Drivers start your engines!
Spring means racing season is upon us, and there’s plenty of opportunities to see the cars trade paint in a number of Southwest Virginia venues.
Although the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series kicked off in February with the Daytona 500, the top drivers in the world will make a pair of appearances at both Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway on the way to crowning the 2016 Chase champion.
Martinsville kicks things off the weekend of April 1st. Find out who will start up front and get the coveted first pit stall when the Cup Series hits the track on Friday, April 1st for Virginia Lottery Pole Day.
The always-exciting NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns for another epic afternoon of racing on April 2nd with the Alpha Energy Solutions 250. The highlight of the weekend follows on Sunday, April 3rd with the STP 500, a half-mile of mayhem as 43 Sprint Cup cars battle in the close quarters of Martinsville Speedway.
NASCAR returns to Martinsville in late-October, with the Fall Pole Day on the 28th, the Fall 2016 Alpha Energy Solutions 200 NCWTS Race on the 29th, followed by the Goodys Fast Relief 500 on Sunday, October 30th.
In far Southwest Virginia, Bristol Motor Speedway is set for what will be an unprecedented year.
Things get rolling in style with the Food City 500 race weekend April 15-17. Hot on the heels of announcing the April 2016 debut of Colossus, the world’s largest outdoor, center-hung video display, Bristol Motor Speedway is ready for The Last Great Colosseum to be one of the greatest showcases in racing.
“We have a lot of energy and momentum, and expect to carry that into 2016,” noted Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager of BMS. “We’re prepping for one of our biggest seasons in years. With the unveiling of Colossus, we’ll kick things off in style for the Food City 500 race weekend April 15-17, when the NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series events roll into town.”
Race fans attending the Food City 500 are in for a treat as they “Listen to the Music” during The Doobie Brothers Pre-Race concert on Sunday, April 17th. The four-time GRAMMY Award-winning band will bring their powerhouse rock n’ roll to one of NASCAR’s biggest races.
The legendary August Night Race weekend returns to Bristol for racing August 17, 19-20, where tempers often flair under the lights on the .533 mile, 28 degree corner racetrack. “Once the checkered flag falls on Saturday, we’ll have about two and a half weeks to turn our iconic short track into a premium college football field,” Caldwell says.
The hotly anticipated Battle of Bristol, a borderline showdown between the University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech, will take place on September 10th. The game is expected to be the largest attended college football game in history with a crowd of over 160,000 packing The Colosseum.
Closer to home, big changes at Franklin County Speedway have race fans buzzing over the upcoming season. Moonshine Capital Promotions, under the direction of Langley Austin, has announced a slate of expanded events that center around the change to Sunday racing for most of the 2016 schedule. Austin had tested the waters with Sunday racing in 2014 with plenty of success.
“This is an exciting time for us,” Austin recently said. “Sundays were scary for us in 2014 because Franklin County Speedway had raced on Saturdays for so long that we didn’t know what the change would bring. We found out fast that Sunday was the day to race here. Our Sunday crowds and car counts topped anything we did on Saturday.”
Austin says that he knows the change is going to be one that will be debated by fans and teams alike, but he thinks it’s the right decision and direction for the track. The Sunday green flags are scheduled to start at 3pm.
“I think it’s going to be a big success. It opens the door to – no matter where a team races on Friday or Saturday – they can come compete with us on Sunday. We’ll virtually have no competition on Sundays as far as short track racing goes.”
Racing at the iconic Callaway track will open with a two-day show on Saturday, March 19th and Sunday, March 20th with the Spring Thaw. The weekend event will feature around 12 divisions of racing over the course of the two days, culminating with a big Late Model feature race on Sunday.
One of the biggest events of the season at FCS will be on Sunday, September 25th at 3pm when the All-American 100 Mini Cup race makes its debut. The All-American 100 has been one of the biggest Mini Cup races of the year the last several seasons and for the first time in its history it will be held at FCS.
“We’re excited to be holding this marquee event for the Mini Cups,” Austin noted. “Franklin County has a great group of Mini Cup racers and a lot of cars within a couple hours of the track, so we think that gives us the perfect setting to have this race.”
Make no mistake about it, Franklin County Speedway typically provides some the best paint-trading, temper-flaring racing you can find on any 3/8 mile track in this part of the country.
Bill Turner
