June race at Michigan International Speedway postponed

Michigan International Speedway is out and Atlanta Motor Speedway is in.

That's the scenario that is set to take place when the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series continues, after Sunday-Wednesday doubleheaders at Darlington and Charlotte to get the season back into gear after a two-month layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

MIS officials announced the FireKeepers Casino 400 race weekend (June 5-7) at Michigan International Speedway has been postponed and will be rescheduled for a later date to be determined.

MIS hosts two races each summer, including the Consumers Energy 400, which this year will be on Aug. 9.

The NASCAR Cup series returns Sunday with its 400-mile race at Darlington, which will be televised at 3:30 (Fox).

NASCAR set its revised schedule on April 30, putting in place its races for the month of May and saying it would release more races heading into the event at Darlington.

More: 'Ready to go': Michigan's Erik Jones raring to get back on NASCAR track

On Thursday NASCAR announced its June schedule, starting with Bristol Motor Speedway (May 31) replacing Kansas Speedway, then Atlanta (June 7) in place of MIS, followed by Martinsville (June 10), Homestead-Miami (June 14) and Talladega (June 21).

“As we prepare for our return to racing at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, the industry has been diligent in building the return-to-racing schedule,” NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell said in a statement. “We are eager to expand our schedule while continuing to work closely with the local governments in each of the areas we will visit.”

O’Donnell said back in late April that the series wanted to have races early on at tracks the teams could drive to from the race shops in Charlotte, N.C.