At a speedway protest over NC’s COVID-19 crowd limits, the crowd doesn’t show
Stock car racing has turned into the state’s leading battleground over COVID-19 restrictions, with track owners taking their fights to reopen into courtrooms and the streets.
But on a beautiful Saturday, as 311 Speedway in Stokes County called for a protest over crowd limits, the crowds mostly took a pass.
Despite a live band and a free cheeseburger and fries with a ticket purchase, so few people came out that the demonstration was legal under Gov. Roy Cooper’s guidelines, which limit outdoor gatherings to 25 people.
Counting the band and racetrack staff, the daytime headcount occasionally flirted with 25.
Even as the race began around 7 p.m. at the speedway north of Winston-Salem, the stands sat largely empty. Families clustered together, but the concrete risers and wooden bleachers showed wide gaps.
Those who brought masks to wear largely set them on the ground, being too far away from their neighbors to need them. By sundown, the stands had nearly filled — hundreds more fans than the 25 allowed. But the protest, set to last all Saturday afternoon, had fizzled.
The events at 311 stood in stark contrast to recent races at Ace Speedway in Alamance County, which saw spectators lined up by the hundreds, close together, drinking beer and cheering in the packed stands.
Throughout its legal battles, Ace has been accused of failing to cooperate with DHHS to guarantee fans’ safety.
A crew member for one of the racing teams that participated in last week’s event at Ace Speedway has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a Saturday report from Short Track Scene’s Matt Weaver.
On Wednesday, a Superior Court judge in Alamance County backed the state DHHS in keeping those limits in place at Ace Speedway, which held several races with thousands of fans, few of whom wore face masks.
Reopen NC, the group that has staged large rallies in downtown Raleigh opposing the state’s restrictions, held a “cruise-in” protest in Burlington on Saturday, holding a raffle to support Ace Speedway’s legal fees.
DHHS has heard concerns about 311 and other speedways in the state, but 311 owner Mike Fulp has vented frustration over Democratic Gov. Cooper’s rules for mass gatherings.
“I’m tired of our governor shutting our country down,” Fulp told the Chatham Journal. “Democrat or Republican, I don’t care. No one has the right to shut you down.”
Campaign signs for Cooper’s Republican opponent this fall, N.C. Lt Gov. Dan Forest, were displayed at Saturday’s 311 protest. And the Confederate flag, now banned at NASCAR tracks, flew high at 311. On his personal Facebook page, Fulp posted this message Saturday night: “White Lives Matter.”
The speedway sold no alcohol Saturday, and it placed portable sinks at the entrance with bottles of dish soap.
But the crowds did not come. As the race began, and fans turned their attention to engines and mud.
