NASCAR’s upcoming race at the Bristol Motor Speedway may become the biggest sports gathering in the US since the coronavirus pandemic began as the stadium is completely sold out.
On Wednesday, officials with the Tennessee racing venue revealed that the socially-distanced allotment for seating for the Sept. 19 event is packed out, Fox News reports. While the officials did not reveal how many seats were available, the track holds 162,000 seats.
Prior to the event, the state of Tennessee approved roughly 30,000 fans.
The Bristol Motor Speedway vice president, Jerry Caldwell, released a statement about the upcoming race. “We are grateful to those guests who are placing their confidence in us during these unprecedented times,” said Caldwell, Essentially Sports reports.
He continued by saying: “We want to thank our community and state leaders, our colleagues at NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports owners, Bruton and Marcus Smith. For trusting us to put on these historic events with Playoff implications at Bristol Motor Speedway. We take this responsibility seriously and will work hard to ensure our team and vendors execute this event in the safest manner possible.”
What is NASCAR’s Bristol Motor Speedway Doing to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19?
In order to host the event, the Bristol Motor Speedway is working to reduce the phyiscal contact between attendees. Furthermore, the track is taking further measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The speedway mandates mask-wearing and also will take fans’ temperatures before entering the venue.
Fortunately for the fans, they can remove masks at their seats.
The upcoming race marks an important contest for NASCAR drivers. In this first round of the playoffs, four drivers fall out of championship contention.
Earlier in July, the NASCAR All-Star race took place in front of 22,000 fans. The race operated under the same conditions as the upcoming competition at Bristol to abide by social-distancing guidelines.
[H/T Fox News]
