State Sports Report
State Sports Report

Atlanta Motor Speedway cuts staff amid racing shutdown

Races at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., have been called off amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Credit: Scott Cunningham

Credit: Scott Cunningham

Races at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., have been called off amid the coronavirus outbreak.
By The Associated Press
April 15, 2020

Speedway Motorsports, owner and operator of Atlanta Motor Speedway and other tracks that host NASCAR’s top Cup Series, has laid off 180 employees and furloughed 100 as part of a company restructuring during the sports shutdown.

Speedway Motorsports owns the Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, Kentucky, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, Sonoma and Texas tracks.

It is not known how many workers at the Hampton facility have been affected.

The coronavirus pandemic caused NASCAR to suspend the season four events into a 36-race schedule. To date, Speedway Motorsports has had its races at Atlanta, Texas and Bristol postponed.

Tracks receive a significant financial payout from NASCAR’s television contract, but that revenue has stopped without racing.

Both NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports are hoping to restart the season May 24 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

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