Author: Missed Gear

South Boston.

First, let me say my GPS hates me. It picked what may have been the straightest course but it was also littered with old tobacco barns, tractors, and State Troopers apparently tired of Interstate travel.

I’ve been to the South Boston Speedway before but have not come in this way. On the plus side, I did see parts of the town I had not been through previously. Quaint little shops and a downtown with some art and coulture scattered about.

Pretty.

Racing, of course, is what brought me back to South Boston. Every visit brings to mind the thought of “why do I not visit more often?”. Well, there is a distance issue. Even so, all things considered, it isn’t that far…

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NASCAR, or those involved with it, seem to be continuing a bit of a trend of putting some well deserved attention on the grass roots of racing.

Last year (2013) we saw the Camping World Series Trucks race on a dirt track. The Eldora Speedway owned by Tony Stewart hosted the race and it was immensely successful. Bringing some of the “television” stardom to a smaller facility highlights the racing and the tracks that spawn the future stars.

This week we’ll see some of that attention focused yet again on one of those racetracks that have seen so many “future” stars of NASCAR rub their first fenders and get their first wins. (more…)

Sometimes racing is hard to watch.

Consider NASCAR at Texas and the Duck Commander 500.

First was the rain. We just saw the same threat at Martinsville which washed out the Camping World Series Trucks forcing a run late on Sunday after the STP 500. The Sprint Cup race at Martinsville was also threatened with drizzle and even snow early in the morning.

At Texas, however, the rain played the day for the main event pushing the race to Monday. Fans plan and buy tickets and travel and many can not afford that extra day. It means an extra night stay-over and an unscheduled day away from work to remain and watch a race on Monday.

Rain might not bother a duck too much but to NASCAR it is a big, expensive, logistics hassle. (more…)

The sun is out. The temperature is 72. For all accounts it is a beautiful day.

And 24 hours too late…

It’s Monday. Yesterday closed out race weekend at Martinsville Speedway for the STP 500.

Thursday of last week the forecast still looked good for Sunday in southside Virginia. Sunny to partly cloudy and mid 60’s. Marvelous!

By Friday someone had flipped a switch. There was a good chance rain could blow Sprint Cup qualifying out for Alpha Energy Solutions Pole Day. There was a 60 to 90 percent chance of rain on Saturday for the Camping World Series Kroger 250.

Sunday still looked like the weather would blow out and clear up Saturday night into Sunday. (more…)

Martinsville Speedway! Clouds threatened but practices went on and qualifying was run for the STP 500! Kyle Busch grabbed the pole for the race this Sunday. Oddly enough it was Joey Logano who turned the fastest lap but could not follow it up in the second session of qualifying at Martinsville for the Alpha Energy Solutions Pole Day.
The top 10 starting order for the STP 500 is:
Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray and…. (more…)

So maybe, as Spring racing brings NASCAR to Martinsville, you just don’t dig on the big and the loud and the crowd and the repeated left turns of national stock car racing. Maybe you like racing but want something a bit different…

It doesn’t get much more different than Chump Car Racing. It is colorful. It is fun. It is full of left turns AND right turns. There is variety. There are trees. (more…)

Yes, Bristol has run and done. Technically Tennessee yet many Virginians call it one of their own. Richmond and Martinsville are, straight up, Virginia racing.

Richmond comes up in late April. Mark it.

Martinsville is next up and riding a big wave of racing to bring it home. Dale Jr. gave us a win at Daytona. Harvick has a new team win. Keselowski, Edwards and Kyle Busch have wins. Denny Hamlin had some pre-season success. All the manufacturers have had victories.

New teams, new numbers and the return of the iconic #3 have made marks on the NASCAR season and the whole show is coming to Martinsville.

Do I sound excited? Well, yes… Martinsville is just down the road. If I close my eyes I can smell the steam from the hot dogs. (more…)