NASCAR Cup Series

What's Next For The Fans?

Updated Jul. 17, 2020 4:55 p.m. ET

NASCAR announced another section of its schedule Thursday, and it still left some fans scratching their heads.

They are still wondering when they will get to return to the race track as safety restrictions for the COVID-19 pandemic are being relaxed.

Fans of Indianapolis Motor Speedway had their hopes dashed in the morning when the track announced that it would not have anyone in attendance. Indiana’s “Stage 5” of reopening allows fans in sports stadiums, but while much of the state could reach that by July 4, Indianapolis is not likely — which means no fans for the July 4-5 weekend.

“While we certainly worked diligently to run our events with spectators, we reached a point where we needed to make a final decision because the race weekend is less than a month away," Penske Entertainment Corp. President & CEO Mark Miles said.

"Today it's not possible to be confident that Indianapolis will be at Stage 5 of the state's reopening plan by the Fourth of July weekend.”

So on that note, here’s where NASCAR will race over the next two months and the status of fans:

-Atlanta, June 6-7: no fans.-Martinsville, June 10: no fans.-Homestead, June 13-14: 500 military personnel allowed, according to area radio host Andy Slater.-Talladega, June 20-21: fans' status to be determined.-Pocono, June 26-28: no fans.-Indianapolis, July 4-5: no fans.-Kentucky, July 9-12: no fans.-Charlotte, July 15: fans' status to be determined.-Texas, July 18-19: fans' status to be determined.-Kansas, July 23-25: fans' status to be determined.-New Hampshire, Aug. 2: fans' status to be determined.

The uncertainty is understandably frustrating for fans. Indianapolis had been selling tickets but had not announced a policy of how it would seat fans if it had been allowed to have them.

NASCAR had originally said the Talladega race weekend would be without fans, but with Alabama opening up more aggressively than some other states, it is revisiting that policy.

The unknown of the NASCAR policy for Talladega puts it in a delicate position. Some fans have already canceled travel plans and would not have if they knew there was a chance to attend. NASCAR, which owns the Talladega track, also would have to figure out who gets priority on seats that already have been purchased and not yet refunded or re-used for another race. And the track would have to organize staffing and policies for social distancing.

The other question is, would a policy for fans include wearing a mask? During the summer months in many of these locations, that could be unbearable.

The track management in each state talk to local officials. Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark Simendinger said they never even got to the point where the track presented a plan for fans.

“We waited and waited but we felt like once an announcement was made we had to make a decision and we needed to let everyone know so they could make their plans,” Simendinger said.

“I’ve had calls from a lot of fans that make their vacation plans, their planning on being here to camp all week, things like that. It became pretty clear from our discussions with the governor’s office that this was going to be the way that we’re going to be proceeding.”

Tracks really haven’t had much of an option to try to postpone races in hopes of having fans, as NASCAR attempts to get its entire schedule run.

“The essence is to just get the races in at this point,” said Pocono Raceway CEO Nick Igdalsky. “To come up with a plan in treating egress for all your fans from different entry points, the limited amount of seating you’d be able to offer, which fans would be able to attend – it’s a domino effect of problems, and it’s too big of a bridge for us to cross.

“Let’s just get the races in and give the fans an opportunity to get some entertainment at home on TV.”

Even though they wish they had fans, track operators want to have Cup race weekends, thanks to the television revenue generated that is the majority of the track revenue. Last year for its two race weekends, Dover took in $24.7 million from the NASCAR television deal. Admissions accounted for $4.968 million and $6.713 million came in from sponsorship, concessions and merchandise sales.

The frustration for fans remains that they see local tracks in some areas having fans, so they feel NASCAR should be able to have them on a larger scale.

While Kentucky’s current executive order on race tracks states they can’t have fans, Simendinger realizes that bigger venues face more scrutiny. He said a horse-racing facility in Lexington having events the same weekend will do so without fans.

“The scope of what we do – it might be a little bit easier for somebody to wrap their head around something smaller than something really large,” Simendinger said.

Although Pennsylvania tracks that have capacity for a few thousand fans have been able to sell tickets, Igdalsky indicated that wasn’t an option for Pocono.

“I don’t want to get into the politics of it, I don’t think the two can be compared,” said Nick Igdalsky. “You’re talking two different animals when you’re talking the national series.”

The other frustration for fans is that tracks are bound by the sanction agreements with NASCAR not to announce any postponement information until NASCAR does. That meant that even on Thursday morning, fans could buy tickets on the New Hampshire track web site for the July 19 date that is now Aug. 2 with no determination yet whether fans will even be allowed.

Tracks for the most part are offering refunds or exchanges for new tickets at a 120 percent rate of the initial purchase, good for any track that is owned by the same company. New Hampshire will allow for fans to start making exchanges or get refunds even though there is a chance its race could have fans.

Other tracks that have had postponed events and done refunds or exchanges are now in the position of asking fans to sit and wait and have patience.

“We currently don't have any information to share about if fans will be able to attend but we are working on the issue with the state of Texas to make sure we comply with their direction,” Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said.