“Gentlemen, start your engines!”
the announcer calls to the roaring fans, growling stock
cars, flashing uniforms, billowing flags, and marching
bands that make up the NASCAR experience, as all wait
with bated breath for the green flag to swing. When
it does, the 40 cars leap forward into a 200-mile-per-
hour, Mad Max-esque battle around the track to the
finish line and the roar of tens of thousands of fans. In
short, it’s just another typical day at NASCAR, where
speed meets spectacle and the rubber meets the road,
creating an experience as American as apple pie. Feel
the horsepower thunder through your veins at these
three racetracks easily drivable from Washington, D.C.
Dover International Speedway
Credit: Nigel Kinrade
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
In 2017, Martinsville Speedway celebrated its 70th birthday by
installing approximately 750 LED lights inside and out, adding
another layer of sparkle to the tracks long and storied history.
The track, often described as a paperclip, remains one of the
toughest of all NASCAR tracks, with two 800-foot straightaways
and long turns that bank a mere 12 degrees. The old-timey size
and set-up puts the 55,000 fans close enough to reach out and
touch the cars racing by in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Truck
series held each year. No experience at Martinsville Speedway
is complete without at least one double fistful of the famous
signature hotdogs overflowing with coleslaw, onions, and chili.
WHILE IN TOWN:
Dinosaurs reign at the Virginia Museum of Natural History in
Martinsville, starting with the towering 140-million-year-old
Allosaurus skeleton in the main hall.
WINTER 2017/18 65 FLYWASHINGTON.COM