More NASCAR tracks are fully reopening to fans. Here’s the latest
Six NASCAR-owned racetracks announced Wednesday that grandstands will be fully reopened to fans this year since all operated with some form of attendance restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those six tracks are Michigan International Speedway (Aug. 20-22), Daytona International Speedway (Aug. 27-28), Richmond Raceway (Sept. 10-11), Talladega (Oct. 3-4), Martinsville Speedway (Oct. 30-31) and Phoenix Raceway (Nov. 5-7). Campgrounds, Fanzones and applicable infield experiences will also return at Daytona, Richmond, Talladega, Martinsville and Phoenix. Fans are able to purchase tickets and find seating information on the track websites.
Fully reopened grandstands are also expected for upcoming races at Texas Motor Speedway (June 12-13), Nashville Superspeedway (June 18-20), Pocono Raceway (June 26-27) and Atlanta Motor Speedway (July 10-11), meaning a majority of the upcoming racetracks on NASCAR’s schedule will allow fans to fully return, at least through June.
The NASCAR Cup Series races this weekend at Sonoma Raceway, which announced it had sold out seating for its 33% allotted capacity. Last Sunday, NASCAR raced at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 in front of a crowd of around 50,000 people after North Carolina loosened restrictions a few weeks ago to allow 100% seating in the grandstands.
On Tuesday, NASCAR announced that it would continue to open its competition footprint to guests and no longer require pre-entry screening and health questionnaires for industry members previously required to complete a COVID-19 screening for infield access. These changes were among multiple relaxations to protocols in place since last May.
NASCAR indicated that garage operations and pre-race activities would largely return to pre-pandemic norms starting at Texas, but the sanctioning body said that it would like to see a higher vaccination rate industry-wide.
“Getting the fully vaccinated rate within our industry above the 70% threshold remains critical to reducing the potential impact of the virus on NASCAR events,” NASCAR said in a release Tuesday.
The next Cup race is Sunday, June 6 at 4 p.m. on FS1.
This story was originally published June 2, 2021 at 2:32 PM.
