FORT WORTH, Texas — When the Indy cars finally rev their engines Saturday and take the first lap around the Texas Motor Speedway track, they'll do so in front of no fans.
Well, almost no fans.
"I actually live at Lone Star Tower at Texas Motor Speedway at turn 2 of the track," Barry Tisdale told WFAA in a video interview Friday.
Yes, you read that right: Tisdale lives in a condo at TMS.
"You can see above my right shoulder there, that's actually the Speedway Club, which is on turn 1," he said during the interview.
It turns out, dozens of people call TMS home. And for Tisdale and his wife, who are huge racing fans, the set-up is ideal. It provides incredible access to races, but is also quiet and private when there aren't races.
"We love it," Tisdale said, adding they moved into the condo full-time more than three years ago, leaving their former Grapevine home behind.
Residents' windows or balconies face the track, giving people a permanent front-row seat.
But because of planning issues around the pandemic, they'll be the only spectators as the Genesys 300 Indy Car Series kicks off.
"It's going to be different," said David Hart, vice president of public relations at TMS. "They're going to look across at the grandstands, they're going to be empty."
But Hart says race fans should be assured they're working hard and coming up with plans for spectators to safely return to the grandstand for future races. NASCAR comes to TMS in July.
"We're looking forward to just getting back to racing," Hart said.
Tisdale said people are shocked when he tells them where he lives.
"The racing is a part of it, but when there’s not races, it's pretty intimate," he said.
The pandemic has changed the experience this year. Instead of races this spring, Tisdale has been watching the dozens of high school graduations TMS has held from his balcony, including his own alma mater, Euless Trinity.
Tisdale is looking forward to watching the race Saturday, but looking even more forward to when everyone else can join, too.