The odds of having the Indianapolis 500 actually grew on Friday. I strongly cautioned that there was no way that 300k+ spectators would be allowed to be in the same venue at the same time any time in 2020. There was just no way.

So, when we hear it’s “all or nothing” for fans at Indy for the prestigious race, it made me go down the line of “nothing.” I mean, there would be no feasible way to play host to over a quarter of a million people on Aug. 23. That made my mind up that October was going to be the best case for the ‘500 to be run in 2020 — if at all.

Then, IMS made the surprise decision to just cut the attendance in half now. That tough call will eventually be met with tons of drawback from fans not able to secure tickets. But, with half capacity, the odds of having a race in August now seems more likely.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials confirmed June 26 their commitment to welcoming spectators to the 104th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, Aug. 23, with the venue capacity limited to 50 percent attendance.

“The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” was postponed from its original date of Sunday, May 24 due to the COVID-19 health crisis.

“We’re committed to running the Indy 500 on Sunday, Aug. 23 and will welcome fans to the world’s greatest racing venue,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. “We will be limiting attendance to approximately 50 percent of venue capacity, and we are also finalizing a number of additional carefully considered health and safety measures. We’ll unveil the specific details of our comprehensive plan in the coming weeks.”

IMS is communicating with existing ticketholders to learn of their intent to use their race tickets. Credits will be available for ticketholders who choose to adjust their order. Individuals in high-risk groups are encouraged to consider staying home and returning in 2021.

In close consultation with public health officials, the IMS team is also working diligently to finalize a comprehensive plan of health measures that will be unveiled for spectators in the near future.

Right now, there’s approximately 175k tickets sold for the race. How many more beyond that allowed to be sold is still up in the air. It comes down to current ticketholders and how many tickets that they will still use. Then, once they know for sure how many of that 175k sold will still intend to attend, that will further see how many tickets are left for those without any.