The 104th Indianapolis will allow 25 percent capacity, be shown live on NBC for central Indiana, allow bronze and silver badge holders to have their normal access, be open to fans for practice, qualification and Carbohydrate Day and be blessed to be national, state, and local health officials.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials unveiled their plan for August 23, which includes wearing a face mask at all times and being screened on entry to combat the COVID pandemic; But between the size of IMS, the spectator space, and the fact that it is an outdoor event, there was an air of confidence that it can be carried out safely.
“In terms of the plan itself, it is approved that we have a green flag and we hope to have the race,” Penske Entertainment President Mark Miles said during the national teleconference on Wednesday. “It is a gigantic place, we are limiting capacity, which makes masks mandatory and the fact that it is outdoors is 19 times less likely to spread the virus than indoors.”
“We believe it is important to have this career and show that people can come together in the right way.”
Miles, IMS President Doug Boles, and Dr. Edward Yacht, Medical Director of Global Medical Response, discussed the four-month process of monitoring the coronavirus and attempted to make a plan that would allow a percentage of people to attend what It has always been safe. been the world’s largest one-day sports event.
When asked if he considered this an experiment, Yacht replied: “‘Experiment’ is not the word I would use. It is the application of fairly strict criteria to minimize transmission. And it is an outdoor setting, as far as we know the Difference in transmission with an outdoor versus indoor location and that gives us a certain degree of comfort. ”
Dr. Virginia Caine, Marion County Director of Public Health, said the IMS plan “meets or exceeds all local guidelines and is approved subject to continual review. The plan was developed in consultation with the Marion County Department of Public Health and the Indiana State Department of Health and reflects current best practices and mitigation steps that outdoor venues should have to host events. “
The usual crowd of 250,000 people will be reduced to the neighborhood of 75,000 as IMS and all the grandstands will be open in addition to suites and spectator mounds. But people in central Indiana without tickets or choosing to stay home due to the virus won’t have to wait for a replay that night, because they can now watch the race live on NBC.
“We felt that, in these unique circumstances, raising the blackout was the right thing to do,” said Miles.
Some of the traditions like the Oldtimers dinner, the Hall of Fame induction, Legend Day and the parade have been canceled for 2020, but there will still be some normality.
“Those customers with bronze and silver insignia will continue to have access on practice and qualification days,” said Boles. “There will be some adjustments on race day to access the pit lane to give teams a chance to get ready. No one will have access to the morning race except the personal essential races.
“But we do expect fans for practice, qualifying and Carbohydrate Day and welcome them.”
Boles also said that IMS ‘yellow shirts will patrol Speedway during the day to remind people to put on their mask if they don’t wear it. If anyone refuses? “We will ask them to leave, but we hope we don’t have to do that.”
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