Late Friday morning, NASCAR officially postponed its two upcoming race weekends at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, presumably because of the coronavirus outbreak.
NASCAR originally planned to continue with its events as scheduled, but it said Thursday fans would not be allowed at these two race tracks with attendance being “restricted to competitors, crews, officials and other necessary personnel to conduct the race.”
But less than 24 hours after releasing that statement, the governing body took the next step to postpone the next two race weekends because it’s “in the best interest of the safety and well-being of our fans, competitors, officials and everyone associated with our sport.” However, the statement did not mention the coronavirus, or COVID-19, specifically.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 13, 2020
NASCAR’s decision to postpone its next two races follows the lead of several other major sports organizations — including the NBA, NCAA, NHL, MLB, MLS and PGA — that have either postponed or canceled their upcoming events to try to keep people safe and slow the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
Similarly, the IndyCar Series, which was supposed to have its season-opener in St. Petersburg this weekend, on Friday canceled its first four races, which suspends the season through April. Formula 1 also canceled its season-opener this weekend in Australia and postponed several other races, expecting the season to begin in late May.
Here’s how some NASCAR drivers reacted to the news:
We want to race as much as you want us to race but this is the right decision. This is so much bigger than sports right now and the health and safety of our fans, industry members and the overall public is top priority.
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) March 13, 2020
Damn it!!!!!!!!
— Clint Bowyer (@ClintBowyer) March 13, 2020
🍺 Me
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) March 13, 2020
[jwplayer MI8BOaKj-q2aasYxh]
[vertical-gallery id=900842]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393221]