Posted on 05/30/2020 8:22:19 AM PDT by lightman
Several driving teams tweeted commitments to compete Saturday night at Lincoln Speedway and a minority owner of the dirt track said he expected racing events to go on as scheduled even without a green light from some local authorities.
Lincoln Speedway hosted fans for racing on Monday in its first live event in more than two months. Adams County, where the track is located, remains in the yellow phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s coronavirus reopening program, which prohibits gatherings of more than 25 people and disallows most live sporting events.
Hundreds of fans filed into Lincoln Speedway to watch racing Monday.
And the track has promoted tickets for 410 and 328 sprints Saturday night. The sprints are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., with pit gates opening at 5 p.m. and general admission beginning 30 minutes later, according to posts on Lincoln Speedway’s website.
Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett told the York Dispatch in an email this week his office would not file citations for Monday’s events but would “monitor the circumstances should future races occur, and appropriate enforcement action will take place."
Sinnett released a statement to PennLive on Friday when asked specifically about Saturday’s scheduled races: “As the situation has yet to unfold and occur, I do not have any further comment at this time other than what was originally reported.”
Representatives at Lincoln Speedway on Saturday did not immediately return a phone call request for comment. Alan Kreitzer, a minority owner of the track, said Friday he believed racing events Saturday night would start as scheduled with fans in attendance.
The speedway on Monday seated fans in every other row of the grandstands and mandated that attendees sign a waiver before entering the venue to affirm they had not been knowingly exposed to the coronavirus or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Lincoln Speedway promoted other measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus, such as hand-sanitizing stations set up throughout the track.
Fans must sign the same waiver to get through the gates Saturday, the speedway wrote on its website.
Trooper Meghan Ammerman, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Police, said officers in the area know events are scheduled at Lincoln Speedway but they do not have preemptive action planned.
“We are aware of it, but each case is a case by case basis,” Ammerman said. “I can’t say whether we’ll be there. It all depends on the circumstances.”
Selinsgrove Speedway also intends to host racing this week. The track postponed 410 sprints scheduled from Friday to Sunday due to inclimate weather and also has events, including 305 sprints, on the docket for Saturday.
United States Rep. Fred Keller, a Republican representing Pennsylvania’s 12th district, and state Sen. John Gordner, R-Columbia County, are expected to attend races at Selinsgrove this weekend, according to the track’s Twitter feed.
Before Monday’s race at Lincoln Speedway, state Sen. Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin County, spoke to fans to celebrate the return of dirt track racing.
“On Friday, we got a message from the governor’s office — ‘you better not race,’” Mastriano said to the crowd, according to The York Dispatch. “Here we are. If we’re a free people, we need to walk as free people.”
A.J. Flick, a driver who raced at Lincoln Speedway on Monday, plans to return to the track Saturday. He told PennLive the racing on Memorial Day played out smoothly.
“Lincoln is one of the best race tracks in the world,” Flick said. “Everything went really well, and it was great to be back in the seat and in front of fans.”
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I hear there is a George Floyd protest on the speedway....no masks required!
As long as they aren’t rioting, dont worry about it.
This is how real Americans protest. You will not see rioting, looting and arson at the races tonight.
Laguna Seca is reopening at the beginning of June, and next weekend I’ll be working an SCCA event there. Under current restrictions it will be the largest event happening in Monterey County.
I’m hoping that the green will cause major confusion and no one will realize that the restrictions are still there and everything just opens with no masks etc.
One of the fastest sprint car tracks in the east.
Board of Supervisors Passes Resolution Supporting the Immediate Moving of York County, Springettsbury Township to the Green Phase
Friday, May 29, 2020
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