NASCAR sets a good example: Race without an audience goes without a hitch

Sunday night was kicked off in NASCAR with a race on the Darlington Raceway circuit. Kevin Harvick was the lucky winner, but for the Formula 1 follower it was especially interesting to see what happens there.

Racing without an audience

If there's one sheep across the dam, more will soon follow. The old adage still remains, because just like in football with the Bundesliga, motor racing has been given an example. NASCAR first dared to race again since the coronavirus, but it all has to be under strict conditions.

With one and a half million contaminations and over 90 thousand deaths, America is by far the country most affected by COVID-19 and so it was a daring move by American NASCAR to start the first race as early as Sunday evening. The event was held behind closed doors, setting an example for the other classes.

The race was raced without an audience, the motorhomes of the teams were further away from each other, there was only essential personnel present on the track and the race weekend was shortened to just a race of 293 laps.

NASCAR as an example

Journalists were present, but sat more than two meters apart in the barely populated media center and according to Racefans.net several health tests were taken. NASCAR now has the intention to race again next Wednesday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Formula 1 will have looked at the operations of NASCAR with an oblique eye, just as many football leagues have looked at the rules around the Bundesliga. In any case, racing seems feasible again, making the first race of the Formula 1 season at the beginning of July in Austria increasingly realistic.