Texas Motor Speedway gets green light to hold NASCAR race by Abbott and Mayor Price
NASCAR is expected to race at Texas Motor Speedway “very soon,” Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday.
Details as to when and how aren’t known yet as the country continues to deal with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. All that is known is that NASCAR is planning to run in Texas without fans in the near future, something that excited track president Eddie Gossage.
The first step, Gossage said, was getting permission to proceed with plans of staging an auto race in Fort Worth.
“It was necessary to get the green light from Governor Abbott,” Gossage said. “We had a conference call [Monday] morning with him and he was very enthusiastic. We also have the support of State Senator Jane Nelson, State Representative Tan Parker, Denton County Judge Andy Eads and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price. All of our representatives are in our corner, so now we’ve got to work on the details with the sanctioning bodies and TV networks.”
For as much as Texas is ready to embrace the race, as Price tweeted that the city is looking forward to “making this happen,” the biggest hurdle will be decided elsewhere. North Carolina, the home state of a number of NASCAR teams, is in the middle of a stay-at-home order that isn’t allowing teams to work on cars.
That restriction is in place until at least next Monday. If it isn’t lifted soon, the “green light” granted by local officials won’t matter because NASCAR teams won’t have cars ready to race.
Gossage acknowledged that obstacle, but reiterated the first step for TMS was getting approval from local officials. For now, it’s a positive step toward racing again at TMS sooner than later.
“Our sport is unique because the competitors are inside the race car, they don’t have body-to-body contact like most other sports,” he said. “That’s a really distinct advantage over other sports and why you’ll likely see auto racing as the first live sport returning to action.”
Gossage said TMS has developed a thorough protocol to ensure the race is held in a safe environment for everyone involved, from drivers to firemen to the infield hospital staff, as well as the community at large.
Everyone who enters the grounds during race weekend will be tested, Gossage said.
“We’re not talking about the nasal swab test that takes days, or in some cases weeks, to get results,” Gossage said. “We’re talking about taking temperatures, things of that nature. You take everyone’s temperature, if they’re showing a temperature, then you take them aside for more in-depth screening. If you don’t have a temperature, you can go on. You still have to maintain social distancing, and things of that nature.”
Gossage said details are still to be worked out by NASCAR on what a “skeleton crew” may look like for the series, whether that means limiting the number of pit crew members per team or traveling staff.
Additionally, there will be more protocols put in place for Victory Lane celebrations and post-race interviews.
“We’ve got a very thorough protocol we’ve developed and had reviewed by medical experts who think it’s a great plan,” Gossage said.
Gossage said Abbott was among the most supportive on the conference call Monday morning and believes that NASCAR could help the country start to regain a sense of “normalcy.” According to Gossage, Abbott told the participants that Texas should be in much better shape within the next two weeks and “be ready” in early June.
“The governor said this would be great for the American people and he loved that Texas would be leading the way,” Gossage said. “In this race, it’ll be televised not only nationwide, but in 185 countries and territories worldwide. It shows the world that we’re in business here in the States, and it’s good for the morale of the American people.”
The looming question, outside of North Carolina lifting its restrictions, is the date of the race. Gossage believes NASCAR would like to return with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24 over Memorial Day weekend.
Then the Texas Motor Speedway race could slot into one of the weekends shortly afterward. A logical date would be June 5-7 as that’s already scheduled to be TMS’ summer race weekend with a NASCAR truck race on Friday, June 5, and an IndyCar race on Saturday, June 6. The NASCAR Cup Series could run on Sunday, June 7, a race date that is currently scheduled for Michigan International Speedway.
Gossage didn’t rule out the potential of having the two biggest racing series in the country running at the same track over the same weekend.
If that happens, Gossage said, the track would be better positioned to hold an IndyCar race without fans. NASCAR gives tracks a cut of its TV revenue, but IndyCar does not.
“If everything comes off on the same weekend, there may be an economy to scale that makes it capable for us to do it,” Gossage said. “There’s a certain economy there that it wouldn’t be if you just ran the IndyCar race alone.”
For now, though, it’s all speculation. All that is known is that Fort Worth and Texas have given the green light for TMS to proceed in hosting a race “very soon,” a timeline that is subject to interpretation.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 2:21 PM.
