I have thought about writing this all weekend but there was just so much to take in and so much happening seemingly minute by minute, hour by hour that I wasn’t sure where to start. I do know that March 12th, 2020 will be a day I won’t soon forget. The news reports last Thursday were coming so fast and furious that it was difficult to process it all. It was actually rather depressing honestly, it just kind of took the wind out of your sails.
I must say that at almost 50 years old, I have never seen anything like this in my life. I am sure this goes for most of you but how in the world in a matter of just a few weeks did nearly the entire world get shut down over a virus? I am certainly not a medical person and don’t claim to be but the reactions have been swift and severe and I am guessing rightly so. I am not one to judge whether it is being blown out of proportion or not as I just don’t have the smarts or the insight to make that judgement. When you see international travel completely shut down however, that says something about the importance of it.
I know that sports are just something most of us do for fun or watch for entertainment so it isn’t life or death necessarily like it is for some that are actually dealing with the virus but it has just been surreal to see these headlines keep coming up from all walks of entertainment.
You know it is a serious deal when not just one or two but nearly ALL sporting events across not only the US but across the world are canceled. We’re talking NBA, MLB, PGA, College Sports, NASCAR, Indy Car, F1, XFL, etc. all shut down for a period of time TBD. How serious must it be to COMPLETELY cancel the entire NCAA post season for all winter and spring sports!? I feel terrible for all these student-athletes that have spent their whole life hoping to get that chance to shine in the tournament and get the attention of a potential professional scout.
As someone that makes his living putting on motorsports events, my team and I are of course watching everything very closely. Thankfully for us at Lucas Oil Speedway and the Lucas Oil MLRA, we have a few weeks before the season actually starts so I’m hoping we’ll be OK. For some of our entities however such as the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series they have events scheduled this coming weekend in Ohio and Indiana. I know they are doing all they can to take counsel from the appropriate governments and health agencies, as well as our executive management team to know how to proceed.
The thing about these types of events aren’t just about losing the event, the event promoters livelihood can be at stake as they schedule these races early in the year so they can hopefully start out the year with a successful event and put a little money in the bank after a long winter of inaction. If it gets extended, that just makes things hard on everybody. The sanctioning body also isn’t making any money if they are sitting home for weeks on end missing events nor are the racers that actually race for a living in this type of series so hopefully any schedule adjustments if required are short and the events can be made up. It is going to really start to hit hard and add up in a hurry for teams and groups that are already financially challenged. Any money they might have made from speed weeks is likely tied up now in payroll, fresh equipment, etc. and now to potentially be shut down could be very devastating for many of them that depend on that purse money to foot the bill.
We did see an immediate effect on the world of truck and tractor pulling as a large event this past weekend in KC put on by another sanctioning group was unable to be run with spectators present due to mandates by the government of the city of Kansas City. They put the event on with competitors only with no fans in the stands and promoted their pay per view platform to get what revenue they could to cover the cost of the event. Lucas Oil Speedway had a trade show scheduled in Springfield this past weekend and an hour before the doors were to open on Friday afternoon, the City of Springfield shut it down.
I am hopeful that these early drastic measures pay off and it gets quickly contained but I don’t believe it has peaked yet here in the US and I expect to see another roller coaster week of news reports, stock market swings, and additional sanctions to deter travel and public gatherings.
We need to keep everyone that is susceptible to this virus in our thoughts and prayers. My father in law for instance is 88 and lives by himself. He is a great health and does very well on a normal basis but I know he is staying put and not going out to risk getting sick any more than he has too.
Hopefully in a week or two, we will be able to see some sort of light at the end of the tunnel as long as everyone continues to do as the health agencies ask and keeps it from spreading any further than it has to. It is not just here in the US either, countries across the world are doing very similar things so we have to trust the process and take care of our fellow man to be sure we win this battle together. Please wash your hands, use hand sanitizer and spare a square if you can.
DR
RacerDan’s Ramblings 