The Port City race includes a maximum entry of 40 midgets and 40 micros to properly social distance through the pit area at the race track.
Unlike the World of Outlaws return to racing occurring Friday night at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway as a no-fans, pay-per-view only special, the T-Town Midget Showdown will race in front of a limited crowd of 400 spectators.
“Where that number came from was from some of the recommendations Oklahoma made for entertainment venues. They recommended no more than 50 percent capacity,” Bacon explained. “The capacity at Port City is right at 1,000 people, so to be on the safe side, we made it 400. We feel like that will give us enough space to get spread out, keeping families together but having space in between the groups.
“We felt like we could have probably pushed it a little bit more, but it was a little bit too big of a risk. We want this (race) to happen for sure, so we don’t want to push any boundaries,” Bacon continued. “We’re willing to swallow a little bit to get everyone back racing. We’re not doing this just for us. We obviously aren’t doing this to lose money — we’re going to try to make a little bit — but we also are putting our efforts toward getting the ball rolling for motorsports in general and being another step toward normalcy for everybody.”
Bacon will not race in the T-Town Midget Showdown in order to focus on his main task at hand for the weekend: making sure the show runs as smoothly as possible.
“At the start, I was planning on racing it if it was typical circumstances and everything, because once the racing gets going, USAC really takes the reins and they run the show, and then obviously Port City has their own officials for their races normally. So I wasn’t going to have to worry about it, but now there are challenges that I’m sure we won’t even know about until they come up,” Bacon explained. “I want to make sure that I can be there to address those if and when they do happen. That’s vital as a promoter.”
But even though he’s not racing at Port City, Bacon is happy that the road forward is at least coming somewhat into focus for the short-track community.
“Not knowing when we were going to get back to racing was almost more frustrating than just not racing,” he noted. “If we knew it was going to be five or six weeks, that’s one thing, because you can see the end point out there and plan for it. But not knowing whether it could be 12 weeks or three was enough to just keep your nerves going.
“Thankfully there’s a first step now, and hopefully more will follow.”
The circumstances might not be ideal, but Bacon still wants the inaugural T-Town Midget Showdown to be just that — the first one of many — for his Elite Racing Promotions brand, the home track that he grew up racing at and event partners Werco Manufacturing and B&H Contractors.
“Having this show at Port City is a natural combination for everyone,” Bacon said. “I cut my teeth there and it’s a place that is near and dear to us. We’re hoping it’s a successful one and our plan is to make this an annual event, hopefully, with not as many obstacles so that next time we can make it bigger and better.”
To order tickets for the T-Town Midget Showdown, click here.