Richmond to replace Pocono on IndyCar’s 2020 schedule

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — IndyCar is not expected to return to Pocono Raceway next season and instead will replace the oval with Richmond Raceway on the 2020 schedule announced Sunday.

The series last raced on the Virginia track in 2009 and will make its return on June 27 — the same weekend it used during IndyCar’s previous nine-year run at the track.

Pocono’s contract expired after last month’s race and the Pennsylvania track has been questioned over its compatibility with IndyCar. The championship picture was clouded by a five-car crash on the opening lap in which one driver was evaluated at a hospital after his car sailed into the fence and another driver landed upside-down atop another car.

Pocono returned to the IndyCar schedule in 2013. Justin Wilson was killed two years later when he was struck in the helmet by debris from another car. Last year, Robert Wickens suffered a spinal cord injury when his car sailed into the fence.

Many called on IndyCar to stop racing at the oval, and with the contract between the series and the track expiring, no deal was struck by the time the schedule was announced.

The 2020 season will be IndyCar’s second full season with NBC Sports Group, which will air eight of the 17 races next year on NBC. The remaining nine races will air on NBCSN. The schedule was released Sunday during NBC’s pre-race show before the race at Portland.

IndyCar will open for the 10th consecutive year on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, and conclude for the second consecutive year with the championship-deciding finale at the Laguna Seca road course in California.

NBC, like it did in working with NASCAR on the 2020 schedule, asked IndyCar for a break from racing during its August coverage of next year’s Olympics. IndyCar will take a three-week break to accommodate the request.

The 2020 IndyCar Schedule:

March 15: Streets of St. Petersburg

April 5: Barber Motorsports Park

April 19: Streets of Long Beach

April 26: Circuit of the Americas

May 9: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course

May 24: Indianapolis 500

May 30: Streets of Detroit

May 31: Streets of Detroit

June 6: Texas Motor Speedway

June 21: Road America

June 27: Richmond Raceway

July 12: Streets of Toronto

July 18: Iowa Speedway

Aug. 16: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Aug. 22: World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway

Sept. 6: Portland International Raceway

Sept. 20: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca