2021 Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic up in the air as Premier Speedway awaits clarity on 'COVID Normal'

It comes as the club announced a decision to cancel its three pre-Christmas meetings, including the Victorian sprintcar title and Max's Race, due to coronavirus restrictions.

Premier Speedway general manager David Mills said a call on the three-night classic - one of the most prestigious races on the Australian calendar - would depend on the state of play in Victoria and the crowd capacity.

Click here to join our private group for The Standard subscribers to connect with each other and our reporters about what's making news in the region.

The classic is scheduled for January 22-24 with Warrnambool's James McFadden, who is currently racing in America, the defending champion.

"At this stage we still have that date. We would've intended to go live with our ticketing around October 20 so our next update will be then," Mills told The Standard.

"That will include a definitive (call) on the classic, whether it's staying as it is, which being a realist is highly unlikely.

"However that will give us an opportunity to forecast more as to what they (the state government) are planning with the roadmap out and if everything is brought forward and (we might) get some sort of indication as to what crowd numbers look like if we do go to 'COVID Normal'."

Mills said he was "not confident we'll be able to run the classic in its normal guise".

"If that is the case I would prefer to protect the event and postpone the 49^th to the year after and just have a year where it's not run and maybe put something in its place because we don't want to damage something that's been built up over 49 years to something pretty special," he said.

"We want to continue to build it, not have to rebuild it."

The three pre-Christmas meetings - Victorian sprintcar title on November 21, an SRA Series round and Jack Willsher Cup on December 5 and Max's Race on December 19 - have been cancelled.

Those meetings also included support classes such as junior sedans and late models.

The December 5 meeting would have also celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the Allansford complex's opening.

"Unfortunately those dates have been cancelled but it's not to say some of those events might be shuffled back should we get to a point where we can re-schedule some dates and get some crowds back," Mills said.

Speedway Australia has given racing in Victoria the green light now without crowds but Mills said it was "simply not viable".

Premier Speedway reserve seating and season passes can't be sold as yet "without knowing what our calendar looks like".