Can Sprint Cars Outrun Coronavirus? Find Out Saturday at Park Jefferson!

In what may be our first large-scale test of whether South Dakota’s typical summertime entertainment can be conducted amidst a pandemic, Park Jefferson International Speedway (International? really? are Bob and Doug McKenzie taking hot laps in their van?) is saying nuts to video-game contests and opening the real car racing season Saturday with the Open Wheel Nationals. After canceling last weekend’s scheduled races, the Union County speedway, halfway between Jefferson and North Sioux City, has sold 700 tickets at $25 a pop for this Saturday’s event. According to the latest post on their website (which—careful!—will keep trying to trick you into updating your browser, taking you to a spam site even if you click Ignore+Never Show Again and thus leaving its header menu always hidden!) Park Jefferson has maxed out their planned registration of 32 IMCA Modified racers and has just five spots left for its field of 32 sprint cars (oh! and there is a sprint car driver from Australia, so take off, mate!).

The speedway isn’t flouting coronavirus precautions; their entry form encourages all racers to follow the Governor’s guidelines:

Because of our unusual circumstances we have some unusual rules we’ll all have to follow so that we can have a safe environment for everyone. We will do our best to follow the guidelines set by the Governor of South Dakota so that we can all get back to doing what we love. RACING!!

We all have to practice social distancing and stay at least 6 feet away from each other. We also, highly recommend that everyone wear a face mask and gloves while at the track.

Please read carefully the following rules, I know some may be out of our comfort zone, but please read them and call us if you have any questions. 515-957-0020.

1. We can only allow 10 people per team! This means your driver and 9 crew members only!
2. All pits will be 8 feet apart and we ask that you do your best to stay in your own pit area unless your car is racing.
3. There will not be any concessions in the pit area. Please bring enough food and drinks for your team to last the entire evening.
4. Our grandstand will also be very limited. We are only allowing the first 700 people in the grandstands. The price of admission is $25 per seat. Because we have to make sure there is enough room for social distancing we will not have a child or senior discounted price. Family’s that live together can sit together, however we cannot allow walk through. If you are in the pits you have to stay and family in the Grandstands will not be allowed to go back and forth. All grandstand tickets will be sold in advance at www.parkjeff.com
5. To limit face to face contact. All payoff’s will be mailed. No one will be paid that night. Please be clear on the entry as to who the check is payable to and the address it will be mailed to.
6. We cannot encourage the fans from the grandstands to visit the pits after the races,aswe are used to. So please load up and head out as soon as you can after the conclusion of the event.
7. Race procedure will also be a little different. Please have the driver and 1 crew member attend the drivers meeting.
8. We will stop the winner after the A-Main on the front stretch, there will be a trophy presentation. However, we ask that only one crew person with mule or 4-wheeler to pick up the winning driver.
9. This event will be live on SpeedShiftTV.
10. Please spread the word to everyone who is not able to come so that they do not miss this event.

WE APPRECIATE EVERYONE OF YOU, THIS IS A VERY CRAZY TIME IN OUR LIVES AND WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE THE BEST OF IT!. BRING YOUR FACE COVER AND ENOUGH BEVERAGES FOR YOUR TEAM. STAY 6 FEET AWAY FROM OTHERS AND WE WILL HAVE A GREAT TIME.

LETS GO RACIN!! [Park Jefferson, Entry Form for April 25 races, retrieved 2020.04.20]

Park Jefferson owner Adam Adamson seems to be thinking this thing through:

Adamson employs 25 people at Park Jefferson Speedway and all of them will be wearing masks and gloves.

“We will be all cashless, no cash on the spectator side,” Adamson said. “In the concession area, it will be all cards and we won’t have a souvenir stand plus no tickets sold at the front gate. We want to minimize contact. No handling of money. We have the ability to do this all cashless.”

…Park Jefferson Speedway holds more than 4,000 spectators. Two enclosed areas will not be open for the event and no one can stand on the catwalk. Tickets for the event were also limited to 700. McCarl said they could’ve sold more tickets according to the guidelines but he wanted to be well within the guidelines, thus limiting it to 700 spectators. Families can sit together but others need to be six feet apart.

…According to Adamson, 140 cars can fit in the pit area. But Adamson is limiting the entries to less than 100 to follow the safety guidelines. For the Winged 410 Sprint Cars, only 32 entries are allowed, same with the IMCA Mods, meaning the pit area will have less than half of the 140 cars it can fit with 64 [Justin Rust, “Park Jefferson Plans to Hold Races on Saturday,” Sioux City Journal, 2020.04.20].

With or without the McKenzie Brothers, hot laps begin at 6:15 p.m. For $30, you can watch the races on online pay-per-view.

Related Spectating: There are always alternatives, like watching World of Outlaws online:

…NASCAR in cyberspace:

…and Pole Position 2020: