Search
Pages
Categories
This
work is licensed under
a
Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
Dirt track date
The flag guy From the viewing stand in the pit In the stands with T and C Ted and Jack looking on The first thing that struck me was how beautiful the red clay in this area is—a deep terracotta color. There were some pockets of the clay along the side of the road on the way, but once we turned into the drive at the speedway it was nothing but red. We were forewarned about getting dirty from all track dust—don’t wear white—but since it had been raining the days before it wasn’t a problem during our visit. A Chevy Corsica arriving at the track We arrived in time to see the qualifying heats for the various stock car races on tap for the day. It was a wonderfully diverse array of cars on the track that folks had put together. Chassis were mostly modified sedans, but a few of the standouts included a Ford Pinto, a Toyota Corolla, and even a station wagon. Some of the cars were spiffier, with sponsor names emblazoned on the sides (our favorite: number 69 sponsored by the G-Spot, a strip club). But I was delighted by the entries that were clearly created by individuals simply for the love of the sport. Queuing up for a qualifying heat The Waffle House car! The blop mobile Black Betty! 4 Sale The first “main event” race was the Young Guns 4. Drivers ranged in age from 12-17. Yes, you read that right - 12 to 17. You could tell the difference between them and the big boys, but I was very impressed by these kids; they were great. The winner of the race was just beaming from ear to ear. Winner of the Young Guns race (12-17 year-olds) We didn’t see a Late Model race, but there was one Late Model car there that took a few laps. Before the next race, the dirt track equivalent of a Zamboni came out to smooth out the clay: Pickled egg! The racers in the second stock car race were going considerably faster and in tighter formation; it was exciting to watch them jockeying for position. Scott informed us that at this track there’s a significant dip entering the first turn, and we saw the effects of this dip as one car after another blew out their tires after hitting it. This had a tendency to interrupt the action as cars were towed or pushed off the track to change their tires during a caution flag lap. By the second-to-last lap only two cars remained, but a third car that had been gimping through the entire race came back to finish and place for the third prize. Surviving the dip in the first turn Winner of the second race We left early to get ready for dinner, so we missed the big race: the Enduro. Sixty laps, with a ten minute fuel stop at lap 30 and no caution laps. It’s basically a free-for-all and they had 26 cars entered by the time we left. But dinner called, so we’ll have to save that for another day. What a blast!
After the morning’s festival of gifts, we headed out to the Antioch Motor Speedway in Morganton. Scott and his sons frequent the racetrack and invited us to come along and catch a few races before dinner.
Posted by bpod at Saturday ~ December 12, 2007 |
Category: christmas 2007, family, travel
©2007 Theme By MerTUraL Sponsored By Burhan Altıntop , Sağlık Bilgisi
Powered By Wordpress
