Speedway in Gastonia opens for Monday night race

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Carolina Speedway in Gastonia opened Monday night for the Hot Laps Race where the grandstand and concessions were both open.

The owner told the Gaston Gazette that they started with a smaller race to see how things go.

He said families can sit together but otherwise, people must practice social distancing.

Thousands of racing fans packed into a another speedway in North Carolina Saturday night.

Very few people had on face masks in the large crowd at Ace Speedway in Alamance County. The county sheriff said he would not interfere with the event and called Governor Cooper’s executive order “unconstitutional.”

Phase Two limits outside gatherings to 25 people.

The people who went to the Alamance event told local news outlets they were not going to live in fear.

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“We are out here because we are tired of being stuck in the house,” one Alamance resident said. “We are not afraid of the virus one bit.”

“I mean, I’m wearing my mask,” another resident said. “I would have liked to have seen more people wearing a mask.”

Racing staff did wear face masks and signs were posted encouraging social distancing and sanitation.

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