Tag: Bristol

Rain in the forecast midweek has not slowed this week of racing. The clouds did throw a shot over the bow at Bristol as they started their racing with the Camping World Series Trucks and the UNOH 200.

The Wednesday night race had Cole Custer up front and minutes before the rain came a lapped driver spun in front of him giving him no place to go. With a damaged truck and the added frustration of the rain, Custer could do little but soak it up. After the delay and the track went green it was Ryan Blaney who came back to win with the #29 on a green-white-checkered finish.

The rain is on tap for today (Thursday 8/20) as well but for the most part should be out for Friday and the weekend. Xfinity and Sprint Cup racing should be fast under fair skies at Bristol.

Weather should not play a big role across the border and a bit to the east as the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship takes center stage in southside Virginia. Even so, the drivers set to take multiple classes of exotics and sports cars to speed at Virginia International Raceway are equipped to run with the rain. They don’t like it, but they can do it. This showcase event is eye candy for auto and speed enthusiasts and weekend weather looks more like sunscreen than umbrellas.

The following week stock cars and the NASCAR K&N Series roll through VIR. If you love watching the big guns race at Watkins Glen then this is your local fix for NASCAR sanctioned stock car racing on this scenic road course.

Don’t pack up the your race gear just yet. Still to come for Virginia race fans is Richmond International Raceway the weekend of September 12. The final shot at the CHASE is on the line as the lights come on and the green flag drops at Richmond.

October has the CHASE full on and on the historic oval at Martinsville. The folks there are busy lining up a lot of specials and fan experience activities to live up to the history.

Racing is on. Virginia has the speed and all you need is a calendar to mark your races. While your at it, you might as well check the locals at tracks like South Boston, Motor Mile and others to fill out that calendar.

Go racing!

Texas saw a return to racing and the longer track for NASCAR and Sprint Cup following the Easter break. Jimmie Johnson made the late race move to pass Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick to take the checkers at the Duck Commander 500.

For Harvick, it was either the Easter peeps, the week off or the return to the larger track that put him back into a groove to challenge for the win and come over in 2nd. Up until Martinsville if he did not finish second he was winning. This weekend and Bristol puts him back into a short track situation and we’ll see if it was peeps or the larger track.

Johnson team mate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. crossed over in third with Penske drivers Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski coming across fourth and fifth.

Kurt Busch, Harvick’s team mate, has had a good, although late, start to the season but just can’t hit the win. Generally good finishes and the pole at Texas keeps him running but Texas left him from the pole to 14th.
So far, Stewart-Haas (Harvick), Hendrick (Johnson, Penske (Logano/Keselowski) have had the honors with Denny Hamlin (Gibbs) sneaking in for a win at Martinsville before Easter.

Next up is Bristol then Richmond with a little stop in between for some of the drivers making the run at South Boston Speedway for the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown to benefit Hamlin’s charity organization.

Virginia is getting a lot of big event racing packed into a relatively short time. Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond all fall in the span of just a few days over a month. Include South Boston and you have a full calendar of action.

Don’t hold back, Virginia – Go Racing!

Well, Virginia… Racing is ON!

Martinsville has had their Spring opener. Denny Hamlin won the Cup race. Joey Logano won the day before in trucks.

Bristol is coming up after the post-Easter stop out in Texas. Bristol is the weekend of April 18-19 followed one week later (April 24-25) in Richmond. It is a big bunch of weeks for NASCAR and the big guns in Virginia. Three visits (Martinsvile has run with Bristol and Richmond on the horizon) in the equivalent of one month.

However, April has much more to fill in for racing now and well into the Summer. The short tracks and other courses offer big racing often overshadowed by the “stars” of NASCAR.

South Boston has been racing since March and always serves up a good show. A lot of familiar names have passed laps at South Boston and one returns with some of his NASCAR pals in April. Mixed in with regular schedules of Late Model and other series is the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown on the 23rd (Thursday before Richmond weekend). Catch a big season at South Boston and get a dose of where NASCAR started.

Motor Mile Speedway in Radford is another of the short tracks in the area with a Summer schedule beginning in May. Late Models, Monster Trucks and drag racing are all ready to run.

Southside, Shenandoah, Lonesome Pine, Langley… Even tracks like Franklin County offer up weekly or regular scheduled racing.

North Carolina tracks also highlight the Summer with tight, fast laps and scraped fenders. From Bowman Gray in Winston-Salem to Caraway (south of Greensboro), Coastal Plains, East Carolina and Hickory the Late Models, Modifieds and more are making the race.

For even more variety to fill your racing plate, check a little spot between Martinsville and South Boston. Just outside of Danville is Virginia International Raceway. From sports cars (SCCA, Tudor, NARRA) to NASCAR (K&N) to motorcycles and more VIR has enough twists and turns and wheels to hold any fan. They even have a new Oak Tree!

Virginia is a hotbed for speed. You don’t have to wait for the TV circus to come around to find it. They are racing on short tracks, paved and dirt, all over the state. Go to Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond but make sure you visit VIR, South Boston and some others and, perhaps, cross the North Carolina border and catch some more.

Just go racing!

The late season race at Bristol is under the lights. The early race is supposed to be under the sun. There was no sun. Weather bounced Bristol with rain and was just south of snow which threatened much of Virginia. As the field rolled off the start it was delayed by 2 hours. At lap 117 the race was red-flagged for another 3 hours as rain came through again. The Food City 500 was eventually restarted and finished under the lights.

Rain is rain and racing at Bristol is racing at Bristol. The weather only changed the time. The lead changes, fender bangs and wall hits were all in the mix to shake the points. In the end it was Brad Keselowski packing up with the points lead despite a 14th place finish and the lack of a hood. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished 10 spots behind Keselowski which allowed the flip in the one-two points positions. (more…)

Bristol. Matt Kenseth took the win. Keselowski had an incident. Kahne couldn’t quite make the move. Jimmie Johnson just had a flat out bad day. Fortunately for him he could afford it.

Two races remain, Atlanta and Richmond, before “The Chase” is set. Minor miracles need to happen for some while Johnson, Bowyer and Kenseth can relax even though Bowyer has yet to log a win for the season. Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch are practically in and would need major setbacks over the next two to jinx it. Dale, Jr., Kahne and Biffle just have to finish well to hold their spots, for the most part.

Bubbles and longshots include Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. along with the likes of Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Jamie McMurray…

We’re not going for selective alliteration… We promise.

Actually, none of the above is really the point at all. It just so happens it is top tier NASCAR racing the same day (night, as it were) as the entry level series we actually attended. While the Sprint Cup drivers ran for the shrinking availability of Chase points at Bristol, the K&N Pro Series East was packing it in at Virginia International Raceway. It was this race, the first road course for the “East” series, that had us out in the countryside of southside Virginia rather than fighting the traffic around the Tennessee – Virginia border. (more…)

Can you put a phone into the wall? Is it possible to bump a smartphone and send it spinning around?

We may find out. The phones of Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin traded a few scuffs following some contact at Bristol.

Joey attempted to confront Denny, still in the FedEx #11, but some team folks were there to push him aside. It seems Logano was none too happy about on track bumps that sent his Pennzoil #22 around and tailing the wall.

It is Bristol… There are going to be some bumps…

Logano, However, didn’t see it as “just another bump” and attempted to clarify the contact. That plan did not play out well… (more…)