IndyCar have confirmed its blue riband event – the Indianapolis 500 – will proceed in 2020 with its attendance capacity halved.
Despite the series being reluctant to reveal exact attendance figures each event, the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing” drew in an estimated 275,000 fans last year despite the risk of inclement weather.
This year’s running was pushed back from its traditional Memorial Day weekend in May amid the global pandemic and has been rescheduled to August 23.
However, while IndyCar have confirmed the return of fans commencing from next month at Road America, the Indy 500 will not be staged with its full capacity.
“We’re committed to running the Indy 500 on Sunday, Aug. 23 and will welcome fans to the world’s greatest racing venue,” said IMS President J. Douglas Boles.
“We will be limiting attendance to approximately 50 percent of venue capacity, and we are also finalizing a number of additional carefully considered health and safety measures.
“We’ll unveil the specific details of our comprehensive plan in the coming weeks.”
The push to see fans return has surprisingly been met with little resistance despite the United States boasting the highest Covid-19 related death toll worldwide, peaking at 126,000. The total confirmed cases are reported at 2.47m.
All fans will be screened in their vehicles with contactless temperature checks before entering parking areas, and each guest will be given a PPE kit that includes a face mask as well as hand sanitizer. They will be encouraged to practice social distancing and don masks when this becomes impractical.
The 2020 NTT IndyCar season got underway earlier in the month from Texas Motor Speedway and was dominated by five-time series champion Scott Dixon.