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Tonight was my first time at the paved oval in Myrtle Beach. Dale Jr. began his racing career here, and this track is pretty proud of the Earnhardt connection. It is a big half mile; think Volusia before it returned to dirt, and with big stands too. I guess it used to host Busch series races, but has fallen on leaner times now. They run NASCAR "weekly" racing shows, but only do it once a month or so.
Like so many tracks that run a limited schedule, their biggest events are non-racing nights like the monster truck show that filled the place last weekend, or the upcoming NOPI show that will pack 'em in for all 3 days.
I love racing, and the track did ok tonight. 73 cars in 4 classes, including 26 late model stocks for twin 40 lap features. No, I wasn't on the edge of my seat, but it was still racing so I was happy. I liked the twin feature format too.
They did something that I have never seen, and I certainly hope that it does not catch on. A few of the LMS cars that didn't finish the first feature, came out and made up the laps they missed during the intermission. Why? Maybe they had to use the same tires all night and management wanted everyone to have the same number of laps on the rubber. That is just my guess; I was in the stands and they didn't offer much info. I do know that it dropped an anchor in the middle of their show, and very few of the fans knew why they were watching 1 or 2 cars crank out 15 laps.
As I said, the announcer was not much help. He had a lot of technical knowledge of the sport, but was not a host or a story-teller like so many of our good Florida announcers. For some reason, he seemed perplexed and confused at the idea of giving line-ups. I think he sounded like a guy who left his glasses in the truck and could just barely read the drivers names.
Of course you are all wondering about the bathrooms. They were clean and neat, but of course they had no soap.....my chronic pet peeve.
A final note about nothing important. They had the saltiest popcorn, actually the saltiest thing I have ever tasted. Seriously, I think the top came off the salt shaker and no one noticed it. But I still ate the whole damn box. Why? They had ice cold Pabst Blue Ribbons for $3, so I washed it down with a smile.
I am heading back there next month for their next show in July.
Like so many tracks that run a limited schedule, their biggest events are non-racing nights like the monster truck show that filled the place last weekend, or the upcoming NOPI show that will pack 'em in for all 3 days.
I love racing, and the track did ok tonight. 73 cars in 4 classes, including 26 late model stocks for twin 40 lap features. No, I wasn't on the edge of my seat, but it was still racing so I was happy. I liked the twin feature format too.
They did something that I have never seen, and I certainly hope that it does not catch on. A few of the LMS cars that didn't finish the first feature, came out and made up the laps they missed during the intermission. Why? Maybe they had to use the same tires all night and management wanted everyone to have the same number of laps on the rubber. That is just my guess; I was in the stands and they didn't offer much info. I do know that it dropped an anchor in the middle of their show, and very few of the fans knew why they were watching 1 or 2 cars crank out 15 laps.
As I said, the announcer was not much help. He had a lot of technical knowledge of the sport, but was not a host or a story-teller like so many of our good Florida announcers. For some reason, he seemed perplexed and confused at the idea of giving line-ups. I think he sounded like a guy who left his glasses in the truck and could just barely read the drivers names.
Of course you are all wondering about the bathrooms. They were clean and neat, but of course they had no soap.....my chronic pet peeve.
A final note about nothing important. They had the saltiest popcorn, actually the saltiest thing I have ever tasted. Seriously, I think the top came off the salt shaker and no one noticed it. But I still ate the whole damn box. Why? They had ice cold Pabst Blue Ribbons for $3, so I washed it down with a smile.
I am heading back there next month for their next show in July.
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