NASCAR was the first major sport to resume their 2020 season. That happened last month at the Darlington Raceway. Now, they have a strong potential of being the first major sport to return fans to the grandstands as well.

Several reports are circulating that fans may be able to return in some capacity as soon as next weekend. There’s a chance, that the NASCAR weekend at the Homestead-Miami Speedway (June 13-14) could have race fans being able to come in. If not Homestead, the race at the Talladega Superspeedway has a potential too.

That’s great news for a future outlook of the sport. While the NTT INDYCAR race could technically return fans to the stands in Saturday nights Genesys 300 (8 pm ET, NBC, INDYCAR Radio Network), they just didn’t have enough time to plan for it. It wasn’t until late last week that the state of Texas announced that outdoor sporting events could host fans in limited capacity. The capacity would be set at 25-percent. Track and series officials couldn’t safely ensure that would happen. There were too many questions to have answered in time. But, we know as we sit today, plans are in place for the July 4-5 weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to host fans at the INDYCAR-NASCAR doubleheader weekend. That was supposed to be the first major sporting event with fans until the recent developments that Homestead and Talladega are eyeing a return for fans.

Again, all of this is going to happen in limited capacities and distancing measures in place, it’s just a sign of good news to come.

The NASCAR drivers are happy to be racing, but it truly hit home on Sunday at Bristol. The track is typically filled with an energetic crowd. This time, it was quiet.

Starting to bother me,” said second place finisher Clint Bowyer. “Yeah, you’re starting to see racing going on with fans in the stands, social distancing, stuff like that. A place like Bristol, honestly it’s the first time I really felt like, man, it’s empty. Kind of felt that empty feeling where even racing out there, you can feel the vibe.

That deal with the 9 and the 22, you get out of the car right there and this place would have been standing on end. It would have erupted. Without that, it’s kind of like, Well, I guess we’ll go home.

I’m ready to have fans back is what I’m saying. I think it’s time.”

It is about time. The only races coming up that we know fans won’t be at is this weekend in Atlanta, next Wednesday in Martinsville and at the end of the month in Pocono. For INDYCAR, Texas may be the only race without fans. Most races that they have scheduled between July on, are in states where laws are relaxing. The drivers though are prepared to walk into a weird environment on Saturday in Fort Worth.

“I think we all been mentally prepared for this, right,” said fan favorite Tony Kanaan on Monday. “I don’t know how I’m going to feel because I haven’t witnessed a racetrack with no fans, to be honest. I don’t recall in my career ever that I show up to a race – talk about testing – but that wasn’t a single person ask you to the autograph. You are going to walk in, it’s going to be like a private event. “I like being pestered about autographs. That’s who I am. That’s how I became who I am in INDYCAR. It is going to be really weird. I have no doubt that for me I don’t think it’s going to feel like a race weekend. It’s going to feel like a private test with everybody in the series and that’s it. “Again, it’s different times, right? Everywhere we go nowadays it’s empty. Even when you go places, everything is different. Try to get my mind and my emotions wrapped around this new normal up until we can really come back to normal.”

One thing that Kanaan did note is, that having no fans is the safest thing that they can do for their first race back, but no sport can survive long without fans in attendance.

“To be honest we should be happy that we’re back,” Kanaan continued. “We should be happy that life is becoming whatever that normal is going to be. But also I think in hindsight a lot of us, not saying me, but we will actually value the fans a lot more once we come out of Texas that we had to race with empty stands. “I believe it’s on the fans’ advantage because I think it will be a lot more appreciation. Not that we didn’t. I think INDYCAR is great. We grow this series because we give the access to the fans, access to us, autograph session, you can be in the grid if you buy a paddock pass. Think about the positive side. Once they’re allowed to come in, it will be even better than it was before.”

This is lining up with how I thought. I wrote this spring that there was no way most series start before June. Other than NASCAR, no one did. I wrote that the earliest fans would be able to go again, would be July. That’s lining up.

Now, it’s time to get prepared to return to the track. While returning will look different than it did back in March, it’s still a step in the right direction. Fans likely won’t have any infield access. No pictures with your favorite driver. No autographs. No interactions. But, at least you’re there. Baby steps.