Amidst immediate growing concern regarding the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), NASCAR announced Thursday afternoon that the sanctioning body will hold the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series races for the next two weekends at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway without fans in attendance.
The statement read, “At this time, NASCAR will hold its race events at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway without fans in attendance. These events will be restricted to competitors, crews, officials and other necessary personnel to conduct the race.
“We will work with public health officials as we determine future scheduling beyond these events.”
Thursday morning, Miami-Dade Country Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez issued a statement postponing the March 22 NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead with the Miami-Dade County under a state of emergency because of the growing public health danger of COVID-19.
NASCAR’s decision arrives on the heels of the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS) and Major League Baseball (MLB) all informing their decisions to suspend operations until further notice.
The IndyCar Series, owned by NASCAR team owner Roger Penske is scheduled to make a decision regarding their fate of their 2020 season-opener this weekend in St. Petersburg, Fla. at tentatively 3:00 p.m. ET.
The last NASCAR event weekend to be postponed for reasons other than inclement weather occurred in 2001 New Hampshire Motor Speedway race weekend as a response of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The race was moved to the season finale in November that year won by Robby Gordon.
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