Charlotte first? Darlington? Texas? What we know about NASCAR’s return to racing
Each week that passes brings more speculation about when sports will resume. NASCAR especially is raring to restart its engines as a sport with no person-to-person contact and growing support from Republican lawmakers to bring entertainment to Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper extended the state’s stay-at-home order through May 8 from its original April 29 end date. Under the executive order, Cooper said that NASCAR teams are able to return to work at their North Carolina-based shops as an “essential business.” However, team shops are based in different counties, some of which have greater restrictions than the state, which residents must abide by.
Three of the sport’s biggest teams — Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports — are based in different counties. JGR is headquartered in Huntersville in Mecklenburg County. Team Penske is located in Mooresville in Iredell County and Hendrick Motorsports is based out of Concord in Cabarrus County.
Gov. Cooper said that his office has been in contact with NASCAR officials, track owners and team owners regarding a proposal that would allow racing to return without fans for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day Weekend.
“Right now, our public health officials are examining their proposals,” Gov. Cooper said. “They’re also talking to local governments.”
Gov. Cooper said officials have also been in discussion about what it would take for teams to access their garages and have their cars ready to race in a couple weeks leading up to a planned event. Cooper said his office will be coming forward with an announcement “very soon” after more conversations with health and NASCAR officials.
The first racing event could come as early as mid-May at Darlington Raceway, according to a report this week by Sports Business Journal and confirmed by the Observer. Thursday, South Carolina tourism chief Duane Parrish said that a NASCAR race would run at Darlington in the spring.
“Some good news,” Parrish said. “The RBC Heritage announced they will be playing a made-for-television event, no spectators. Before that, Darlington will broadcast a race as well with NASCAR. So we do have some lights at the end of the tunnel in regards to events.”
The RBC Heritage is an event on the PGA Tour’s stop in South Carolina that is scheduled for June 18-21. Parrish did not specify a date for a potential spring Darlington race, or whether it would count as the Southern 500, but it is possible that the first race would take the place of an already-canceled date and Darlington could still host its annual Labor Day event.
NASCAR maintained a statement it put out Friday that said it intended to run all 36 Cup Series races and potentially return to the track without fans in May at “a date and location to be determined.”
“The health and safety of our competitors, employees, fans, and the communities in which we run continues to be our top priority,” the statement said. “We will continue to consult with health experts and local, state and federal officials as we assess future scheduling options.”
As NASCAR president Steve Phelps said in March, the situation continues to be “fluid.” But as teams and tracks take a financial hit and suffer from job cuts, pressure is mounting to get back to racing sooner rather than later.
“I really sympathize for those who have to make these decisions because there’s really not a good option,” NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski told the Observer. “We can’t keep sitting around doing nothing, because we’re draining vital resources and quite frankly, we can’t afford it.”
“But on the flip side,” he continued. “We also have a responsibility to each other to not expose one another to harmful contagions and that’s part of our responsibility as a community. Those two things seem to be at odds.”
The intermediate track in Darlington, S.C. looks like the most promising location for the sport to return in May since South Carolina is not operating under a stay-at-home order and the track is only two hours from Charlotte, where most teams are headquartered around. However, teams would still need to access their North Carolina shops prior to traveling.
Since Sunday, seven state government officials have asked Gov. Cooper to amend his stay-at-home order, which prevents gatherings of more than 10 people for non-essential businesses, to allow NASCAR to race without fans at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend. Those officials include five state senators, North Carolina’s Speaker of the House and the state treasurer.
“Governor Cooper knows the importance of NASCAR to our state and he’s already been talking with track and team owners about how we could potentially restart racing,” the Deputy Communications Director for Gov. Cooper, Ford Porter, said in a statement. “It’s too soon to predict specific decisions about future sporting events but any plan would prioritize public health and safety and preventing spread of the virus.”
While a lot hinges on North Carolina’s policies, other states where NASCAR has races are involved in the sport’s scheduling discussions.
Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway could both become early contenders for racing’s return. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have publicly expressed support for NASCAR to run races in their states.
Gov. Abbott tweeted Monday that he spoke with NASCAR leaders about returning to Texas Motor Speedway “very soon” and that he would “announce the exciting details in the near future.” Gov. DeSantis said last week that he was in favor of running a NASCAR race in Florida, fan-free.
Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday that racing at his track would happen “very soon.” Gossage also mentioned the protocol the facility would implement in order to run a race without fans. He said that everyone entering the speedway would get their temperature taken and individuals with a fever, even low-grade, would be separated.
“You separate them and get into what might be the cause of that,” Gossage said. “Because it could be any number of things, it doesn’t mean you’ve got the virus.”
“This is what the medical folks are saying they would recommend,” Gossage added. “And think it really covers everything well.”
Earlier this week, the Republican governors of Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia (all states where NASCAR runs races) announced they would ease their state’s restrictions for some non-essential businesses to reopen.
Cooper said that current COVID-19 data does not support loosening restrictions in North Carolina. Thursday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported over 7,600 positive cases of coronavirus, 400 more cases than the previous day.
“It’s clear that we are flattening the curve, but our state is not ready to lift restrictions yet,” Cooper said. “I will not risk the health of our people or our hospitals, and easing these restrictions now would do that.”
On Wednesday, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said that the organization met with two work groups — one group represented large gatherings and another represented the North Carolina business community — to discuss a path forward for easing restrictions while continuing to protect residents.
“All of these groups are discussing mitigation strategies, such as optimizing social distancing of employees and consumers and congregants, screening of employees for symptoms and combating misinformation about the virus,” Cohen said. “While also taking into account the realities faced by different venues and different businesses.”
The Department of Health and Human Services did not disclose if representatives from NASCAR were involved in those discussions following multiple requests, but sports and entertainment interests appeared to be represented in the meeting. Cohen said that Spectrum Center General Manager Donna Julian chaired the group representing large gatherings. Spectrum Center is the home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
Despite the discussions, tweets and rumors, the bottom line when it comes to NASCAR’s remaining 32 Cup points races, which are set to take place across 20 states, is nothing is official until it’s official.
This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Charlotte first? Darlington? Texas? What we know about NASCAR’s return to racing ."
