Sports fans across the country have gotten back to a little bit of normalcy with the return of NASCAR racing. While the sports' first few races back have not had any fans in the seats, its overall return has been deemed a success.

Now, local tracks, including one here in the North Country, are looking to follow that lead.

On Tuesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo gave New York State race tracks the green flag. Utica Rome Speedway wasted no time by racing Wednesday, and the Can-Am Speedway in LaFargeville will follow suit Friday.

"The racing community around here has got a big itch to scratch, and we're hoping to feed that to them Friday night with a pay-per-view event," said Tyler Bartlett, owner of Can-Am Speedways.

The track is using a pay-per-view service because one of the conditions of re-opening the tracks is that no fans will be allowed. Can-Am is working with Dirt Track Digest TV to offer its first night on a web stream for $20. It's a business decision that Bartlett says had to be made to put the races on, adding that he disagrees with the state's direction to keep fans away.

"We can hold 4,000 fans here. If we could have 20% or 25%, we could justify moving forward with more events," Bartlett said.

Bartlett is hoping Phase 3 will allow for that to happen. It's a disappointing decision for drivers as well, but they admit it will be amazing to be back behind the wheel.

"I couldn't be more excited. It's already been a very long week for me, just with the anticipation," Mark Fewster, racing from Mooers, said. "Everybody feels the same way, I think, that it is kind of refreshing to get back to the track, get kind of back into our groove that we had."

Can-Am will host four races Friday night. You can get information on those, and how to get the web stream, on the speedway's Facebook page.