Cooper says Alamance officials must enforce his COVID-19 order at ‘dangerous’ speedway
If Ace Speedway opens its gates to allow spectators to attend races again this weekend, Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday it’s up to Alamance County officials to ensure they are adhering to his executive orders against large mass gatherings.
Last Saturday night, the speedway in Altamahaw, near Elon, held its season-opening event. News & Observer journalists on site estimated the crowd to be around 4,000 people, most of who were not abiding by social distancing recommendations or wearing masks to help slow the coronavirus’ spread.
County officials who allowed the gathering said only 2,550 people attended at the 50-acre outdoor facility. Either way, those crowds exceeded the rules in Cooper’s latest executive order that only allow gatherings of 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors.
During a news conference on Thursday, Cooper once again called such gatherings “dangerous” while stopping short of asking state law enforcement officials to stop them.
“Our Department of Health and Human Services has reiterated to local officials in Alamance County that a race with a lot of spectators is dangerous,” Cooper said. “We are hoping that these things can be handled locally. We believe that local officials should take action to prevent something like that that can cause illness and death.”
The heavy rains that have hit the state this week could prevent the speedway from holding races Saturday, though. According to Ace Speedway’s Facebook page, Friday’s races were moved to Saturday due to the weather.
“We understand that this particular raceway may not be holding races this weekend,” Cooper said Thursday. “That’s a good sign. We hope that local officials will take this seriously.”
Jason Turner, Ace Speedway co-owner, could not be reached by phone or text by The News & Observer on Thursday or Friday.
Ace isn’t the only speedway in the state to reopen to fans. Stokes County’s 311 Motor Speedway plans to hold races with fans Saturday, too.
“I know everyone of ‘em — just about every single one of ‘em,” Speedway owner Mike Fulp told the Winston-Salem Journal of the fans who normally come. “We’d be lucky right now to get 500 with everything going on. People haven’t worked, people don’t have a job, and people have been laid off. This place right here is for mechanics and DOT workers and people like that, blue-collar people.”
Bobby Watson’s Carteret County Speedway in Peletier has also scheduled its season-opener with spectators for Saturday.
Ace Speedway told to run races without spectators
When reached by phone Friday, J.C. Parker, said the sheriff’s department will not get involved with residents peacefully assembling at ACE Speedway.
“The sheriff’s office is not going to get involved in something that is ambiguous,” Parker said of Cooper’s order. “We want people to be safe wherever they are. But we are concentrating on situations where there is true breaches of peace or violations of the law.”
Responding to Cooper’s criticism of the Ace Speedway races earlier this week, Alamance County officials said in a post on the county’s website they were “puzzled” by his comments. They said they had consulted with DHHS officials dating back to April about holding events, according to a previous N&O story.
In an email to the N&O, DHHS spokeswoman Kelly Haight Connor wrote that Ace Speedway was told to run their races without spectators.
“Other tracks and NASCAR have partnered with NCDHHS and held successful events without fans and without defying the Executive Order,” she wrote.
NASCAR, which is not affiliated with Ace Speedway, has again started holding races — including two in Charlotte — but without fans in attendance.
The organization told the Charlotte Observer Thursday that it “continues to work closely with the many local track operators who host NASCAR sanctioned races, but we will not resume sanctioned NASCAR Weekly Racing Series events until we can do so in a safe and responsible manner that complies with federal, state and local guidelines.”
State officials do have additional steps they could take to ensure the restrictions are followed, including arresting anyone who violates the orders.
“I will say that across North Carolina,” Cooper said, “most people and businesses are complying with orders and, not only that, going the extra mile beyond these orders to protect people from the potential of contracting COVID-19. That’s a good thing. We’ll continue to work with local officials and continue to work with businesses to find the best way to slow the spread. If we have repeated violations that local officials won’t take action on, we’ll have to review all of our options and consider further action that we might take.”
Wake County Speedway races without fans
Charlie Hansen describes racing without fans as “swimming in a swimming pool without water.”
But at Wake County Speedway, which Hansen owns, that’s exactly what’s happening.
On May 23, the same day that Ace Speedway in Alamance County made national news for allowing thousands of fans to crowd its season opener, Hansen’s speedway held 10 INEX races with only competitors and crew members in attendance.
“We knew that there was no way we could host a race with fans just allowing the 25-person mass gatherings,” Hansen said.
Before the governor implemented Phase Two, Hansen said he worked with Matt Gross, the DHHS assistant secretary of government affairs, to devise a safe plan for a return to racing. This included temperature checks, a face mask requirement inside speedway facilities and paperwork designed to help with state track and trace efforts.
Everyone at the event on May 23 also signed COVID-19 health release forms and wore armbands signaling they participated in all NCDHHS requirements.
“Everybody was more than glad to be compliant, just because, you know, they were ready to get back on track and to do whatever it takes to get back to racing,” Hansen said.
Wake County Speedway’s season opener was originally scheduled for April 10. Located on Simpkins Road south of Garner, the speedway calls itself “RaIeigh’s home for short track racing.”
Racetracks offer private practices
Other local racing facilities are adopting similar guidelines in order to resume racing.
GALOT Motorsports Park in Benson is hosting the Professional Drag Racers Association’s East Coast Nationals through Saturday night, with racing taking place the final two days. No spectators will be allowed at the event.
Like Wake County Speedway, GALOT’s racing season was supposed to start in April, kicking off the PDRA’s “No Warning Labels” tour. PDRA series director Tyler Crossnoe announced the rescheduled date during a Facebook Live in early May.
Outside of competitive events, local speedways have also been offering private practices and test sessions in small groups. Wake County Speedway allows one to two teams and no more than 10 people at a time.
While Hansen emphasized the strangeness of racing without fans, he said people still want to race.
“The competitors were just as competitive on track, and the racing was good,” Hansen said.
Wake County Speedway will host another event on June 6, expanding to three classes while continuing to follow the guidelines laid out by NCDHHS.
Alex Andrejev contributed.
This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 7:59 PM.