SPEEDWAY, Ind. — The IndyCar and NASCAR races on Fourth of July Weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be run without spectators.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway made the announcement Thursday morning, saying they made the decision after discussions with local and state leaders.

“While we certainly worked diligently to run our events with spectators, we reached a point where we needed to make a final decision because the race weekend is less than a month away,” said Mark Miles, Penske Entertainment Corp. President & CEO. “Today, it’s not possible to be confident that Indianapolis will be at Stage 5 of the state’s reopening plan by Fourth of July weekend.”

Mark Jaynes, from the IndyCar Radio Network, says it is disappointing that fans will not be in attendance.

“Because of the passion and enthusiasm that fans have, and bring to the track,” he said. “I think it will be surreal for all of us who have a part in calling it.”

Jaynes adds that every decision, and all the changes, that Penske Entertainment and IMS have made throughout the pandemic, have been proactive.

“I think they’ve done so fully and totally with the direction and input of state, local, and federal health officials,” he said. “They haven’t just freelanced these decisions. They’ve made these decisions based on the facts that are shared with them by the experts.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IndyCar’s GMR Grand Prix and the NASCAR XFinity Series race will both be on Saturday, July 4, on the IMS Road Course. NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 — which will be renamed the “Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at the Brickyard” — is Sunday, July 5, on the oval. IMS says they are renaming the race in recognition of the vodka company’s efforts to make hand sanitizer for the public.

IMS also announced that the BC39 dirt track race scheduled for that week, and the Florida Georgia Line country concert have been canceled.

In the release, the track says they are looking forward to hosting fans for the Indianapolis 500 in August.