The 2020 Toyota 500 was a
NASCAR Cup Series race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
held on May 20, 2020, at
Darlington Raceway
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is ...
in
Darlington, South Carolina
Darlington is a city located in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. In 2010, its population was 6,289. It is the county seat of Darlington County. It is part of the Florence, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Darlington ...
, replacing
Richmond Raceway
Richmond Raceway (RR) is a , ''D''-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in unincorporated Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Known as ...
's
Toyota Owners 400
The Toyota Owners 400 is a 400 lap NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. From 2007 to 2011, former race title sponsor Crown Royal named the race after the winner of an essay contest during Dayton ...
. Contested over 208 laps—shortened from 228 laps due to rain, on the egg-shaped oval, it was the sixth race of the
2020 NASCAR Cup Series
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series was the 72nd season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 49th season for the modern era Cup Series. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash, the ...
season and the 57th edition of the event.
There were three stages: first two were 75 laps each & the final was originally scheduled 78 laps, but reduced to 58 laps by weather.
Report
Background
![Darlington raceway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Darlington_raceway.svg)
The event was the second NASCAR Cup Series race held following a hiatus brought on by the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, after the formal resumption of the season with
The Real Heroes 400
The Goodyear 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. A race was held in May at the track in 1952, however the event did not become a regular one on the NASCAR schedule until 1957, as a race in th ...
three days earlier, also at Darlington. The race marked the first Cup Series event to be held on a Wednesday since the
1984 Firecracker 400 at
Daytona Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it.
Daytona may also refer to:
Locations
* Daytona Beach Shores, Florida
* South Daytona, Florida
* The Daytona Beach metropolitan area
* Halifax area, also known as Da ...
(the
race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
, at the time, was always held on
July 4
Events Pre-1600
*362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
* 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaime ...
, regardless of day) — a race also noted for hosting
Richard Petty's 200th and final Cup Series victory. It was the 57th edition of the event, dating to the 1950 Southern 500 (the current Southern 500 traces its roots to the 1957 Rebel 300; for the 2021 season, with two race meetings scheduled, Darlington swapped the lineage of both races). It was the first scheduled Cup Series Darlington race with a scheduled 300 mile (or 500 km distance, which is similar) distance since 1963, when the Rebel 300 was run in two 150-mile heat races.
Entry list
* (R) denotes rookie driver.
* (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
Under modified operational procedures, no qualifying sessions were held for this race. The starting order was determined by the results of The Real Heroes 400, but with the order of the top 20 inverted.
Starting Lineup
Race
![Denny hamlin (48010188356) (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Denny_hamlin_%2848010188356%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Stage Results
Stage One
''Laps:'' 60
Stage Two
''Laps:'' 65
Final Stage Results
Final Stage
''Laps:'' 83
Race statistics
* Lead changes: 17 among 13 different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 11 for 54
* Red flags: 1
* Time of race: 2 hours, 42 minutes and 23 seconds
* Average speed: It was the slowest hardtop race since the 1958 Southern 500.
Media
Television
The
Toyota 500 was carried by
FS1
Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...
in the United States.
Mike Joy
Michael Joy (born November 25, 1949) is an American TV sports announcer and who currently serves as the lap-by-lap voice of Fox Sports' coverage of NASCAR. His color analyst is Clint Bowyer. Counting 2022, Joy has been part of the live broadcast ...
and five-time Darlington winner
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
covered the race from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.
Matt Yocum
Matthew Yocum (born April 8, 1968) is a long-standing reporter in motorsports, best known for being a NASCAR pit reporter. He works for CBS as a pit reporter to cover the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) as of 2021. He most recently worked in tha ...
handled the pit road duties.
Larry McReynolds
Lawrence Joseph McReynolds III (born January 10, 1959) is a current NASCAR crew chief and current racing analyst on Fox Sports as well as a columnist on Foxsports.com. In the past, he has served as an advisor to Petty Enterprises, and as a mi ...
provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.
Radio
The
Motor Racing Network
Motor Racing Network (MRN) is a U.S. radio network that syndicates broadcasts of auto racing events, particularly NASCAR. MRN was founded in 1970 by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and broadcaster Ken Squier, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of ...
(MRN) called the race for radio, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden and
Dave Moody called the action for MRN when the field raced down the front stretch. Dillon Welch called the race from a Billboard outside of turn 1 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2, and Steve Post called the race atop of the Darlington Raceway Club outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Kim Coon and Hannah Newhouse called the action on pit road for MRN.
Standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
;Manufacturers' Championship standings
*
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
References
{{Bojangles' Southern 500
Toyota 500
NASCAR races at Darlington Raceway
Toyota 500
Toyota 500