NASCAR fans brave heat, follow safety protocols in return to Texas Motor Speedway
For fan experience, you couldn’t do much better than Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
Despite heat approaching 100 degrees during NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, about 20,000 hearty fans took advantage of short concession and merchandise lines and plenty of space to social distance during the first major sporting event with fans in Texas since the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country in March.
Racing fans on hand were not deterred by face masks, which most were wearing unless sitting alone or with family in the grandstands. Texas Motor Speedway can hold more than 181,000 spectators, including about 135,000 in the stands and suites, so there was plenty of room for fans to spread out along the straight away near the finish line. The race originally scheduled for March 29, but was postponed because of the pandemic.
“I appreciate the fans that are here today watching in the grandstands and we’re glad to have them,” said driver Brad Keselowski on the television broadcast during a red flag stoppage. Keselowski was leading at the time of the 10-car wreck on lap 219, but would go on to finish ninth.
Austin Dillon won his first race of the year, beating Richard Childress Racing teammate Tyler Reddick by .149 of a second.
This story was originally published July 19, 2020 at 6:36 PM.
