Every year, the powers that be in NASCAR make a number of scheduling and rules changes across all three of the league's national series. Some changes are wholly embraced by the sport's fans, while others leave folks scratching their heads. On Tuesday, January 21, NASCAR announced that the Truck Series playoff field would be expanded from eight drivers to 10. Some feel the change is completely unnecessary, but according to Brad Moran, managing director for the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, this shift will lead to more exciting races. Which, in theory, sounds pretty good to us.
"The way the format was structured in the Gander Truck Series with the Round of 8, Round of 6, Round of 4, we were leaving some excitement on the table," Moran told NASCAR.com. "Maybe three or four years ago, not so much, but certainly the last couple of years with the series strengthening to the position it's in right now, we really felt putting 10 teams into the playoffs for a Round of 10 is just going to make it that much more exciting and interesting, and will put a lot of emphasis on winning races, which is what we try to do."
NEWS: Gander Trucks #NASCARPlayoffs field to expand to 10 teams in 2020.
?: https://t.co/yFFYQlQ0xE pic.twitter.com/K2TtG49WWy
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) January 21, 2020
Besides the playoff field expansion, there are also a number of Truck Series scheduling changes. For one, on April 18, the Truck Series returns to Richmond Raceway for the first time since 2005. This will replace the regular season race at Martinsville Speedway. Also, this year's season finale will be at Phoenix Raceway instead of Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Homestead race will now be the fourth race of the season.
You can check out the full Truck Series schedule below.
2020 NASCAR Truck Series Schedule
Date/Race Name (If Available)/Location/Network/Start Time
- Fri., Feb. 14/NextEra Energy 250/Daytona International Speedway/FS1/7:30 p.m.
- Fri., Feb. 21/Strat 200/Las Vegas Motor Speedway/FS1/9:00 p.m.
- Sat., Mar. 14/Georgia 200/Atlanta Motor Speedway/FS1/1:30 p.m.
- Fri., Mar. 20/Homestead-Miami Speedway/FS1/8:00 p.m.
- Fri., Mar. 27/Vankor 350/Texas Motor Speedway/FS1/9:00 p.m.
- Sat., Apr. 18/ToyotaCare 250/Richmond Raceway/FS1/7:30 p.m.
- Fri., May 1/Dover International Speedway/FS1/5:00 p.m.
- Fri., May 15/North Carolina Education Lottery 200/Charlotte Motor Speedway/FS1/8:30 p.m.
- Sat., May 30/Kansas 250/Kansas Speedway/FS1/8:30 p.m.
- Fri., Jun. 5/SpeedyCash.com 400/Texas Motor Speedway/FS1/9:00 p.m.
- Fri., Jun. 12/Iowa Speedway/FS1/8:30 p.m.
- Fri., Jun. 19/Chicagoland 225/Chicagoland Speedway/FS1/8:00 p.m.
- Sat., Jun. 27/Pocono Raceway/FS1/12:00 p.m.
- Thurs., Jul. 9/Buckle Up In Your Truck 225/Kentucky Speedway/FS1/7:30 p.m.
- Thurs., Jul. 30/Eldora Dirt Derby/Eldora Speedway/FS1/9:00 p.m.
- Sat., Aug. 8/Michigan International Speedway/FS1/1:00 p.m.
- Fri., Aug. 21/WWT Raceway 200 presented by CK Power/World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway/FS1/9:00 p.m.
- Sun., Sept. 6/Chevrolet Silverado 250/Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/FS1/2:30 p.m.
- Thurs., Sept. 17/UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics/Bristol Motor Speedway/FS1/7:30 p.m.
- Fri., Sept. 25/World of Westgate 200/Las Vegas Motor Speedway/FS1/9:00 p.m.
- Sat., Oct. 3/Sugarlands Shine 250/Talladega Superspeedway/FS1/1:00 p.m.
- Fri., Oct. 30/Martinsville Speedway/FS1/8:00 p.m.
- Fri., Nov. 6/Lucas Oil 150/Phoenix Raceway/FS1/8:00 p.m.