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Coronavirus: Indianapolis 500 to go on before limited crowd

INDIANAPOLIS — Organizers announced Friday that the Indianapolis 500 will be held in August in front of a limited number of fans at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Previously officials had postponed the event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, from Sunday, May 24, to Sunday, Aug. 23.

J. Douglas Boles, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said officials were committed to holding the race in August.

“We will be limiting attendance to approximately 50 percent of venue capacity, and we are also finalizing a number of additional carefully considered health and safety measures,” he said. “We’ll unveil the specific details of our comprehensive plan in the coming weeks.”

Speedway officials said they plan to contact people who have tickets for the Indy 500 to see whether they still plan to attend. They also encouraged people at high-risk of severe complications from the novel coronavirus to push their tickets to 2021 and stay home.

Officials said ticket holders who choose not to attend this year's race will be able to get credits for their tickets.

As of Thursday night, the most recent date for which data was available, 44,140 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Indiana, according to state health officials. More than 2,400 people have died statewide of the viral infection.