Absence of NASCAR fans was right decision this weekend, says Kansas Speedway president

Five stock-car races in three days. More than 130 drivers and 1,000 crew members. Two television networks.

Kansas Speedway had it all for the return of NASCAR over the weekend, except for one thing: fans.

Because of the pandemic, the grandstands and RV lots that usually accommodate 50,000 or more spectators for race week at the track were empty, turning the venue, much like the recently launched Major League Baseball season, into a giant television studio without an audience.

“Three weeks ago I would have guessed we were going to have fans at this event, and the pandemic took a turn for the worse,” Kansas Speedway president Pat Warren said, “so we made the right decision not to (have fans).”

The track’s original May 30-31 dates for NASCAR Cup and trucks races were postponed when the pandemic caused a nine-week shutdown of the sport.

When racing resumed, Kansas Speedway was granted five races for this past weekend: its original two races, plus an additional trucks race, an ARCA race and an Xfinity Series event all imported from other NASCAR-owned tracks that lost race dates because of the virus.

More changes could be coming. NASCAR’s revised schedule takes the sport through Aug. 29 at Daytona before the playoffs in September. It’s possible Kansas Speedway could get another trucks race in October, depending on how the pandemic affects other areas, notably around Martinsville in Virginia and Talladega in Alabama.

“My understanding is the fall schedule is not set yet,” Warren said. “Right now, we have our traditional three races: the ARCA championship on Friday (Oct. 16), the Xfinity race on Saturday and the Cup race on Sunday.

“If we can run five races in three days, we can run four races in three days, if that is what is called for.”

Those five races over the weekend produced some thrilling finishes. Denny Hamlin began the weekend by outdueling Brad Keselowski for his fifth Cup win of the season and record-tying third win at Kansas Speedway.

Points leader Austin Hill and reigning series champion Matt Crafton won the trucks races, Crafton by 0.324 seconds ahead of rookie Christian Eckes; Bret Holmes won his first career ARCA race; and Brandon Jones won the Xfinity race Saturday evening after competing in both trucks events.

“There was a lot of energy on the racetrack and the competition was great,” Warren said. “But there was none of the energy the fans bring. We talk all the time the reason we exist is to be here for our fans, and this really brings it home. Sure, we can run the events, and we can run them for TV, but doing it without fans is a totally different way of doing business.

“I’d rather have this than nothing, but I much rather have it with some fans, ideally with all of our fans. But it wasn’t possible and wasn’t the responsible thing to do.”

Some tracks, including Bristol in Tennessee, Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and Talladega, welcomed a limited number of fans in recent weeks, and there will be up to 19,000 fans at New Hampshire for the Cup race on Aug. 2. But there were no fans at Indianapolis on July 5 or Kentucky on July 12, and there will no fans at Michigan on Aug. 7-9.

Warren said Kansas Speedway could have operated “reasonably safely” with fans over the weekend, “but we weren’t at a point where everyone was going to be comfortable with it. Yes, you can do things safely, and I think it’s possible to do things safely. We ran the races safely.

“Working with Wyandotte County and health officials, the consensus was the right thing to do with the situation we’re in both in the state and in Kansas City, was to do these events without fans.”

As for the October weekend, it will be a waiting game before a decision will be made regarding fans.

“We may have to make a contingent decision,” Warren said. “We might have to say, ‘We’re hoping to have fans, and if we do, this is what it’s going to look like,’ and start working out details with our customers and then make a formal public health decision closer to the event.

“I’m not sure we’ll be in position to make a formal decision as early as we would like in order to get the facility ready and do the planning necessary to take care of our customers the way they deserve.”

This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 5:00 AM.