Ask and you shall receive. And it actually arrived faster than expected.
More doubleheader weekends are coming to NASCAR in August. Nineteen NASCAR races are packed into the final 25 days of the month, including an unprecedented six events in three days at Dover. My goodness.
Midweek races have taken a back seat to jamming as many races as possible into Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That could change with Xfinity and Truck dates still to be ironed out.
NASCAR announced the schedule leading up to the playoffs Wednesday afternoon, giving Michigan and Dover two Cup Series races each and subbing in the road course at Daytona for Watkins Glen.
All of the shuffling and confusion about when and where races will be held and whether fans will be permitted has made this a difficult season for everyone involved, but there are plenty of positives that will come out of all of this.
After the Michigan and Dover weekends, either a check mark (if the racing proves the track warrants two Cup events) or an X (if its evident there's not need for two) will be placed on those tracks.
NASCAR will also use the road course at Daytona for the first time, making it possible future Daytona races could be run in that format instead of on the speedway. If the Charlotte Roval was any indication, this is very good news.
The restrictions on attendance to auto races continues to vary based on location.
Kansas Speedway announced Wednesday it will not host fans during its rescheduled weekend of July 23-25. Obviously the October dates are still up in the air.
But about 270 miles to the east, the Truck Series will have fans in the stands at World Wide Technology Raceway (also known at Gateway) on Aug. 30 as an opener for the IndyCar race. The number of fans that will be allowed has not been announced.
Iowa Speedway is also geared up to host a limited number of fans July 17-18 for a pair of IndyCar races and an ARCA Series race.
The Truck Series had its scheduled event at Iowa Speedway moved to Daytona, and it will not make a stop at Eldora Speedway or Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
Eldora Speedway general manager Roger Slack released this statement: "We cannot hold events without healthy race fans and racers. It's that simple. The fastest way for us all to be back together again at Eldora, with full grandstands and full campgrounds, and $2 beers, is another collective team effort."
He continued to say: "As a community, racers and race fans need to heed the advice of our local doctors and nurses: practice social distancing; wear a cloth face covering, bandana or mask; wash your hands; and keep sanitizer at the ready. The virus knows no county line or state border and it's on all of us to do our part to stop the spread. Until we do so, Eldora and a lot of speedways are going to sit empty."
Tracks like Iowa and Gateway are trying to avoid having empty facilities while also hoping to keep the coronavirus from spreading by only selling certain tickets to keep fans distanced, requiring masks in common areas and taking the temperature of each fan.
Curtis Francois, president and CEO of World Wide Technology Raceway, had a different stance than Slack on hosting fans at races.
"We are blessed with a huge outdoor grandstand capacity and open-air midways that will enable us to social distance and provide a safe, responsible and comfortable event experience for the fans who are able to attend," Francois said. "Every possible effort will be made to ensure that our fans will enjoy another great racing experience at WWTR."
Slack is correct in saying a lot of race tracks will be empty until the spread of the virus can be contained or stopped, but Francois' statement also makes sense that a large venue with limited attendees can be a safe and fun environment.
If its revealed fans that go to these races end up testing positive for COVID-19, that will make more tracks follow Eldora. If the results shift the other way and it's proven it is safe to have smaller crowds at races, more facilities will follow WWTR.
III
It was a close battle this week among the News Tribune sports staff members in the Riley Racing Challenge. Greg Jackson scored 682 points, correctly picking Kevin Harvick as the winner at Indianapolis. Tom Rackers edged Greg with 693 points and I finished with 702 points. Rick Derks of Wardsville posted the top local score for the second week with 761 points. His lineup included six drivers that finished in the top 13 and received 25 bonus points for correctly picking Kyle Busch to finish sixth. Maybe the defending Cup champion is starting to head in the right direction as he sits 10th in the points with Kentucky Speedway, where he's won twice, next on the schedule.