NASCAR adds more races to revised schedule

NASCAR stock car racing, due to resume it's coronavirus disrupted season on Sunday, Thursday announced five more events in its revamped 2020 calendar.

The hugely popular closed-cockpit racing series takes to the track for the first time since March 8 on Sunday on the Darlington Raceway Oval.

That's the first of four oval events already announced for May -- two at Darlington and two more at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.

All four will be staged without spectators and with special protocols in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among drivers and other essential personnel.

On Thursday NASCAR said it's premier level Cup series would continue after the May 27 race at Charlotte with a May 31 race at Bristol, Tennessee, followed by events on June 7 in Atlanta, June 10 in Martinsville in Virginia, June 14 at Miami and June 21 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

All five races will be held without fans in attendance, NASCAR said. All of the venues are also within driving distance for the large number of teams based in and around Charlotte.

Events that had been scheduled further afield -- at Kansas Speedway May 30-31 and in Michigan June 5-7 -- have been postponed.

"As we prepare for our return to racing at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, the industry has been diligent in building the return-to-racing schedule," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer.

"We are eager to expand our schedule while continuing to work closely with the local governments in each of the areas we will visit. We thank the many government officials for their guidance, as we share the same goal in our return - the safety for our competitors and the communities in which we race.