COMMENTARY: NASCAR Could Return Within 30 Days

One week ago, the prospect of a NASCAR race anytime in the foreseeable future seemed to be the most unlikely of prospects. With the country still enmeshed in the COVID-19 shutdown and social distancing the order of the day, NASCAR spent its sixth weekend of inactivity placating itself with iRacing and longing for the day – apparently far in the future – that it might return to the race track in earnest.

Today, a return to competition in the next 30 days appears not only possible, but likely. And as that likelihood increases, a handful of track operators are positioning themselves to the first in line when the green flag falls.

Several Republican members of the North Carolina General Assembly called on Governor Roy Cooper this week to reopen Charlotte Motor Speedway in time for the track’s traditional Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend. State senators from Gaston, Cabarrus, Union, Iredell and Rowan counties requested that Cooper green-light the event, while keeping the grandstands closed to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Union County Senator Todd Johnson said, “People are going stir-crazy with very few live sports underway. And allowing NASCAR racing in Charlotte would be a good first step toward returning to some semblance of normalcy. Gov. Cooper should permit fan-less racing.”

Cabarrus County Sen. Paul Newton said, “NASCAR has already demonstrated it can safely run races without fans while practicing social distancing.”

Despite Newton’s claim, NASCAR has not yet conducted races without fans in attendance, though the sanctioning body is believed to have a plan in place to do so.

Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith said Sunday, “We want to do everything possible to support NASCAR, the dozens of race teams in North Carolina and the fans to get back on track. We will work with the governor, state and local government and health officials to make that happen.”

Charlotte Motor Speedway: First to return?

While Charlotte positions itself to host a possible NASCAR return later this month, sister track Texas Motor Speedway may be poised to deliver a bump-and-run to those plans.

Yesterday afternoon, Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted that he had spoken to NASCAR leaders and that, “They’re working to return to Texas Motor Speedway very soon. I hope to announce the exciting details in the near future. To prevent the spread of COVID19, it will be without fans. But they will put on a great show for TV.”

Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage’s reaction to that announcement was initially lukewarm, at best. He said he was not happy with the prospect of racing in front of empty grandstands, calling it “not a good alternative” while acknowledging that it may be the only option the sport has at the moment.

With 24 hours to mull Gov, Abbott’s comments, Gossage took things to the next level yesterday.  A graduate of the unofficial Humpy Wheeler School of Promotional Excess (that’s a compliment), Gossage now says that not only does he want to host NASCAR’s three National Series on the weekend of June 6, he wants to add IndyCar’s Genesys 600 to the mix, creating a four-division buffet.

A week ago, Gossage turned thumbs-down on the prospect of a standalone IndyCar race at TMS. But yesterday, he said the TV money that comes from the track’s NASCAR weekend would make it financially feasible for him to add IndyCar to the mix, saying, “There is a scale of economics in place.” He explained that support staff -- EMT’s, firemen, ambulance workers, Infield Care Center medical staff, TV and radio personnel – would already be in place and ready to work, making IndyCar a better bet in tandem with NASCAR than it is on its own.

If it happens, Texas’ quadrupleheader would trump Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which announced plans recently to hold a combination NASCAR/IndyCar weekend there on July 4 weekend, utilizing the infield road course for Saturday’s GMR IndyCar Grand Prix and the NASCAR Xfinity Series, followed by the traditional quad-oval for Sunday’s Brickyard 400 NASCAR Cup Series event.

Gossage touting NASCAR/IndyCar
quadrupleheader.

Gossage played it coy yesterday, saying that the decision would be totally up to NASCAR, and that he understands the scheduling challenges that will be faced by the sanctioning body in the coming weeks. But he also made it clear that if the NASCAR/IndyCar quad-bill does not take place on the opening weekend of June, it is unlikely that IndyCar will appear at TMS at all this season, unless the track is allowed to sell tickets and fill the grandstands to help pay the bills.

“If the IndyCar race doesn’t happen that weekend, it would be unlikely to find another date where we could afford to do it,” said Gossage to NBCSports.com. “I have my fingers crossed we could get it done that weekend and have a great race, which is the norm for the first weekend in June and two weekends after Indy to do it here.

“We have our fingers crossed. NASCAR has eight or nine races they have to reschedule somewhere. It is their intent, as I understand it from my conversations with them, to run the Coca-Cola 600 and then run every week thereafter. It may not suit them to run the weekend of June 5-6 to pair up with an IndyCar race because it works best for us. Time will tell on that one.

“If you are looking at a standalone later in the summer, I don’t see that happening.”

“If the governor had said ‘no,’ there’s no reason to pursue those points until he changed his position,” Gossage said. “But he’s incredibly enthusiastic about it and wants the world to know Texas is pro-business and `What can I do to help?’ What this does is give us the green light to proceed with planning for a race. There’s a lot of details to work out.

“Our new normal is going to be different,” he said. “We’re all going to have to find ways to make it work. It’s counterintuitive to me to promote a race where you aren’t selling tickets to. It’s a strange way of thinking, but it’s our new normal.

“This too shall pass. We’ll get beyond this and down the road, but it’s quite different right now. The good news is during this time when we are all stuck at home, hopefully those TV ratings for races will be way up and that will be a good thing for all of us.”

Gossage said he spoke recently with new Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske, enthusiastically supported the idea of a NASCAR/IndyCar weekend in The Lone Star State and offered his support.

Charlotte and Texas are not the only tracks attempting to jostle their way to the front of the post-shutdown line these days.

Darlington Raceway could end up in the post-COVID-19 mix as well, after South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster issued a new executive order yesterday, putting the decision on reopening the state’s beached back in the hands of local municipalities and allowing the conditional reopening of some retail stores. McMaster advocated a “gradual return to normalcy” that could indicate a willingness to allow racing to resume at Darlington Raceway, with conditions.

Unfortunately, all the governmental cheerleading in the world won’t change one simple fact. Unless and until NASCAR teams are allowed to reopen their shops and put crewmembers back to work, there will be no racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, or anywhere else. In order for that to happen, Gov. Cooper will have to designate NASCAR as an essential business, much like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did for World Wrestling Entertainment earlier this month, allowing them to resume hosting live events in the Sunshine State.

“The governor of North Carolina has not allowed the shops to reopen, so unless and until he does, there’s nothing for us to do,” said Gossage. “That’s Step 1. None of this matters until that happens. They’ll likely need a couple weeks to get cars prepped and ready.”

Until that happens for NASCAR, any talk of returning to the race track is nothing more than a terminal case of putting the cart in front of the horse.