TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Thunderstorms over Talladega Superspeedway have delayed the start of Sunday’s race.
The race is the first amid the coronavirus pandemic in which NASCAR opened the gates for up to 5,000 fans. Those in the grandstands were urged to seek shelter roughly 30 minutes before the scheduled start.
NASCAR allowed 1,000 military members to attend last weekend’s rain-disrupted race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The event was stopped several times for more than three hours of total delays.
NASCAR has banned the Confederate flag from being displayed at its events but supporters of the symbol still managed to be seen Sunday. Vehicles lined the boulevard outside the speedway waving the flag and a plane flew above the track pulling a banner of the Confederate flag that said “Defund NASCAR.”
NASCAR has not stated how exactly it plans to stop fans from displaying the flag on track property and none of the instances Sunday at Talladega were inside the facility.
