The coronavirus won’t stop some drivers from starting their engines this weekend in South Dakota.
Two of the state’s racetracks will be hosting races this weekend in front of a large, but limited crowd. The Park Jefferson International Speedway sold all 700 tickets for its race on Saturday night in the venue that typically holds 4,000. The New Raceway Park sold 500 tickets for its Sunday night race. That venue usually holds 1,800 fans.
Sporting events across the nation have been shut down over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. South Dakota is one of the few states that did not issue a stay-at-home order. Republican Gov. Kristi Noem urged South Dakotans not to attend events with more than 10 people, but she has said she would not shut down the races scheduled for this weekend.
Dennis Moore, the man organizing the race for Sunday night, told people concerned about the event to stay home. He noted that he believes the state must begin to return to normal, adding, “This country’s going to be on its butt if we don’t open this up.”
Terry McCarl, the organizer for the race at Park Jefferson International Speedway, said the track plans to abide by social distancing guidelines. He told KELO, “The way we figured it, we could probably have a little over 900 people with 6 feet apart between each person, and we’re actually only selling 700 seats, not even 900, we actually went way less than that just to give people more room.”
He added, “Concession will be very limited. We’ll have the floors marked like you do when you go to a local grocery store to make sure people stay apart. We’re obviously telling everyone to bring their own face mask, their own bandana, anything to keep your face covered.”
McCarl also noted that there are precautions taking place to protect the drivers and their teams, saying, “The pit area holds roughly 150 teams in the past. We’re only allowing 32 teams in each class. There will be two classes, 64 teams.”
While Noem has not signaled that she will intervene, McCarl noted that he hopes the state allows the event to take place.
“Hopefully, she sees it our way and knows that we’re not just trying to barely get by, we’re not being greedy, we’re not allowing a bunch of people, we’re doing less, less than we probably could do and trying to go above and beyond everything we’re supposed to do to keep people safe,” he said.
In a statement, the Union County Sheriff’s Department noted that it has no plans to shut down the event.
“People have a choice to attend these events and are in no way being forced to attend,” the department wrote. “The Union County Sheriff’s Office will not be taking any legal action against either racetrack as they are both very aware of the current CDC advisories relating to COVID-19.”
As of Wednesday, South Dakota had 1,755 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and eight related deaths.
