Indy 500 Moves Ahead Without Fans, and Twitter Is Going Off

Roger Penske and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway upset racing fans on Tuesday with a major announcement. They confirmed that the 104th Indy 500 will take place on Aug. 23 without fans. The original plan was to allow up to 25% capacity with enhanced social distancing guidelines, but this is no longer the case. The iconic race will move forward in front of an empty Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"The number of cases in Marion County has tripled while the positivity rate has doubled. We said from the beginning of the pandemic we would put the health and safety of our community first, and while hosting spectators at a limited capacity with our robust plan in place was appropriate in late June, it is not the right path forward based on the current environment" the track said in a statement Tuesday. The speedway has space for at least 350,000 spectators, but Penske did not want to put the fans or competitors at risk.

When the fans saw this news, they sounded off on social media. They tweeted a mixture of outrage and disappointment. Some fans complained about "political BS" forcing the decision while others criticized Penske. They expressed the opinion that he "should have planned" better for the pandemic and shied away from making comments about fan attendance.