More and more states are opening back up for racing. The COVID-19 pandemic has rescheduled, postponed, and canceled many race events across the country. Recently a few states have started to bring racing back under certain guidelines.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued a statement regarding the Supreme Court of Wisconsin’s ruling that puts the health and safety of Wisconsinites across the state at risk by ending Wisconsin’s Safer at Home order, effective immediately, and requiring the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) to go through the rulemaking process to be able to respond to an epidemic.
“Up until now, Wisconsin was in a pretty good place in our battle against COVID-19. We had reached almost all our gating criteria. We had opened up 14,000 small businesses across the state, putting 90,000 folks back to work, and that was because of the good work of Wisconsinites across our state who banded together, stayed home, and stayed safe,” said Gov. Evers. “Despite that good work, Republican legislators have convinced 4 justices to throw our state into chaos.
“We cannot let today’s ruling undo all the work we have done and all the sacrifices Wisconsinites have made over these past few months. We need everyone to continue doing their part to keep our families, our neighbors, and our communities safe by continuing to stay safer at home, practice social distancing, and limit travel, because folks, deadly viruses don’t wait around for politicians and bureaucrats to settle their differences or promulgate rules.
“This virus has killed more than 400 of our family members, friends, and neighbors and thousands more across our state are sick. I am disappointed in the decision today, but our top priority has been and will remain doing what we can and what we have to do to protect the health and safety of the people of our state. After months of unproductive posturing, I hope the folks in the Legislature are ready to do the same.”
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently announced that the state will advance to phase four of his Restore Illinois plan on June 26. During this new phase, spectator sports facilities, including race tracks, may reopen, this comes with the caveat that the facility must be capped at 20% capacity. Previously, motorsports venues were restricted to testing and tuning events and were off-limits to fans.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has issued updated business guidance allowing outdoor recreation facilities, including motorsports, to resume operation in the state.
Under the Governor’s Process to Reopen Pennsylvania plan, counties in the state are placed in either the red, yellow, or green phase, with each new phase allowing additional businesses to operate. All Pennsylvania counties are currently in the yellow or green phase. Motorsports facilities in counties in the yellow phase can operate at 50% capacity, w
while those in the green phase can operate at 75% capacity, with additional restrictions in place to maintain social distancing.
INDYCAR will welcome fans to Iowa Speedway for the upcoming July 17-18 race weekend featuring the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Iowa 250 races and the ARCA Menards Series race.
Under the instruction of public health officials, medical experts, and local, state and federal authorities, INDYCAR and Iowa Speedway will practice safe social distancing and provide enhanced hygiene and safety precautions for all who are in attendance.
All event-goers will be screened inside their vehicles with contactless temperature checks before even entering the parking areas and only essential racing personnel will have access to the infield. Hand sanitizer and face coverings will also be distributed to each guest. For the complete protocols and guidelines, visit iowaspeedway.com
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