Martinsville Speedway

The Marquise and I went out to Martinsville Speedway for the NASCAR race last Sunday. I have to say it was an adventure. We left the Marquise's place Sunday morning about 630a so that we could get up there by about 9 - 930a (which we made with plenty of time to spare). When we got to the parking lot, we took a quick "power" nap to rejuvenate and the headed out to the midway. I know that is a carnival term, but it fits better than anything else. On the way out there we had to walk past all the camping spaces. That should not have been a problem except that it had rained the past 4 days there. The entire place was one big mudpit. I mean one BIG mud pit. Considering we had about a mile or so to walk, it was not a pleasant experience. The midway was packed with people. All of the drivers had their own semi-truck ( some had several) full of stuff for people to buy. The Marquise kept muttering stuff about capitalism, Marxism and other -isms. I didn't quite follow it all. About 12p we decided to head to our seats, thinking the race started at 1p. It actually started at 2p. We ended up sitting there from 12p to 6p. A really long time. Once the race got going, it was actually OK. It took me about 100 laps to get used to watching the cars and figuring out who is who. I kept trying to look directly in front of me. Bad Idea. They move to fast. I finally figured out to look to my left and up to the turns. I think we were sitting by turn 3, maybe? After that, things got about as clear as they are gonna get for this Non-NASCAR person. The Marquise brought a notepad and we exchanged notes all through the race. Talking was out of the question.... we were on row 4. I have told her she has to post the notes on her blog, with as little editing as possible. They are a hoot.

My overall impression: this will probably be my one and only race. The reason will probably surprise you...... NASCAR fans are pigs. They do not pick up any of their trash and they don't even try to keep it contained. Beer cans, wrappers, bags were blowing everywhere. I actually could have put up with that, however, if that was all. The real killer was the ashes that kept blowing on me for 6 hours from people smoking nearby. The smoke didn't bother me, it was the ashes. I felt like I was sitting in one big ashtray. Unless there is a (large)non-smoking section, its gonna take a whole lotta persuasion to get me to go again.