Minus boisterous fans, NASCAR visit to Kansas Speedway is delivering a dose of normalcy

Kansas Speedway becomes its own small town when NASCAR arrives for a typical race weekend.

A fleet of RVs rolls in, occupants claiming spots on the infield and above the track, not leaving until long after the final race ends. A haze of charcoal smoke from the infield and parking lots — a smell familiar to so many Kansas City sports fans — hangs thick in the air.

The Fanwalk behind Victory Lane teems with activity. Fans take in a pre-race concert, stroll the garages looking for autographs, watch pre-race inspections mere feet from the cars and sign the start/finish line before the festivities begin.

The speedway’s sweeping grandstand, visible from nearby interstates, starts to fill up with fans. The crowds get so thick that you can’t read the giant blue and yellow “Kansas Speedway” logo. The concourse underneath is a palette of race teams past and present.

All that takes place under the near constant roar of stock cars practicing, qualifying and racing.

The only part of that experience that remains for this week’s events, starting with Thursday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Super Start Batteries 400, is the roar of race car engines. NASCAR’s top series took the green flag at 6:48 p.m. Thursday, marking the return of the first non-exhibition major sporting event in Kansas City since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And of course there was a winner: Denny Hamlin drove himself to Victory Lane.

Pursuant to NASCAR’s protocols since its return to action May 17, there were no practice or qualifying sessions. The cars were lined up silently on pit row until Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, the virtual grand marshal for the first of five NASCAR races here through Saturday, gave the call for drivers to start their engines.

All race teams have fewer on-site personnel on hand this week. The NBCSports broadcast crew didn’t make the trip, either. They called the race from nearly 1,000 miles away at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

The 29th NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway was the series’ first during the month of July in two decades of racing in Kansas City, Kan.; the track hadn’t hosted a July race at all since an Indycar Series event in 2006.

NASCAR is perhaps the most fan-friendly major sport in North America. Autographs are ubiquitous, and those who purchase a “hot” pass can walk around the garages at almost any time during the day. Fans can even rent headsets to listen to teams’ communications during a race.

Competing at empty or near-empty racetracks was a shock for some drivers, but it’s better than the alternative.

“Anything I’ve ever competed in, whether it’s fantasy football, racing or park league basketball, you always had someone to share it with. And right now, they really don’t let us be around anybody at the racetrack,” Kevin Harvick, a three-time winner at Kansas Speedway, said. “You have all that enthusiasm and excitement and it’s the strangest thing, but it’s a good reminder of how much enthusiasm you have to share with the fans and how much you feed off of that after you get out of the car.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to that, but am I excited that we are racing and that brings some normalcy with what’s going on.”

While fans aren’t allowed to attend the three days of races at Kansas Speedway this week, limited attendance has been allowed at races in Talladega, Ala., Bristol, Tenn., and, most recently, Texas.

Chase Elliott won the NASCAR All-Star race at Bristol and said he had the opportunity to watch another race that weekend from the stands. He was thrilled to hear the cheers again when he took that checkered flag.

“It just felt really good to get NASCAR back,” he said. “I mean, NASCAR is built on the fans. Once the race starts, it’s hard to engage with them because you can’t hear them. Before a race, the atmosphere was energetic again. I felt like the vibe was back.

“I felt like that fire and intensity in me was back, even more so than it has been, a piece that had been missing. I think that’s driven by the people, the cars pulling in, the pre-race parties and everything that you see.”

NASCAR is scheduled to come back to Kansas Speedway in October as of now. It’s impossible to predict what anything will look like by then — the pandemic continues to progress on an uncertain course.

But this abnormal week marks the first bit of normalcy the Kansas City sports landscape has enjoyed in months.

TV schedule at Kansas Speedway

Thursday: NASCAR Cup Series Kansas 400, won by Denny Hamlin

Friday: 6 p.m., Kansas 200 (NASCAR trucks), FS1

Friday: 9 p.m., ARCA Kansas 150, FS1

Saturday: 12:30 p.m., Kansas 200 (NASCAR trucks), FSN

Saturday: 4 p.m., Xfinity Kansas Lottery 250, NBCSN

This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 10:52 PM.