It was a Wednesday. Cat box… Clean out car… Mow lawn…

That was the list of things to do. However, tucked away in an e-mail was a notification from Martinsville Speedway that teams and drivers for the upcoming Virginia Is For Lovers 300 late model stock car race would be running practice sessions.

Hmmmmm… Cat box or go check some action at the race track. No need to toss a coin. Stop for coffee and gas, throw away a couple of burger bags while the tank is filling, and off to Martinsville!

From outside the fence it was obvious quite a few teams had taken advantage of this open test day. Pit road was full. The garages were full. The infield was a maze of big diesel trucks and haulers to simple flatbed tow trailers.

A bit more relaxed than a Cup weekend practice session with Jeans and T-shirts instead of sponsor covered team outfits but the goals were the same. Dig as much speed and handling out of the cars, take notes on the set-ups and have them ready for the “300” weekend, coming up in a couple of weeks.

The drivers were making good use of track time. They were hitting speeds, on average, just a second slower than the big time Cup drivers. Cup sessions at Martinsville ran from 19.5 to 20.5 seconds for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 back in March. These drivers were hitting the 20’s and 21’s. Not bad for weekend warriors…

These drivers run the laps at weekend tracks all over Virginia and North Carolina. They come to Martinsville to win what could be the biggest race of their season.

Details on the Virginia Is For Lovers 300 have come together and the race is set for the weekend of October 20-21. Yes, that is the weekend before the Tums Fast Relief 500 weekend. It presents some tactical advantages and disadvantages for the folks at the Speedway. A lot of infrastructure for both events is the same. However, there is precious little time to clean and ready the facility for the NASCAR circus which really begins just days after the “300”. Beyond picking up the odd hot dog wrapper or beer can, the track walls have to be painted. It is not only to clean up the scuffs from late model scrapes but sanctioned sponsor logos for NASCAR and the Speedway have to be set and clear for TV coverage of the Tums Fast Relief 500 and Kroger 200.

As for the race itself, there has been a change that has caused some chatter with drivers. Previous late model races at Martinsville ran qualifying sessions on Saturday to set the top tier in the field. On Sunday, there were four qualifying “race in” heat races to fill out the rest. This year, Saturday is practice only and on Sunday the entire field will be set from the heat races.

Now, some drivers, allegedly, no names or finger pointing or anything, had expressed “concern” with the new format. They wanted the qualifying. The did not want to “race in”. On one hand, we can see their concern. Qualifying is done with one car, clean air, no distractions. Hitting higher speeds is, of course, easier in that setting. Seasoned drivers may, and this is only speculation, have worries that their chances of making the dance hinge on not getting wrecked by a driver with less experience or simply being held in traffic making it harder to move.

Concerns or not. The drivers were at Martinsville taking advantage of the time on the track. There will be more on hand for race weekend that could not make this session. What does it all mean for race fans? It means some hot racing to get in. Heat races will be hot. The main event will be full of fender to fender challenges and drivers pushing it for a win at the historic Martinsville Speedway.

As for the cat box… Probably should’ve taken the 5 minutes. Cats are evil things.

Race and ticket information online with Martinsville Speedway

Photos – Late Model testing and practice at Martinsville Speedway

One thought on “Martinsville Preview Vs Cats

Comments are closed.