Off-road motorcycle racing comes to Central Indiana, open to spectators

Racing continues in Indiana this weekend, but this time it will be two wheels instead of four. The Guaranteed Rate Ironman National features the fastest motocross riders on the planet from all over the world. Tim Cotter, MX Sports Pro Racing, event director joined us today to tell us what you can expect at the event. Here’s more from him:

This is the world’s most prestigious off-road motorcycle racing series, dating back to 1972. The event has been coming to the greater Indy area for the event in Crawfordsville since 2014.

This year’s event is called the Guaranteed Rate Ironman National and will take place on Saturday, August 29, from Ironman Raceway. Traditionally this race has served as the 12th and final round of our championship, but due to COVID and a more condensed schedule for the 2020 championship, it Is instead the third of 9 rounds. The 2020 season was originally scheduled to begin in mid May and conclude this weekend, but COVID ultimately put the championship on a 3-month delay, with the new seasons beginning in mid August and running through mid October.

The event in Crawfordsville will be open to spectators, albeit with a limited capacity in an effort to adhere to social distancing policies that have been determine between the event organizer (Tim Cotter) and local government and health officials within Montgomery County.

Extensive and ongoing discussions with local officials is what has ultimately allowed for this event to take place. Tim is one of the principal members of the Race Leadership Team Safe-to-Race Task Force, which is a collections of high level members of various US racing series that banded together to properly find ways to bring live racing back into their respective event markets. This group was able to develop the “Safe-to-Race Toolkit” which serves as a working blueprint on how to safely host a live racing event by working directly with local officials, obtaining all the necessary paperwork and approvals in order to to so. Considering each state has specific COVID protocols that have been established, be it on a county or statewide level, every event will run in accordance with the local guidelines.

While spectators will be permitted at the event, part of the social distancing rules will include a designated area for the public that separated fans from participants and event staff in the paddock. The paddock will be closed to the public, only allowing entry for credentialed event personnel, the media, team representatives, and competitors. Within the paddock is a Mandatory Mask Zone as well as “pods” that have been created for each participating team, the media, event staff and others that is intended to minimize person-to-person interaction beyond the specific group any one person is assigned to. Temperature checks will be given to every individual prior to entering the paddock.

Due to Indiana’s mask mandate, fans will also be required to wear masks. Signage will be present on site and event organizers will provide masks for those who need one. Social distancing will be greatly emphasized as well.

We want to emphasize that your viewers are aware of how extensive the planning process has been to ensure the health and safety of fans that may be in attendance, as well as participants and event personnel.

Tickets to the Ironman National start at $45 for Saturday Adult General Admission and $20 for Saturday Kids General Admission. Gates open at 8AM, while the event officially gets underway with opening ceremonies at 12:30PM.

Tickets and event information can be found here, with online ticket purchasing strongly recommended.

For more, visit the social media below:

Instagram & Twitter: @promotocross

Facebook: @americanmotocross