More than 1,000 fans expected for Lakeside Speedway season opener Friday night
While some sports are starting up without fans, Lakeside Speedway is opening its grandstand while still doing what is required to meet CDC and social distancing guidelines.
Lakeside, 5615 Wolcott Drive in Kansas City, Kansas, will hold its Tompkins Industries Season Opener on Friday. The 66th season for the track will start six weeks after the original opening date.
General manager Pete Howey said the decision to start this week came after Wyandotte County health officials suspended their “ReStart WyCo” plan and began following state guidelines on May 22. Organized sports were allowed to resume, and all businesses and activities must comply with social distancing guidelines.
“We’re kind of doing the basic stuff,” Howey said. “We’ll have different signs up that remind people to wash your hands or sanitize your hands; when standing in line, make sure you’re not just on top of each other; in the grandstands, make sure if you’re in a party, not to sit right on top of another party and leave a couple seats in between.”
To help meet these requirements, Lakeside moved ticket purchases online and by phone instead of at the gate. The grandstands normally hold close to 5,000 fans. With new guidelines, 1,500 grandstand tickets were made available. Tickets are on sale until Thursday at midnight. At 2 p.m. Thursday, Howey said about 300 tickets remained.
“People want to get out of the house,” Howey said. “We’re an outdoor venue, so it’s not like we’re crammed inside. ... They just want to get out of the house and enjoy a night at the races.”
Attendees and racers are responsible for their own protective equipment and should use their own judgment when attending events at the speedway, according to a release. To limit the amount of contact between different groups, the speedway is requiring those with pit access to remain in the pits. Racers and pit fans also must avoid walking in groups and can not travel between pit stalls.
The terrace, a section Howey described as seating for season ticket holders, is a grassy area on the south curve of the track where fans can park their cars and watch the races. Typically, fans in the terrace are able to enter the grandstands. That is also not allowed with the new guidelines.
“We’re staying below that threshold of 25%, so if I were to allow people from the terrace to come over (to the grandstands) then that would just up that percentage,” Howey said.
Other race tracks near Kansas City started racing before this week. I-35 Speedway in Winston, Missouri, held different classes on separate days in recent weeks. Howey said that was considered for Lakeside but the cost of holding events on back-to-back nights was too high.
“We are such a large complex compared to some of the other tracks within the greater Kansas City area, and it’s really just it’s not worth it because there’s so much that goes into getting a race off here,” Howey said.
The pits will open at 5 p.m. Friday with the grandstands following at 6 p.m. Hot laps begin at 7:45 p.m. Races for A modified cars, B modified cars, stock cars, pure stock cars and E modified cars follow.