When Talladega Superspeedway made an announcement Tuesday, all I saw was "will host a limited number of guests."
The immediate response was to find out how to get ahold of one of those tickets, especially since that's been an annual trip for me since my days at McIntire Elementary in Fulton.
Then the full press release revealed I had missed the cut by more than 500 miles.
The June 21 Cup Series race will be open to 5,000 fans who live in Alabama within 150 miles of the speedway. They will be the fortunate few.
It's at least a sign NASCAR has taken the needed steps in making a safe return for professional sports.
Broadcasting iRacing in a similar format as a normal race was a fun way to pass the time between the stoppage and the full return to racing.
While the ratings for those races were impressive considering it's a simulator, there needed to be real race cars circling actual tracks to satisfy the majority of race fans.
NASCAR's return has yet to meet a speed bump. The racing has been competitive and intriguing even to those new to the sport. There's even been some drama with the series' most popular driver having run-ins with the sport's villain Kyle Busch and Joey Logano.
What's been missing is spectators in the seats.
Social media jabs just aren't a good substitute for the boos that would have been raining down at Darlington Raceway after Busch spun out Chase Elliott or the roars that would have blared for Kevin Harvick's tribute to Dale Earnhardt after last week's win at Atlanta.
With that being said, NASCAR has made the correct calls when it comes to safety, including closing the venues to fans.
The next phase is starting to take shape with Homestead-Miami Speedway being the first track to host guests Sunday.
For the first time since March, there will be people in seats. The track is allowing 1,000 select service members inside the gates.
Then the next weekend, Talladega will host 5,000 fans plus those who'll be permitted to park their camper on the backstretch.
That's not a lot of people for a 2.66-mile facility but it goes along with how cautious NASCAR has been, from requiring masks and limiting crew members at the tracks and race shops.
NASCAR has a good thing going right now and it needs to do whatever it takes to avoid another stoppage.
The seats will eventually be filled again, but slow and steady is going to win this race.
III
This is the first installment of a weekly NASCAR column in conjunction with the News Tribune's Riley Racing Challenge. The fantasy racing game will allow readers to compete against fellow area race fans and members of the News Tribune staff. The contest will begin June 21 with the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. More information will be available at newstribune.com/contests.