Playoffs move on without any of usual pomp or circumstance

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A NASCAR race is far more than 500 miles of left turns. It’s a turbo-charged Mardi Gras of booze-soaked infield campsites, concerts, fireworks and patriotic displays.

Entertainers give the command to start engines. Political candidates show up. Some of the world’s top CEOs sit in on the drivers meetings, then stroll down pit lane to mingle.

Fans can get the same kind of oh-so-close access at tracks. There is no other sport that offers the same pipeline to its stars or the action – teams can and do give spots on their pit stand to honorary guests ranging from friends, family or corporate partners – and it’s a critical cog in how NASCAR does business and what draws people to the races.

This was all before the pandemic, of course.

NASCAR cut every bit of its pageantry from race weekends when it resumed competition in May. The party has been put on pause and it will be most noticeable over the next 10 weeks of the NASCAR playoffs, the most important stretch of the season.

“It’s quiet. You roll in on race morning and there’s nobody around,” said reigning series champion Kyle Busch. “It just seems like every track we’ve gone to has pretty much been a ghost town.”

NASCAR completed four events — including the soldout Daytona 500, where President Donald Trump gave the command — before the pandemic. NASCAR was idle for 10 weeks before it got back on track, one of the first major sports to return to competition.

The first races were at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, in front of empty grandstands and under a protocol that allows only essential personnel into the infield. Owners can’t even visit their race cars and NASCAR’s top leadership doesn’t enter the infield.

NASCAR returns to Darlington on Sunday for the playoff opener, the infield still locked down but up to 8,000 spectators will be allowed to attend. Darlington joins Bristol in Tennessee, Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, Texas Motor Speedway and the championship finale at Phoenix as venues allowing limited spectators during the next 10 weeks.

Las Vegas, Charlotte, Kansas and Martinsville, Virginia are awaiting state approval; next week’s race in Richmond, Virginia, will be without fans.

Top- seeded Kevin Harvick won at Darlington in the series’ return to racing and promptly noted the silence in his celebration. He’s won seven times since racing resumed and is unequivocal that the emptiness has an effect. Drivers feed off the fan reaction, some even use it as a motivator, and the emptiness has been a drag.