Daytona 500: Will NASCAR Allow Fans at Great American Race

The 2021 Cup Series season starts on Sunday with the Daytona 500. More than three dozen drivers will line up for the Great American Race, hoping to win and secure a spot in the postseason. These drivers will do so in front of a noticeably smaller crowd.

In early December, news surfaced that NASCAR would only allow a limited number of fans at Daytona International Speedway due to COVID-19. The fan-favorite destination can hold 101,500 people, but roughly 30% will have the opportunity to purchase tickets. NASCAR is aiming to allow only 30,000 fans to guarantee social distancing between groups.

"The first and foremost obviously is trying to keep our competitors and our fans safe when they come to our facility, so we are eager as all sports are to welcome fans back," NASCAR President Steve Phelps told the Sports Business Journal in late January. "We were very aggressive in bringing fans back to this sport, so for us, it's more of the same early on, obviously. So at the Daytona 500, we will have fans. In fact, we'll have a fairly robust number of fans, probably in the 30,000 range plus camping, but we have to do it responsibly."

The Daytona 500 marks the third time that NASCAR has allowed fans to attend Daytona International Speedway events. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 and the GoBowling 235 took place at the track and allowed limited crowds. The Road Course race featured an estimated 10,000 in the stands, while the regular-season finale boosted to 25,000.

The season-opening race takes place one week after Super Bowl LV in Tampa. The NFL allowed an estimated 25,000 fans to watch the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers battle for the Lombardi Trophy. These fans had to follow similar guidelines regarding mask-wearing, social distancing, and temperature checks.

"It's going to be the largest sporting event that happens in the United States since COVID hit," Daytona International Speedway President Chip Wile told the Daytona Beach News-Journal in January. Wile also confirmed that the grandstands would hold 30% capacity while a few thousand more fans headed to the infield. These fans in the infield will be able to go into the FanZone, but they will not have access to the pit road, the garage, and paddock areas.

The 2021 Cup Series season starts on Sunday with the Daytona 500. The race starts at 2:30 p.m. ET and will air on Fox. Jeff Gordon, Mike Joy, and Clint Bowyer will provide the call.