For Texas Motor Speedway track president Eddie Gossage, the “economy of scale” of an IndyCar/NASCAR empty venue doubleheader in June could solve two problems at once.
The longtime track executive spoke out against hosting the tentative NTT IndyCar Series season opener in June unless he could do so with fans in attendance. But due to the ongoing coronavirus restrictions, that doesn’t seem plausible during the summer months.
Unlike NASCAR events, IndyCar host venues do not get paid a portion of the television contract. In other words: Texas Motor Speedway doesn’t generate revenue for an IndyCar race unless the gates are open for spectators.
Meanwhile, NASCAR is working through contingency plans to begin promoting empty venue races in Southern states with minimal restrictions so it can begin paying teams and tracks the television capital needed for each to meet its operating budgets.
That’s to say nothing of capitalizing on the promotion of sporting events when so few are active during the coronavirus shutdown.
To that end, Gossage told NBC Sports on Monday night that he would be open to hosting both IndyCar and NASCAR on a single weekend in June to offset the loss of contesting both events without fans in attendance.
This sentiment got a boost when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave approval for the state to host NASCAR events without spectators.
“That is in the economy of things,” Gossage said. “There is a scale of economics in place. You already have the key staff in place—EMTs, firemen, ambulance, doctors and nurses in the infield care center. TV networks have cable and fiber installed. On and on, there is an economy of that, that would perhaps allow us to do an IndyCar race without fans in the stands …
“The perfect situation is as things open up, and we are holding out hope that is the case by June 6, we could have a race with fans in the stands and do the IndyCar thing here. There is nothing quite like having Indy cars live and in person at Texas Motor Speedway. But I said it last week, we couldn’t do it without a gate.
“If, and this is an if, we don’t know that NASCAR will even pick that weekend to put their races on. If NASCAR says, that is a good weekend, we could run all four races in the weekend.”
More bluntly, Gossage told NBC Sports that it’s unlikely Texas Motor Speedway could host IndyCar this season, unless it’s part of a NASCAR doubleheader.
“If the IndyCar race doesn’t happen that weekend, it would be unlikely to find another date where we could afford to do it,” Gossage said. “I have my fingers crossed we could get it done that weekend and have a great race, which is the norm for the first weekend in June and two weekends after Indy to do it here.”
From a coronavirus safety standpoint, both the NASCAR and IndyCar garages would be kept isolated from each other. Gossage has stated that he will conduct temperature checks as a safety precaution, despite critics hoping for widespread testing that simply isn’t available yet.
Gossage has the capacity, and thus the means, to sit fans 6 feet apart from each other once it is deemed safe to do so.
For now, Gossage has placed his figurative eggs in the NASCAR/IndyCar doubleheader basket.
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