ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) said it has filed a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order against Ace Speedway.
The Temporary Restraining Order enforces the state health department’s abatement order.
The NCDHHS said a lawyer for the administration will be at a hearing Thursday morning at the Alamance County Courthouse.
Governor Roy Cooper issued an abatement order on Ace Speedway Friday to immediately close the racetrack, according to NCDHHS.
"The Speedway’s recent actions constitute an imminent hazard for the spread of COVID-19, an acute threat to North Carolinians which must not continue," NCDHHS officials said.
The order follows a letter sent Thursday by Cooper's office alerting ACE Speedway that their actions were in "open defiance" of his Phase 2 executive order, which limits mass gatherings to no more than 25 people. In the letter, Cooper requested for Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson to enforce the order. However, Ace Speedway held a race event with thousands of spectators two days later. The racetrack said the event was a "peaceful protest of injustice and inequality everywhere."
Sheriff Johnson said he didn't enforce the order after learning that other racing events were happening in the state.