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Indy 500 plan announced for Aug. 23 race

Start your engines.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has announced their plan for this year’s Indy 500.

On Tuesday, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway said the race will be held on August 23, in front a 25% capacity crowd — just under 90,000 fans.

Mask-wearing will be required at the track and contact-less temperature-taking will happen at the points of entry.

The decision was made after responses from a ticket holder survey that was sent out last month. Ticket sales will end on Friday.

President and CEO Mark Miles says he is “optimistic” for the race to happen unless, he says “the COVID-19 world crashes in on us.”

IMS says it has prepared a detailed, nearly 100-page plan that provides guidelines and protocols for how the race will be run, including the reassignment of seats for social distancing purposes, the requirement of masks, temperature checks, and distribution of hand sanitizer.

“In June, we announced the race was on and that attendance would be limited to no more than 50 percent of capacity,” said Penske Entertainment Corp. President & CEO Mark Miles. “We also made clear we intended to do things differently this year. By offering credits to fans who had previously purchased tickets, encouraging those over 65 to stay at home, limiting attendance in the infield, reducing tickets in our suites and promising fans their decision to not attend would not impact their seniority or right to renew tickets for 2021, we now anticipate attendance at approximately 25 percent of capacity. We will welcome fans back, and we have an aggressive plan in place, which has been developed through collaboration with national, state and local health experts.”

A conference call to go over the details is scheduled for Wednesday.

Network Indiana contributed to this story

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