One word: Bristol

           There are race tracks and then there is the Bristol Motor Speedway. No matter how many tracks a race fan visits, an opportunity to visit BMS is a special thing.

          We had that chance yesterday. We’re here for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, which is on the same property as the famous half-mile oval.

          There simply isn’t any way to describe the place so that someone who has not been there can understand it. The track holds better than 155,000 fans, according to the track’s website. It looks really huge when you are one of two people who have the place to themselves.

          That was us.

          Here are two images from that visit. My wife stands in front of the grandstands

"Wow."

outside turn three with all the seats around her in the first image. The banking is evident in the distance (those are turns one and two behind Amy) but the eye-catcher is the immensity of the multiple-layer grandstands.

          If you know the sport, you understand what you are looking at. The great stock car drivers have raced and won there: Richard Petty, Little Joe Weatherly, Fireball Roberts, Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett, David Pearson, Bobby and Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott and lots of others.

          We stood there in awe of the history.

          We’ve both been to tracks all around the country and each of them left us with a memory. Other than the sheer size of the place, the memory we’ll take home from Bristol is the steepness of the banking.

          You’ve probably seen races at BMS on television but there isn’t any chance that you can understand the impact the banking of the corners makes upon your senses until you see the place in person. It’s simply awesome.

          And that’s when the joint is empty. When the grandstands are jammed full of people and the infield is crammed full of racecars, haulers, officials and the two pit roads, it must be difficult for the claustrophobic.

          The second image shows the back straightaway. A gate was open and we asked

The back straight.

permission to lean out the opening and snap this image.

          We owe thanks to the nice folks who allowed us to visit the empty facility.

          The dragway was full of busy people preparing that part of the facility for this weekend’s event. We visited the strip so Amy could see Thunder Valley and understand the name. It is easier for her when she has seen where my office will be for the weekend.

          Lot of nice people pointed us around here as well, understanding what we were doing.

 

          So, thanks to all the nice folks here at the two speedway properties and thanks to all of you for reading.