Martinsville SpeedwayThe Oldest Track in NASCAR
Martinsville Speedway Races
History
The speedway opened its doors in 1947 as a dirt track that was only slightly over a half mile and at the time had 750 seats. NASCAR began in 1948, and in 1949 Martinsville hosted the sixth race of what was to become the NASCAR Sprint Cup. H.Clay Earles was the founder of the speedway whose philosophy incorporated beautification of the grounds, top notch concessions and attended restrooms. This philosophy continues today. The belief in making the speedway a family environment is part of why the speedway has seen so much growth.
While the track itself has not gone through any configuration changes since Red Byron won the inaugural race, with the exception of being paved in 1955, the rest of the raceway has done nothing but change and grow. Since 1988 the seating capacity has more then doubled. Almost every year from 1988-2000 there were at least 1000 seats added. The speedway has also added 25 corporate suites, a chalet village for hospitality and entertainment, high-rise grandstands and twice as much free parking as before. It isn’t just the fans that the speedway has been taking care of. An infield media center, an infield tunnel, and a competitors’ garage were also built. These are only a few of the improvements that have been made. Some important dates in history that you should know about: October 19, 1952 was the very first race broadcast done from the speedway and they were almost the first televised race as well, but Darlington beat them to it. In September of 1973 Hollywood came to play at the track, shooting Richard Petty winning the Old Dominion 500. The footage was used in the movie, “The Last American Hero,” which was based on the life of Junior Johnson. In 1976, Earles installed concrete in the turns on both ends of the track to eliminate pavement problems. These concrete turns that are still in use today, were first used in the Old Dominion 500 on September 26 where Darrel Waltrip set a track qualifying record in a Chevrolet. And Earles shocked the racing world by posting awards of $100K, the richest of any short track and more than some of the longer tracks.
Each race offers the fans a great time in a great facility.
The shape of the track is that of an oval, almost paper clip shaped and is nicknamed the 'pretty paperclip. It has tight turns and eight hundred foot straight aways. The turns are 588 feet long. The width of the track is a mere 55 feet with an elevation of 740 feet with a banking of 12 degrees in the turns. Pit road is 46 feet wide with 43 pit stalls that start in the third turn and wrap around the front stretch of the track and then exit in to turn two. Each pit stall is 14 feet wide and 28 feet long. Just enough room to get the job done and get it done right. Whether you are a die hard race fan or are just looking for a fun time for the family, you need to check out the Martinsville Speedway. A beautiful facility with amazing racing. What more could you ask for?
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