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Speedway in Lights can be enjoyed by all
By admin | December 23, 2008
By Richard Allen
This past week the Allen family made what has become an annual Christmas season trek to the Bristol Motor Speedway. The trip is always a highlight of the holidays for my wife and I and most of all for our two young sons.
Whether you are a race fan or not you will enjoy the extravaganza of lights that surround the track and its property. Admission is only $10 per car on weekdays and $12 per car on weekends. All proceeds go to the very worthy cause of Speedway Children’s Charities.
There is something for everyone. There are, of course, racing themed displays. An illuminated pit crew servicing a race car with four tires and fuel and a dragster roaring down the strip complete with a parachute to slow the car at the finish will provide thrills for racing enthusiasts.
Aside from the racing themed lights, there are flaming volcanoes, dinosaurs, trains and patriotic symbols to capture the interest of almost everyone. And naturally, there are numerous Christmas appropriate lights as well.
There is also a Sevier County tie to the spectacle. The Aquarium of the Great Smokies provides one section of lights which gives the feel of driving under water with sharks and other creatures of the deep swimming over head.
Best of all for many visitors to the track is the fact that the course of the light show takes each car on a trip down the quarter-mile drag strip, albeit at a more leisurely pace than the run of an NHRA funny car. And, a lap around the high banked oval track is included. On a personal note, a Pontiac Montana minivan provides a unique feel when cruising on a 36 degree banked turn.
There is music played over an FM radio frequency which can be heard all around the facility. Also, there is an ice skating rink as part of the fun and there are numerous activities for the kids in the infield part of the speedway.
If you haven’t yet made your way to the Speedway in Lights there is still time. The display will remain until January 3rd.
To get to the Bristol Motor Speedway take I-81 North to exit #69. The signs will guide you to the track from there. It is well worth the trip and the minimal admission fee goes to a good cause.
Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly column appears in The Mountain Press every Wednesday.
Topics: Articles |
December 24th, 2008 at 8:24 am
I have been there before and enjoyed it greatly. I intended to go again the other Saturday night but the two mile backup in both directions before the speedway entrance made me change my mind. Two year old grandchildren cannot handle such waits.
December 26th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Rich,
I was reading an article by Jeff Hammond about the legends in the sport…and of course he talked about Richard Petty’s problems…The thing missed by today’s journalists is what Petty really did for Nascar….Sure he won 200 races but, It’s what Richard did for the fans after the race during those years…Sitting on the back of his truck signing hundreds of autographs after he had driven 500 miles…That is one of the big things that Brought Nascar to the forefront with fans….”He always took time” It what made Nascar a fan favorite…..Then of course I have to talk about the Nationwide Series and how Nascar has forgotten about the Legends who made it the 2nd most watched Series in the Nation….Nascar closed the books on a lot of greats because They got money from Budweiser….and only kept the records from 1982 on…..Left out were greats like Ray Hendrick who It sometimes seemed he could win at Martinsville in a Stagecoach….L.D. Ottinger who won more races in a season than any other late model sportsman driver ever, yet it’s not recorded and he’s not in any of Hall of Fames even though he won 2 titles and hundreds of races…he once won 13 in row at Smoky Mountain Speedway taking on all the Bounty Hunters including Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, and Neil Bonnett,….To include Tommy Houston in the NMPA Hall of Fame before L.D. is a shame….I like Tommy but, he never won a Championship….There’s also drivers like Friday Hassler, Freddy Fryar, Bob Burcham, Paul Lewis, Jimmy Hensley, Morgan Shepard and others that belong in a Hall before Houston….Of course I know politics got him in….All these men also worked on their cars too…..Nascar needs to look at the men who paved their “Yellow Brick Road”….Of course now no one cares about the Nationwide Series because the Cup Drivers have taken it over….Back in 80,s The Cup Drivers could only win on the Super Speedways because of the Cup Teams….Rick Hendrick is the guy who started the Cup Owners stealing the Large Purses from the Nationwide Drivers…The would only race in Big Purse Races….Yes Rich Nascar is still Big but it’s the Small Purse Drivers who made em’……I won’t forget……
Thanks,
Jim Phillip