Tennessee officials permitted Bristol to sell up to 30,000 tickets for NASCAR's All-Star race — less than 20 per cent of its capacity of 140,000-plus — as NASCAR slowly begins to reopen the gates.
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Chase Elliott put his face mask on and went into the grandstands at Bristol Motor Speedway to watch the qualifying event before NASCAR’s All-Star race, briefly becoming a part of the largest group of spectators at a U.S. sporting event since March.
Elliott on Wednesday night won the $1 million All-Star race and celebrated by fist-bumping one of the many fans that surged to the fence as he collected the checkered flag. He’d been energized earlier in the evening as he discreetly sat in the stands along the back straightaway before the main event.
Speedway Motorsports, which owns Bristol, moved the All-Star race to Tennessee from Charlotte Motor Speedway because North Carolina would not permit spectators. The All-Star race debuted at Charlotte in 1985 and this year marked just the second time it was not held at that track. Because “The Last Great Colosseum” is shaped as a massive bowl, Bristol had the ability to socially distance spectators throughout the stands.
Matt Harrington, who drove 2.5 hours from Greenville, South Carolina, for his first event at Bristol, said the track sent directions with times fans could enter and he didn’t encounter a single person besides the person who scanned his ticket when he arrived. He said an instructional video on exiting procedures was useless because it couldn’t be heard over the noise.
Harrington said it took more than 15 minutes to find help for a friend in need of medical assistance and the crowd leaving the stands after the race was overwhelming.
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