After becoming the first national motorsports series to race again during the COVID-19 pandemic, the World of Outlaws will now become the first to race with grandstands full of healthy fans. How can they possibly know this? Beginning this weekend, July 2-4, during this series holiday extravaganza at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wisconsin, the Outlaws will roll out a sophisticated health screening system that will use biometrics, algorithms and rapid COVID-19 testing to help usher in more than 20,000 fans over three days.
Thanks to partnerships with IMPACT Health, Soter Technologies and NEXT Marketing fans will now be required to enter the track by passing through contactless scanners that resemble the metal detectors in the TSA Precheck lanes of an airport. While this weekend’s Cedar Lake event will utilize Yates Enterprise’ temperature check scanners to assure fans entering are not walking in with one of the most well-known COVID symptoms, future World of Outlaw events will include Soter Technologies’ SymptomSense, which uses an advanced biometric walk-through scanner that measures an additional three vital signs, including heart rate, oxygen and respiration – to detect possible COVID-19 infections.
Within 3 seconds of a walkthrough, the scanner produces a result. A green light will allow fans to enter. A red light will put fans in testing protocol and a consult with on-site medical professionals. Affected fans will be allowed to choose between a free COVID-19 test at an on-site mobile lab that will deliver results in 15 minutes, or they can opt out and receive a complimentary DIRTVision pass to stream the race online at home.
While this plan may seem to good to be true World of Outlaws CEO Brian Carter said that he feels like this series and its new process will keep fans as safe as possible. “Being the first to move to a full venue, I believe everybody will be watching us because we want to provide the path for everybody to get closer to normal as possible. So I’m hoping that the things we do at Cedar Lake on Independence Day will be a foundation for what will happen if you want to go to a sporting venue in the future until we figure out how to deal with this pandemic,” said Carter.
“Being ahead of the curve of getting back on track, first with limited crowds and now a full crowd, we have done it in a responsible way and with the best science and cutting edge technology available,” said World of Outlaws chief marketing officer Ben Geisler. “Thanks to the use of this health screening technology, we feel that we have the ability to provide a best-in-class experience for race fans to attend each event in comfort, confidence and complete peace of mind.”
We are excited to see just what this technology can mean for all of us who are waiting with baited breath for the complete racing season to officially begin. If you can’t be at Cedar Lake Speedway this weekend, be sure to tune into the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Independence Day mega event, July 2-4, on CBS Sports Network and stay tuned to RacingJunk.com for all of your dirt racing news.
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