Martinsville Speedway is now on my list of "Must Go Back To" racetracks. I've watched plenty of NASCAR races at Martinsville on television, but had never actually gone to the facility until Sunday morning. My buddy Kyle Pemberton (Longwood student and Theta Chi member) and I drove down to see the race and had a blast when we got there. Kyle was pretty much my tour guide, telling me all about Martinsville's intricacies and how to get the most out of the experience. He also paid for my ticket, so thanks Kyle. You'll be getting your money back eventually.
Here's a rundown of our Martinsville excursion:
We left Farmville at around 7:45 a.m. Kyle and I both live in the Longwood Village apartment complex, so we made a Sheetz stop before leaving town. I made it two miles down the road before spilling my coffee on the floor mat in Kyle's truck. Sorry, man. It took us two hours to get to Martinsville. We parked the truck a few hundred yards outside turns three and four. We both cracked a beer and headed towards the track, walking among hundreds of cars, trucks, people, burning grills, corn hole games, tents and flags.
We made our way to the ticket booth and picked up the most essential item (can't see a race without a ticket, right?). There were two hours to kill just browsing the various souvenir haulers parked outside the track. As we walked through the crowd, we saw drivers Bobby Labonte and Kyle and Kurt Busch. Labonte and Kyle B were both doing Q&A sessions with Sprint and Toyota representatives. By the way, Kyle B's big ears, which I joke about all the time, were covered up by the beanie he was wearing. Kurt, on the other hand, had his big ears in full view at his souvenir trailer (big ears just run in the family, I guess). Kyle Pemberton and I both high fived him as he left the hauler. Actually, Kyle Pemberton high fived Kurt, while I just barely grazed his hand.
The most important item on my Martinsville itinerary was to eat a "Famous Martinsville Speedway Hot Dog." I had two to be exact, and both were as good as advertised. Bun, dog, chili, onions and coleslaw make for one of the best concession stand meals in the sports world. The track sells approximately 50,000 dogs every time NASCAR is in town for a race weekend. However, Kyle had to pay for both of my artery-clogging treats as the cashier said my card was declined. I later checked my account balance and found I had been charged for both hot dogs. Thanks, cashier lady for not knowing how to work the machine. Again, Kyle, you'll be getting your money back eventually.
Kyle and I made the trek back to the truck, got our essentials together (beer, radio scanner and ticket) and headed for our seats. We sat at the start of the backstretch, 12 rows up, parallel with the exit of the pit road. The seats were awesome. The national anthem played, the engines were fired and we were treated to 500 laps of some of the most intense racing I had ever seen in person. There were 18 caution flags at the half-mile paperclip-shaped track, all for accidents. Tony Stewart passed Jimmie Johnson with three laps to go and edged him out for the victory.
We walked back towards the parking lot, spotting several drivers along the way, including Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Greg Biffle and Martin Truex, Jr., all of whom were riding on golf carts. We had just made it into the parking lot when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. rolled by on another golf cart. He hopped off, waved to the crowd, gave a thumbs up and had a big grin on his face. He had finished seventh on Sunday. I've rooted for Junior for several years now and it was cool to actually see him in person.
The ride back to Farmville was equally as exciting, with Kyle almost going off the road a dozen times due to being tired. I was at the point of reaching over and slapping him, but he held it together and got us back to Farmville safely. Next time, I think I'll drive.
