Hello Nascar fans. Hope everyone is having a great week. I am just trying to recover from all that fun at Talladega and of course end of the semester activities in school. The semester officially ends tomorrow and I am pretty sure I have A’s and B’s. So with that being said let’s look at Richmond this week.
Richmond is one of the most popular tracks on the circuit among fans, drivers, and the media. It is a historic track and has been part of Nascar since 1953. During it’s existence the track has undergone three name changes and five configuration changes. It has also changed the surface once from dirt to asphalt.
In 1991 they added lights to the raceway. Richmond International Raceway is the only track to hold all of its major events under the lights. During the off season between 2006 and 2007 they added some five thousand seats bringing the total seating capacity to 112,029. The track is a three quarter mile D shaped track. This track puts on a great show any time an event is held here and produces awesome side by side racing during Nascar events.
Richmond was built to its current standing as a three quarter mile track in 1988. Dale Earnhardt made his Nascar debut at Richmond on March 11, 1979. It became known officially as Richmond International Raceway in 1988. Every Nascar Sprint Cup race held here since 1992 has been a sold out event.
Well thats about all the information I could find about Richmond except for various races won by drivers over the years. Mark Martin won several back to back Busch series wins. Richmond has a long and rich history of great drivers with great finishes over the years. That tradition will continue as the sport moves ahead.
In other happenings this week, Chrysler has reached an agreement with Fiat in order to continue business. Chrysler had declared chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this week. There are no planned lay offs or plants closings in wake of the bankruptcy. President Obama called it another step in the revival of Chrysler.
A young high school girl was released from the hospital today after having reconstructive surgery to repair her broken jaw. Her injury was a result of the crash and spin into the safety fence that Carl Edwards had on the final laps of the race at Talladega this past Sunday. Thank god she is alright and so is everyone else. That was a scary crash for everyone involved and Carl said that changes need to be made otherwise they are gonna race that way until someone gets killed. Somber words from a great driver, perhaps someone should heed the warning before it is to late. I love to see a good crash but not at the expense of someone getting hurt of killed. Thats just not worth it.
In the wake of the Carl Edwards fence flying stunt on Sunday there is some discussion as to whether or not Nascar should levy stiffer penalties for aggressive driving or what. Word is that they had been letting the drivers sort of be their own “lawmen” when it came to the rules of bump drafting and blocking other cars on the track and are now considering stepping in concerning matters where safety may be a prime issue and may issue stiffer fines and penalties for those who abuse the blocking and bump drafting priviledge. Whatever the decision they said that they will be willing to take any measures necessary to ensure safety for everyone at a race.
Well thats it for now fans. I’ll be back Sunday post race. Here’s hoping they have an event free race with lots of bump drafting and trading paint. After all, that’s what they do best. Just be safe doing it. Have a great weekend Nascar fans.
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Glad you had a good time at the race and now its time for some short track racing under the lights.