Eddie Gossage is saying that Saturday night’s Genesys 300 (8 p.m. ET, NBC, INDYCAR Radio Network) could arguably be one of the most important NTT IndyCar Series races to date. Think about it. There’s not many sporting events going on in this world right now. Here in America, really in terms of major sports, it’s really only just NASCAR and now IndyCar competing. This race, well it got moved to network television in primetime rivaling basically nothing in terms of viewership on Saturday night.

“Well, particularly in this period of time, it’s huge,” said Graham Rahal. “We can’t thank NBC enough for that opportunity. All of our sponsors are — they’re looking for good numbers. They’re looking to see a good ROI on our return to racing here. Fans want to watch it. It’s easier to find on NBC than anywhere else, so we’re appreciative of that.

“I hope we get a good number. I hope we start to see some advertising here in the next couple days that’s promoting that race coming this week. It’s a challenge — we were talking about this the other day. Normally they promote racing and sporting events from other sporting events that are happening and you go and go and go. Well, there are no other sporting events, so now how you promote that is kind of a question, but I’m excited, and again, I’m very thankful to everybody at NBC for making that happen.”

They’re right. Everyone has been so starved to get back to a somewhat normal life, that sports are a way of getting that ball rolling. Now, you get the first IndyCar race of the season, under the lights on primetime, on network TV in a day and age where everything is not really even open yet.

Prior to this COVID-19 pandemic, a prime time race in early June may not have drawn as high of ratings as some would have liked — because they have so many other things to do on a warm summer night instead. Now, most restaurants aren’t open yet. Movie theaters are closed. Other sporting events are off. Bars aren’t open. Concert venues shelved. Social distancing is still taking place. IndyCar, being on NBC, well they’re going to gain new viewers because they’re on network TV while most people are staying home with nothing else to do nor watch.

Stage is yours.

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Also, you’re going to gain more viewers just because no one is actually going to be there in person to witness it either. The race will unfortunately be taking place behind closed doors. While the state of Texas is allowing outdoor sporting events to have fans in the stands — albeit at 25% capacity, that announcement dint come until late last week, which in turn didn’t give the track nor series officials much time to safely put a safety plan together in order to allow a smaller capacity of fans in.

How weird is it going to be to see the large facility at the Texas Motor Speedway empty? The drivers all admit that it’s going to be a bit eerie, that’s for sure.

“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.”

Alexander Rossi agreed.

“I think leaving Texas it’s going to give us a huge appreciation for the fans,” said last year’s second place finisher. “We’re going to get to go there and do what we love and go back to work, but it’s going to be very surreal.

“In talking to some of the Cup guys, it’s a weird experience, and I think that coming out of this we’re all going to love being able to go to events again, love being able to share that with our fans and partners, and ultimately that’s what I’m looking forward to the most. But yeah, it’s a gap after Texas, but hopefully, that gap leads into the current plan of July 4th weekend. We’ll race at Indianapolis with some fans. Fingers crossed, and that’s what we’re all heading towards, and we all have the same goal in mind.”

While all this is going to be strange leading up to the race, once the drivers climb into their cars, strap on their helmets and fire up their engines, they’re not going to notice any fans being there anyways.

“Is it going to be strange or different being in the racecar, not having fans? I don’t think so from a racing standpoint,” said defending series champion Josef Newgarden. “When you’re in the car and you’re focused in, you’re very locked in on the situation that’s happening, whether it’s practice or qualifying or the race. That’s not going to be altered with no fans.”

Newgarden said what’s going to be weird is the post race activities. You’re so used to feeding off the energy from the crowd after a great race and to step out of your cockpit and hear nothing, well that’s going to be surreal.

“What is going to be strange, if you’re the person that wins the race or you’re a person that finishes second or third, you were just in an intense fight, at least a fight on track trying to win the race, getting out of the car, whether you’re celebrating a win or you’re disappointed with the loss, getting out of the car, trying to feed off that energy that the crowd gives you in that moment, that’s going to be very different. It’s not going to be there,” Newgarden continued. “I think those moments will be very, very strange for everybody. Disappointing in a lot of ways just because that’s a lot of what we love about racing, is doing our part, driving the cars, trying to be competitive in the race, then sharing that energy level with the crowd afterwards. We’re not going to be able to do that in that way to start out.”

Another popular driver is James Hinchcliffe. He agrees with what Kanaan and Newgarden are saying too, but says unfortunately, this isn’t something completely new either.

“Let’s be honest; not a lot of people are sitting in the stands during practice at 1:30 in the afternoon in the blazing Texas sun watching us go around, and I get it,” Hinchcliffe said. “And we’ve had rain delays that have pushed us to either super late at night or on a Monday or whatever, which means fans couldn’t come as a result of the date change.

“So in different scenarios we’ve had different versions of it sort of, and for us more than any other athletes, it’s going to affect us less. We don’t hear the roar of the arena like football or hockey or basketball or baseball. It’s a very sort of different deal. Once we’re in the car, helmets are on, engines are on, you’re not seeing or hearing everything but your car and what’s in front of you on the racetrack. So it’ll definitely be a little bit different but not necessarily something that we’ve never experienced.”