Mark Story: Our state’s first major sports event to come back? Why the smart money is on Kentucky Speedway.

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With the Kentucky Derby moved to Sept. 5 from its traditional perch on the first Saturday in May, the next scheduled “big event” in sports in the commonwealth is NASCAR’s Quaker State 400.

Presently, the 10th renewal of the Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway is still scheduled to run July 11.

“The schedule is going to get reshuffled. I don’t know that the Quaker State 400 is going to move necessarily, but it could,” Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark Simendinger said. “Races will move around the schedule in order to get the (full season of) 36 races in. That’s just a given.”

On radio shows during the ongoing efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic, a popular topic has been predicting which major American sport will return first from the current shutdown of live events.

For at least three reasons, I have consistently predicted NASCAR will be the first back.

1.) Available to the first sport to return, there figures to be a huge TV audience starved for any kind of live event. After a period of waning popularity, NASCAR would benefit from reaping that exposure.

2.) The finances in NASCAR are heavily contingent on its TV contracts with Fox and NBC. Many team sponsorship agreements are also tied to the races being shown on TV. You have to run televised races to reap those payments.

3.) There is a culture of risk built into racing stock cars at speeds sometimes approaching 200 mph. Those who do that might be more comfortable taking a chance on returning to work amid a global pandemic than competitors in other sports.

Now, it appears NASCAR is taking firm steps toward a return to racing by mid-May. Autoweek.com reported Tuesday that NASCAR has circulated a revised, eight-race schedule that would mark its return.

It would begin at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, May 17, followed by another race at Darlington (Wednesday, May 20). There would then be races at Charlotte (Sunday May 24, the Coca-Cola 600, followed by a second race on Wednesday May 27); Martinsville (Sunday, May 31); Bristol (Wednesday, June 3); Atlanta (Sunday, June 7) and Miami (Sunday, June 14).

NASCAR’s path to resumption was paved last week by the decision by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to deem that team race shop workers — the people who build the race cars — are “essential” and could return to work as long as social-distancing measures were adhered to.

It seems likely NASCAR’s return will come without fans in the stands. Simendinger says Kentucky Speedway officials are doing contingency planning for holding events without a crowd.

“I think it would be irresponsible if you didn’t (do such planning),” Simendinger said. “I hope we have fans. I hope we have a packed grandstand. But that would be quite a shift (in the public-health situation) between now and July.”

By the nature of its competition, NASCAR is well-positioned, Simendinger thinks, to safely race in an era of social-distancing and the required wearing of masks.

“If you really think about it, our (sport) starts with a kind of natural distancing and a natural personal-protective-equipment situation,” Simendinger says. “Most of our (competitors) have got fire suits on, helmets, face masks, gloves and they are spread out over a pretty good distance.”

Simendinger acknowledges there would be no way for crew members to practice social distancing while servicing cars on pit stops. “There’s no getting around that,” he says. “They are going to have to get within 6 feet of each other to do that.”

However, NASCAR is reportedly considering not having live pit stops during its initial races after the return to mitigate that risk.

Autoweek.com reported that face masks and temperature checks will be required by NASCAR of anyone entering a race venue as a means of preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

Before the national emergency caused by the pandemic was declared March 13, NASCAR had completed four Cup Series races. Since then, eight races have been postponed through May 9.

“We’ve got eight races to fit in. That, obviously, may require some (race dates) to move around,” Simendinger said. “However this deal plays out, safety is going to be our number one consideration. … We will fill in around that.”

Bottom line: The 2020 Quaker State 400 may or may not run on July 11.

It probably will be run without fans in the grandstand.

Still, it seems likely that the 10th annual running of the NASCAR Cup Series race in Sparta at some point this summer will mark the state of Kentucky’s return to major sports competition.

“Right now, we are full steam ahead on the date we have,” Simendinger said. “But, there may be changes to the (Cup Series) schedule. If that happens, it happens. We will adjust.”

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QUAKER STATE 400

What: NASCAR Cup Series race

Where: Kentucky Speedway in Sparta

When: July 11

Defending champion: Kurt Busch

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