Indy 500 to allow about 135,000 fans this year

[TexasTowelie]

One year after the Indianapolis 500 was held with no fans for the first time, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway plans to host up to 135,000 people for the May 30 race, or 40% of the track's unofficial capacity, Penske Entertainment officials announced Wednesday.

The number of fans, as well as the track's health and safety plan, have been approved by the Marion County Public Health Department.

At that capacity limit, race day at IMS stands to be the highest-attended sporting event in the U.S., and potentially the largest enclosed gathering of people, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

In recent weeks, IMS officials had said the track sold 170,000 tickets for the 105th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. They sent an advisory last Thursday requesting that ticketholders confirm how many of their ticket allotments they planned to use.

Read more: https://www.southbendtribune.com/sports/professional/indy-500-to-allow-about-135-000-fans-this-year/article_ab14c068-a2d7-11eb-942b-33d7501c4cee.html

[jimfields33]

1. Seems everywhere is slowly opening so they might as well too.

Glad it’s at 40 percent.

[louis-t]

2. So if 10,000 get the virus at the race?

That's ok? If 100 of those people die, that's ok? People around me are dropping like flies. That's NOT ok. A friend just lost his wife of 50 years and his 48 year old son to COVID. A client just told me she's infected. Another friend just spent a week in the hospital. They thought he was going to die. So you will condemn people to this fate because you want to watch a race? Because the owners don't want to give up the money from ticket sales?

[redstatebluegirl]

3. The infield will be a huge petri dish full of Trumpers.

[Sylvarose]

4. Ugh...

Many of them will also be out-of-state folks. On a personal note, this also makes my Memorial Day weekend more stressful. I'll be fully vaccinated by then am planning to visit my father that weekend. I haven't visited him in over a year. He's in his seventies.

It's a bit of a drive and I can't get easily get to him from where I live without going around Indy and I hoped I wouldn't have to deal with 500 traffic which I'm sure will only add to the travel time. *sigh*