By John Schutt
NASCAR Cup Series, Geico 500, Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, Ala., Monday, June 22.
The race with limited fans due to COVID-19 was marred with a racial incident aimed at the only black NASCAR Cup driver, Bubba Wallace, Jr. Sunday. A noose was found hanging in his pit stall. The race was postponed until Monday due to rain. Monday all drivers and pit crews rallied behind Wallace, Jr. and his Richard Petty Ford in a pre-race parade down pit lane.
The race was won by Ryan Blaney in a photo finish over Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.. In third place was Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin in fourth place, and Eric Jones in fifth.
The first stage was won by Tyler Redic, a first-time winner and rookie; then another rain delay.
The second stage was won by Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., over Blaney.
NASCAR Cup Series, Dixie Vodka 400, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Fla., Sunday, June 14.
Winner was Hamlin in a Toyota.
NASCAR Cup Series, Blue-Emu 500, Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va., Wednesday, June 10.
Winner was the Martin Truex, Jr. in a Toyota.
NASCAR Cup Series, Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Atlanta, Ga., Sunday, June 7.
Winner was Kevin Harvick in a Ford.
• Coming up is a NASCAR, Indy Car double- header on the Fourth of July weekend!
Indy Car Grand Prix will be Saturday, July 4 at the Indy Motor Speedway. Then Sunday July 5 will be the NASCAR Big Machine Vodka 400 at the same speedway!
The following week will be a Indy Car double -header at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.. Indy cars will race both days.
The June NASCAR race at Chicagoland Speedway has been canceled and there is no other NASCAR race on the Chicago roster at this time.
With Ryan Newman’s serious wreck at Daytona in February, NASCAR has chosen to make some safety changes to the super speedway set up. The restrictor plate is slightly reduced and more changes to the roll cage area. There are a couple of other changes, all to make the Cup cars safer.