3/18/2020
34 Raceway
COVID-19 Update 03/18/2020
03/18/2020:
Greetings race fans!
Here's the latest updates on COVID-19's impact on 34 Raceway:
To address the obvious, Governor Reynolds did make a proclamation yesterday that there are to be no gatherings over 10 people. It specifically reads: "Mass Gathering: Social, community, spiritual, religious, recreational, leisure, and sporting gatherings and events of more than 10 people are hereby prohibited at all locations and venues, including but not limited to parades, festivals, conventions, and fundraisers. Planned large gatherings and events must be canceled or postponed until after termination of this disaster." The disaster was proclaimed for 30 days from 16 March 2020 which means it's through 16 April 2020. That does not mean we're cancelling everything immediately. 34 Raceway owners continue to hold out hope that people will heed warnings and experts can slow the community spread of the illness but only time will tell. Until then, we continue to remain positive and will cancel events as the mandate remains in place and not before. Our Kick-Off Party scheduled for Saturday, March 21 is hereby cancelled at this time in accordance with this mandate.
What does this mean for the remainder of the season? We've gotten messages about the status of World of Outlaws in July and one that actually asked if we were cancelling the whole season. No, our season is NOT cancelled. World of Outlaws is still 3.5 months away. We hope that less than a month from now you're sitting in your regular seat at 34 Raceway drinking a cold drink and eating some nachos or a racetrack tenderloin. We can't say for sure what will happen but assure you that we want to race and will do everything we can to race as soon as they give us the green flag to do so.
I (Jessi) would like to address something with you, our fans and supporters. I've seen many people post on events and say "greedy promoters not cancelling" or other shaming, hurtful things. Midwestern racing promoters only have so many chances to get you to their tracks in a year. For us in 2020, it's 24. You likely go to work week in and week out to earn your living but imagine if you could only work 24 days in a year and in that time, if it rains, you don't work. If it's too hot, you cancel work. If there's a pandemic, you're shut out of work and can't go. Payments on racetracks don't stop if you don't race or during the off season. Many of these promoters are in the same situation we're in which is wanting, wishing and praying to race but not being able to due to whatever reason. Afford them the respect to know that many of them, not all, have the right reasons for not immediately cancelling their races. Like us, they are concerned for the public health and well being first and foremost. What if the governor lifts the mandate early and we've already cancelled a whole month of races? We would not be able to get the information to the fans / teams in time and may not be able to race. Let's face it, the people attending races and racing at our tracks are the ones paying the bills along with our outstanding marketing partners and sponsors. That's why we choose to proceed on a week by week basis as opposed to cancelling all of our races before knowing what is going to happen. This isn't about money for us. If it was, we certainly wouldn't have purchased a racetrack! It's about supporting fellow racers and fans and providing them with a place to continue doing what they love.
We will continue to update you folks as things develop on our side of things. We hope to see you soon and please stay up to date on what's going on at 34 Raceway both on our Facebook and Twitter as well as our website. Be well & be kind to one another.
Submitted By: Jessi Mynatt
