MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Whether they drove in from an hour away or from a different state, racing fans came from all around to the iconic Martinsville Speedway to experience something that only NASCAR can provide.
“It’s like going to a football game, but there’s 40 teams instead of two teams,“ Steven Owens said.
Fans tailgated before the game, lined up to take pictures with drivers, and spent time in the Fanzone getting a bite to eat hours before the racing began.
The hallowed track in Martinsville has seen generations of fans come through to take in the sights and sounds of the Speedway.
“If you’re big into history, this is where you need to go,” Ryan Beckner said. “Because the moment you step onto the grounds here and the parking, millions of people have been doing this since 1948, you’re talking about real history here.”
Martinsville may not provide the largest track, but the tension that comes with it is something NASCAR fans wouldn’t change at all.
“You’re right there with the track because it’s so small,” Anthony Dillard Jr. said. “The noise is insane, so you got to have ear plugs, you got to have earmuffs, because the vibrations from the engines? Yeah, it’s very loud.”
That intimacy allows for an environment where everyone can get to know each other and bond over a shared passion for racing.
“Everybody is everybody’s friend at the NASCAR race,” Dan Kurz said. “If you’re tailgating, or walking around, people start offering you food, they don’t know you, but everybody is everybody’s friend at the NASCAR race.”
Even if people come rooting for different racers on different teams, once the engines start running, the only thing on anyone’s mind is their shared love of the track.
“The camaraderie, whether you’re black or white, it’s like one big family,” Dillard Jr. said. “Regardless of what team you love, we’re all here for one common cause, and that’s the race. That’s what I love about it.”