For anyone clicking the live video button for Thursday’s Schaeffer Oil Tar Heel Invitational presented by PitStopUSA.com at Tri-County Racetrack, the on-track action looked like any other race. But when the camera caught the occasional glimpse of the bleachers at promoter Ray Cook’s hometown, track it was obvious this wasn't just any other race.

Watch the full replay from Thursday's Tarheel Invitational at Tri-County.

The roar of the engines was there. The smell of exhaust from spent racing fuel was there. The fans, however, were noticeably absent from the country’s first Dirt Late Model race since the sport was shut down in mid-March by the coronavirus pandemic. That’s simply the way it had to be to follow local and state social distancing guidelines.

While the spectator-free event — in some ways made-for-TV, or, in this brave new world, made-for-streaming? — was held under the most unusual of circumstances, it spurred massive online interest, triggered tweeted pledges of thousands of dollars in bonuses and helped dirt racing return from hiatus as an unqualified success.

The absence of the sport's greatest cheerleaders was not lost on the 25 competitors who turned out for the invitation-only event. Besides the lack of spectators, teams were also limited to only two crew members and Cook used a skeleton staff to cover official roles. There were no concessions. Just three media members were on site.

“It’s kinda like a ghost town. But it’s cool,” said driver Cla Knight of North Augusta, S.C. “We’re all ready to race and we’re all dying to race. It’s kinda weird being around and there’s not many people walking around. And everybody’s parked far apart. Usually you unload and everybody’s on top of each other. Here we’ve got 20 feet on both sides of you and we can do what ever we want to.

“It’s always cool to have people walking around and checking everything out. The fans, you know, they do so much for our sport … complimenting everybody’s cars or buying T-shirts and hats or their kids taking pictures. It’s kinda eerie looking around and that’s not going on anywhere. It kinda feels like we’re just here to practice or we’re doing something that nobody knows about. It’s just weird. It definitely is eerie.”

Making his Tri-County debut, Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, said the feel in the pit area reminded him of his earliest days in racing as a teenager. Before he ever turned a competitive lap, Erb’s father required him to log hundreds of practice laps on non-race nights.

“When I first started racing and stuff my dad made me go practice before he ever let me race my street stock and this is how (it was),” Erb said. “I made laps, like, it felt like forever, for months just making laps before he let me go race. When I’d come out (to the track) I’d walk around and it kinda felt like … not everybody’s watching you. It’s like me and my buddies out here. That’s what it feels like. It’s like a private, secluded like deal.

“I know that all those people (were) watching on (the internet) tonight, so it’s not necessarily that we’re not being watched, but it’s a different vibe. There’s not people over here watching your every move. You know, a lot of people do that. They sit in the stands and watch you come in between the truck. If you change and you’re walking around, they just keep an eye on you. I’m glad to be a part of it, but it’s just strange you know. We’re getting back to racing, but we’re really not because all the fans aren’t here. It’s hard to describe.”

Tyler Millwood of Kingston, Ga., said he especially missed seeing the younger fans in the pit area.

“Usually little kids run by and you’re their hero and that’s what really makes it good,” Millwood said. “The fans always bring an atmosphere that’s not really here, but I think everybody’s pumped. Everybody’s on notch 10 wanting to give it all they got because it’s the first race back in a couple months now. It’s still got the same vibe, just don’t have that fan vibe that you’re used to.”

David Payne of nearby Murphy, N.C., is a local standout and fan favorite at Tri-County. Living in the area, Payne is one of handful of drivers able to get first-hand feedback from fans. He said those he talked to leading up to Thursday’s race were sympathetic with the situation.

“I think everybody understands where we’re at right now just as a nation with the social distancing and trying to ease back and see what we can do, what we can’t do, where our limits are,” said Payne, who went on to finish third in the 40-lap feature won by Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga. “So I think everybody pretty much understands it. There were a few (complaints), but for the most part everybody was pretty understanding of what had to happen on these first few races. I was kidding with some people and told them you might see some tree stands up in trees, deerstands, climbing trees, people watching anyway they can.”

While it was odd looking across the track at empty bleachers, Payne seconded Erb’s notion that it felt a lot like a practice event.

“There’s just not anything going on, on the other side, the bleacher side,” Payne added. “But in the pit area it’s kinda like a practice day, kinda like a private practice session where you got eight or 10 cars and everyone’s kinda doing their own thing. It’s different not to have the fans. They’re a big part of our sport and it takes all of us to make it work: promoters, racers, crew, fans, media, everyone’s got a part in the whole thing, but it’s different tonight not to have any fans.”

As coronavirus restrictions began to relax across the country and more spectator-free races have been scheduled, Ashton Winger of Hampton, Ga., said it was way too early to tell if Thursday was the new norm.

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“I mean, I think for this deal, to start off with you couldn’t really tell a whole lot,” Winger said. “I haven’t seen Terbo (Tyler Erb) or Hudson (O’Neal) or any of these guys since Florida (Speedweeks in February), so I think to start off with I really couldn’t tell that much of a difference. But if we went on like this for much longer, like if we went to Eldora (Speedway in Ohio) or Fairbury (Speedway in Illinois) without fans, it just wouldn’t be Eldora or Fairbury. You know what I’m saying? But I’m glad we got to come out and race.”