NASCAR cancels next month’s event at Chicagoland Speedway as part of revised schedule

Though NASCAR got the green light to return to action this month amid the coronavirus pandemic, there won’t be racing at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet anytime soon.

As part of the revised NASCAR schedule, Chicagoland’s NASCAR Cup Series weekend, which were originally scheduled for June 18-21, has been moved to Darlington Raceway on May 17 and May 19, NASCAR announced Friday.

Chicagoland’s NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series races is also expected to be realigned for a future date on this season’s NASCAR schedule.

“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,” Chicagoland president Scott Paddock said in a statement Friday. “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, May 17.”

Ticketholders will receive a full credit, plus an additional 20% of the total amount paid, that can be used at a future NASCAR-sanctioned event this season or next, according to the speedway’s website.

Chicagoland wasn’t the only casualty of NASCAR’s new schedule in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Sonoma Raceway and the April Cup race at Richmond Raceway have also been realigned this to Darlington and Charlotte Motor Speedway.