NASCAR Mandates Masks for Crowd of 20,000 Fans — Most of Whom Take Them Off to Watch Race

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NASCAR fans in Bristol, Tennessee were required to wear coronavirus masks to attend an all-star race that attracted a socially-distanced crowd of about 20,000 people — but most of them then went maskless to watch the race.

On Thursday, tens of thousands of fans participated in a de facto science experiment when they attended NASCAR’s annual All Star Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway, the first large-scale in-person sporting event since the coronavirus pandemic exploded. Chase Elliott won the race.

According to CNN’s Andy Scholes, fans were warned by the speedway that by purchasing a ticket for the race, they assumed all risk of infection and agreed to hold the speedway harmless, which was good enough for the “at least 20,000” people who showed up at the facility — which has a capacity of 160,000.

He also pointed out that masks were required for entry, but not in the bleachers. Photos and videos of the event indicate that once inside, very few fans continued to wear the masks.

USA Today’s Mike Hembree reported that mask compliance was consistent prior to entry, but not so much after that.

“Although many fans in the souvenir area were not wearing masks, the lines of spectators waiting to enter the track showed practically universal compliance with the mask requirement,” Hembree wrote.

But the photos and videos of the event do appear to show groups of fans making some effort at maintaining spacing from each other, and the speedway is an outdoor facility. Whether those factors are enough to prevent the spread of infections remains to be seen.