Five Cup events are now in the books since NASCAR has made the return to live racing. The racing has been good, with intense moments within each respective race. But one thing has lacked……The one thing that makes the world go round for the sport:
The FANS.
After every event, each respective winner at every start/finish line interview has had the most dumbfounded look you’ve ever seen. Nobody can say they haven’t. To get out of their car to complete silence, when they are used to getting out to cheers or even boos/jeers, is wearing hard on these competitors. Its clearly evident. Seeing these grand stadiums, Darlington, Charlotte, and Bristol, so far, be completely bare while events are rolling is depressing to me. Even though there is a glowing hot spotlight on NASCAR, being the first major US sport to return to competition, In my own personal opinion, I think the boat was missed a little, and I am gonna clearly give my reason why..
Lets travel back in time to the year of 1968, to a very large festival known as Woodstock…………..
No “social distancing”, no “masks”, no “limits on capacity”, no “mandated government shutdowns”…..
H3N2 flu was running rampid, similar to what is occuring now with this Covid mess. Over 100,000 people flocked to the hallowed grounds to the festival, and went off without a hitch. The H3N2 flu still exists to this day, and is much deadlier than what we are seeing now. Life went on as normal back in the late 60’s/early 70’s.
Here’s my point:
If somthing of that magnitude can occur, and no mass casualties/sickness came from it, races with fans can easily occur just like that did. Yes, I don’t disagree with doing it in phases, but it can still be done. Lets use a track FOR EXAMPLE on how my theory could work, say the glorious facility in our backyard, Talladega Superspeedway.
The permanent seating capacity there is roughly 80,000. Being politically correct for today’s standards, which irks me some, if you went with the insane Dr. Fauci thing of “social distancing”, and chose a 35% capacity rate, that’s 28,000 people in the stands. That number of people could EASILY space out. Let me put this disclaimer out there, I GET FULLY THE PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOLS THE SPORT HAS TO PUT IN PLACE, AS A BLANKET, for legalities. I understand that things have to be done for that reason. But, a massive benchmark could be set for American sports If someone would just try it. Heck, use the old dirt racing method of signing a waiver when entering, clearing the track of liabilities if you got sick. Lets look at the places that have ran events with fans so far: Lake Ozark Speedway, I-55 Raceway, South Alabama Speedway, Ace Speedway, shoot I could go on….but have we heard of mass sickness from these events?
NOPE…..
There’s your benchmark. If these short tracks can pull this off flawlessly, the bigger tracks can to. Because from what I have seen on social media, all signs, literally, point to Indianapolis on July 4th weekend as being race one with fans returning. I will bet every dime there is in this world, and will probably win, that Roger Penske and Mark Miles will execute having fans at the track TO PERFECTION. Then someone, somewhere, will spark the “WHY WASN’T THIS DONE SOONER” question. I absolutely am NOT saying any other track couldn’t execute a plan at all, because of all the people at each track I have met and gotten acquainted with outside of our home at Talladega are fantastic individuals and could execute the same identical thing to perfection. They are just playing the cards in the hand they have been currently dealt. They can’t go all in, they can’t bluff. They have to “call” the bet placed on the table, in poker terms. Eddie Gossage at Texas Motor Speedway i’m sure is salivating at the mouth right now waiting for the series to come to town because Texas has opened stadiums up to a percentage of spectators, to start.
I am sure my fellow comrades at Talladega Superspeedway feel the exact same as me when I say this: It is gonna be extremely awkward and depressing to see an empty facility, that is a #1 fan destination for the sport. As I said earlier, I get that routes have to be taken to get things back running smoothly in this day and time, but its time to start getting back to a full normal and bring back what makes the sport what it is.
THE FANS.
(These thoughts and opinions above do not reflect anyone elses opinions)