 August Round of New Hampshire New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire 17 9 August Round of Port Huron Port Huron Dirt Colosseum, Port Huron, Michigan 18 12 August Round of Michigan Silverdome Raceway, Pontiac, Michigan 19 16 August Round of Illinois Shawnee Speedway, Carbondale, Illinois 20 23 August Round of Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Troy Township, Ohio 21 26 August Round of Wisconsin The Milwaukee Mile, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 22 30 August Round of Elkhart Lake Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin 23 5 September Lime Rock Grand Prix Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Connecticut 24 12 September Round of Hartford Hartford Stadium, Hartford, Connecticut 25 20 September Round of Indianapolis Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana 26 27 September Round of Marion Indianapolis Grand Prix Course, Speedway, Indiana 27 11 October Round of Kansas Heartland Park, Topeka, Kansas 28 18 October Round of Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi 29 25 October Round of Jordan King Abdullah II Amman Motordrome, Amman 30 1 November Round of Bahrain Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir 31 8 November Round of South Africa Cape Town Motor Park, Cape Town 32 15 November Round of Brazil Autodromo Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro 33 29 November WSCC Championship Weekend Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas

Legend O Oval Course R Road/Street Course S Special Event

The following races were included on the original calendar, but were cancelled due to the impacts of the pandemic:

Race Circuit Original Date Round of Australia Calder Park Thunderdome, Keilor, Australia April 12 Round of New Zealand Pukekohe Park Raceway, Pukekohe, New Zealand April 19 Round of Japan Hamamatsu Grand Prix Course, Hamamatsu, Japan April 26 Donington Grand Prix Donington Park, Leicestershire May 23 Round of Finland Karjala Raceway, Lappeenranta May 31 Round of Germany Nürburgring, Nürburg June 7 Round of the Czech Republic Brno Circuit, Brno June 14 Round of Italy Streets of Pontremoli, Pontremoli June 21 Round of Colorado Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, Colorado July 19 Round of California Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California July 26 Round of Washington Pierce County Speedway, Lakewood, Washington August 2 Round of Toronto Munro Hamilton Airport Circuit, Hamilton, Ontario August 23 Round of Quebec Circuit Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Quebec September 13 Round of Mexico Autódromo José Gutierrez, Juarez November 8 Round of New York City Streets of Manhattan, New York City November 22

Legend O Oval Course R Road/Street Course S Special Event

Calendar Changes

• Karjala Raceway returns to the schedule to host the Round of Finland in keeping with the event-sharing agreement it has with Göteborgs Motorbana and the Round of Sweden. The race weekend moved to the second weekend of the European tour, swapping places with the event run in France/the Czech Republic.
• The Brno Circuit returns to the schedule to host the Round of the Czech Republic as part of its event-sharing agreement with the Round of France and Nogaro Circuit. The race weekend was swapped with the Round of Finland race weekend to take the fourth spot in the series' European tour.
• Sonoma Raceway returns to host the Round of California as part of its event-sharing agreement with Laguna Seca Raceway.
• The Milwaukee Mile returns to host the Round of Wisconsin as part of its event-sharing agreement with Road America.
• Virginia International Raceway returns to host the Round of Virginia as part of its event-sharing agreement with Martinsville Speedway.
• Circuit of the Americas returns to host the Round of Texas as part of its event-sharing agreement with Houston Superspeedway.

Circuit Changes

• King Abdullah II Amman Motordrome will use the oval circuit for this race in keeping with its contract to alternate between the oval and Grand Prix course annually.

Calendar changes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic

The 2020 championship was significantly disrupted by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the start of the season, Scuderia Benedetti expressed concern about the spread of the virus and its affect on the championship. Due to the team's location in Italy, which at the time had the most severe outbreak outside of China, there was significant concern that the team would not be able to leave the quarantine zone and attend races. Metzger Racing GmbH and Parsonsport shared similar concerns, citing the possibility of more additional outbreaks. Series officials announced that if a team was blocked from attending a race, the race would be postponed. All chartered European teams were able to attend the 2020 Icebreaker Sweepstakes, and remained in the United States for the duration of the season.

The easing of travel restrictions in the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, South Africa, and Brazil allowed for the later scheduling of races in those respective countries. This allowed the series organizers to fulfill the requirements of having one race on three continents (four, in this case: North And South America, Asia, and Africa) to stage a World Championship.

Race Cancellations

All races outside of the continental United States were initially cancelled as a result of the pandemic and travel bans. Several others were cancelled due to policies enacted by the state governments limiting the the size of gatherings for nonessential events.

These included:

• The Pacific Tour, consisting of the rounds of Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, was cancelled as a result of the significant lockdowns in New Zealand and Japan.
• The European tour, including the 48th Donington Grand Prix, was cancelled as a result of the travel ban between the United States and Europe. This marks the first time in its history that the Donington Grand Prix has been cancelled.
• The Rounds of Colorado, California, and Washington were cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.
• The two-race Canadian tour was cancelled due to the closure of the U.S.-Canada border.
• The Round of Mexico was cancelled due to the closure of the U.S.-Mexico border.
• The Round of New York City was cancelled due to the logistics of organizing a street race in Manhattan; the WSCC Championship Weekend was moved to Circuit of the Americas.

Rescheduled Races

Despite initially being cancelled due to travel restrictions, the Rounds of Abu Dhabi and Jordan were later rescheduled for their original dates.

• The Round of Atlanta was scheduled to be run on March 15, but was postponed due to the pandemic and the subsequent air travel ban between the United States and Europe. The race was rescheduled to July 22.
• The Round of North Carolina was scheduled to be run on March 22, but was postponed due to the pandemic and the subsequent air travel ban between the United States and Europe. The race was rescheduled to May 31.
• The Round of Illinois was scheduled to be run on May 3, but was postponed due to the ongoing pandemic. The race would be held on August 16.
• The Round of Indianapolis was scheduled to be run on May 10, but was postponed due to the ongoing pandemic. The race would be held on September 20.
• The Round of Tennessee, originally scheduled to run on July 12, was instead run on June 14 due to the shuffling of the schedule.
• The Round of Wisconsin, originally scheduled for August 9, was run on August 26.
• The Round of Michigan, originally scheduled to be run as a twin race on August 15 and 16, was rescheduled to be run on August 12 as a single event.
• The Round of Pennsylvania, originally scheduled for September 20, was instead held on July 26.
• The Round of South Carolina, originally scheduled for September 26, was held on June 7.
• The Round of Virginia, originally scheduled for October 4, was instead held on May 17.
• The Round of Texas, originally scheduled for November 15, was held as the season finale on November 22.

Returning Races

Several races were revived in order to fill out the schedule and avoid repeating tracks. These races include:

• The Round of Phoenix, last held in 2004; Phoenix International Raceway has been one of the three tracks that hosts winter testing for the World Stock Car Championship since 2007.
• The Round of New Hampshire, last held in 1998, was held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
• The Round of Ohio, last held in 2009, was held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
• The Round of Kansas, last held in 2006, was held at Heartland Motorsports Park.
• The Round of Bahrain, last held in 2010, was held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
• The Round of South Africa, last held in 2014, was held at Cape Town Motor Park.
• The Round of Brazil, last held in 2016, was held at Autodromo Jacarepaguá.

One-off Races

A number of one-off races were scheduled to fill out the calendar; these races include:

• The Round of Martinsville, a second race in the state of Virginia, was held at Martinsville Speedway. Martinsville has previously hosted the Round of Virginia, most recently on odd-numbered years since 2003.
• The Round of Concord, a second race in the state of North Carolina named after the city of Concord, was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, utilizing the track's roval configuration. Charlotte had last hosted a World Stock Car Championship event in 2003, after which the Round of Charlotte was discontinued.
• The Round of Nashville, a second race in the state of Tennessee, was held at the Nashville Fairgrounds.
• The Round of Volusia, a second race at Daytona International Speedway named after Volusia county, utilizing its Grand Prix course layout.
• The Round of Sebring, a third race in Florida, was held at Sebring International Raceway.
• The Round of Fulton, a second race in the Metro-Atlanta area named after nearby Fulton County, was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Atlanta Motor Speedway last hosted the World Stock Car Championship in 1997.
• The Round of Port Huron, a second race in the state of Michigan, was held at the Port Huron Dirt Colosseum, the first dirt race run by the World Stock Car Championship since 1970.
• The Round of Elkhart Lake, a second race in the state of Wisconsin, was held at Road America and named after the nearby town of Elkhart Lake. Road America hosts the Round of Wisconsin in odd-numbered years.
• The Round of Hartford, a third race in the sate of Connecticut, was held at Hartford Stadium.
• The Round of Marion, a second race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was held on its Grand Prix course and named after Marion County.

Teams and Drivers

Chartered Teams

The following teams are granted a full-time charter for the 2020 racing season. These teams are guaranteed an entry for all regular events, and are eligible to enter a third car for the four special events. The third car is also eligible for regular races via the promoter's option.

Entrant	Manufacturer	Tires	Race Drivers			Reserve Drivers
			No.	Driver	Sponsor	No.	Driver	Sponsor
Metzger Racing GmbH	BMW	B	2	TBA	Allianz New Yorker	TBA	TBA	All-Inkl.com
			6	TBA	IHG
Scuderia Benedetti	Ferrari	B	3	Daniel Lang	Shell V-Power	TBA	TBA	Shell V-Power
			5	Sergey Kuznetsov	Shell V-Power
Monster Energy Mercedes AMG Motorsports	Mercedes	M	4	Frank Stafford	Monster Energy Absolute Zero	TBA	TBA	Monster Energy
			8	TBA	Monster Energy
7-11 Motorsports	Nissan	G	7	TBA	7-Eleven	711	TBA	7-Eleven
			11	TBA	7-Eleven
Sun Racing	Audi	B	9	TBA	TBA	19	TBA	TBA
			10	TBA	TBA
Alfa Romeo Racing	Alfa Romeo	M	12	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
			18	TBA	TBA
Skyactiv Motorsports	Mazda	G	13	TBA	Coca Cola	TBA	TBA	TBA
			14	TBA	Renown
Hasegawa Autosport	Toyota	B	15	TBA	Verizon Wireless	TBA	Piper Benjamin	Konica Minolta
			16	TBA	Budweiser Castrol
Team Red Bull	Honda	B	20	TBA	Red Bull	TBA	TBA	Red Bull
			21	TBA	Red Bull
Chevrolet Team LSR	Chevrolet	G	22	Billy Savage	Amazon.com	46	TBA	Ally Financial
			23	TBA	Twitch
Parsonsport	Volvo	M	24	Antonio Camara	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
			25	TBA	TBA
SG Cadillac Race Team	Cadillac	G	30	Taylor Dawson	NAMI ThirdLove	TBA	TBA	TBA
			33	Ethan Galvin	TBA
Hansen Motorsports	Kia	G	31	TBA	Baskin-Robbins	TBA	TBA	TBA
			61	Charlie Hansen	Interstate Batteries
McLellan Race Team	Ford	M	37	Tom McLellan, Jr.	Axalta Pepsi	TBA	TBA	TBA
			38	TBA	Valvoline Zerex
Thompson Brothers Racing	Dodge	G	62	Jay Orlov	National Multiple Sclerosis Society Gulf Oil LP	64	TBA	Electrolux
			63	TBA	GrubHub
Renault Race Team	Renault	M	73	TBA	TBA	72	Nate Hubbard	Hangar 1 Vodka
			74	TBA	TBA
Black Hawk Team Lexus	Lexus	B	78	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
			79	TBA	TBA
KM Racing	Volkswagen	B	91	TBA	TBA	95	TBA	TBA
			93	TBA	TBA

Independent Teams

The following teams are entered in the 2020 Independent's Trophy competition. For 2020, the Independent's Trophy is changed from previous years.

In contrast to the grouping procedure of previous years, the Independent's Trophy teams are not guaranteed a spot in any race event; they will run a race for Independent's points prior to the main race, where the top four finishers will be granted a spot on the grid in the main event. The reasoning for this was to prevent as much intercontinental travel as possible, and the additional races were authorized to allow additional revenue to offset these teams' cost.

The only exceptions to this will be the special events, where every driver is eligible for the main race, and events where one driver receives the promoter's option.

Entrant	Manufacturer	Tires	Race Drivers
			No.	Driver	Sponsor
Red Bull Development	Acura	B	27	TBA	Red Bull Sugar Free
			28	TBA	Red Bull Zero
Genesis Racing	Lincoln	M	36	TBA	Snapple Dr. Pepper
Brad Parker Motorsports	Lincoln	M	45	Brad Parker	Hooters
			55	TBA	TBA
			75	TBA	TBA
John Damon Motorsports	Mazda	G	47	TBA	TBA
RACE1 Motorsports	Jaguar	M	85	Jai Kishore	Punjab National Bank
Turbosport	Kia	G	94	TBA	TBA
Stover Aston Martin Race Team	Aston Martin	M	007	Tony Martin	Martini

Special Event Teams

Special event teams are only scheduled to enter the four crown jewel events. They may also enter events with the promoter's option, and will be included in that section.

Icebreaker Sweepstakes Entries

Entrant	Manufacturer	Tires	Race Drivers
			No.	Driver	Sponsor
Henderson Engineering	Chevrolet	G	TBA	TBA	TBA
			TBA	TBA	TBA
Lucky Hornick Enterprises	Chevrolet	G	777	TBA	TBA

Donington Grand Prix Entries

Entrant	Manufacturer	Tires	Race Drivers
			No.	Driver	Sponsor

Daytona 1776 Endurance Challenge Entries

Entrant	Manufacturer	Tires	Race Drivers
			No.	Driver	Sponsor
Henderson Engineering	Chevrolet	G	TBA	TBA	TBA
			TBA	TBA	TBA

Lime Rock Grand Prix Entries

Entrant	Manufacturer	Tires	Race Drivers
			No.	Driver	Sponsor
Henderson Engineering	Chevrolet	G	TBA	TBA	TBA
			TBA	TBA	TBA

Team Changes

• Team LSR lost numerous sponsors as a result of Passgate, and announced its sponsorship packages the week prior to preseason testing. Amazon.com extended its sponsorship of the team to include the #23 car via its Twitch streaming service. The #46 reserve car gained sponsorship from Ally Financial group; Ally also became an associate sponsor for both the #22 and #23 cars.
• Metzger Racing GmbH announced new primary sponsorship deals for both of its entries. The #2 car would retain primary sponsorship from fashion company New Yorker for races in Europe and the Middle East, while Allianz was brought on board to sponsor races in America and the Pacific. The #6 team would see new sponsorship from IHG for the full season. The team also announced that the reserve team would remain sponsored by All-Inkl.com.
• TMO Racing rebrands as Skyactiv Motorsports and announces a new sponsorship deal with Coca Cola and Japanese clothing brand Renown.

Driver Changes

• Jay Orlov leaves Team LSR and ends his long-time partnership with General Motors to join Thompson Race Team after the team orders controvery at Darlington Raceway. Anova Culinary moves with Orlov to the iconic car #62, as does his race engineer Claire Gardner.