Ryan Newman

The Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart at Kentucky Speedway on Sunday starts the 10-race sprint to the 2020 NASCAR playoffs. We're only seven weeks away from the scheduled end of the regular season at Daytona International Speedway on Aug. 29.

It's as good a time as any to assess the sport's postseason bubble. And how the 16-driver race gets shaken up will depend on the ability of four cagey veterans to sort out their rollercoaster seasons.

Pocono Raceway marks another first for NASCAR in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic. But unlike some of the other changes in the midst of a topsy-turvy 2020, this quirk in the schedule was planned in advance.

Sunday's Dixie Vodka 400 will mark the first midseason race in NASCAR history at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It's the first time the track hasn't been run as the Cup Series season finale since 2002, a second historic scheduling moment in a week for this sport. On Wednesday night, NASCAR held the first night race in its 71-year history of competing at Martinsville Speedway.

What's old is new again at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500. Almost three months after the sport was originally here, NASCAR's COVID-19 quarantine will be lifted for the 1.54-mile oval's only Cup Series race of 2020.

The pavement at AMS is some of the oldest on the circuit; it hasn't been touched since a 1997 reconfiguration of the track into a quad-oval. Typically, as a normal driver on the highway you'd be frustrated over all the bumps and rough riding from aging asphalt.

After a few days off, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the traditional Coca-Cola 600. The 400-lap race starts at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday and will air on FOX. Get your daily fantasy NASCAR DraftKings roster ready to rumble, courtesy Frontstretch.com's Joy Tomlinson!