Richmond Raceway
OFF TO THE RACES:
THREE NASCAR TRACKS TO SATISFY
WASHINGTON’S
SPEED DEMONS
BY MIKE DUNPHY
RICHMOND RACEWAY DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
The blaze of light that accompanies the nighttime-only races
at Richmond Raceway adds yet another dose of electricity to
the crowds of 60,000. It starts with the largest scoring tower
in all of motorsports and its four behemoth high-definition,
LED screens that bring fans even closer to the action on
the D-shaped, ¾-mile, asphalt track. Known as America’s
Premier Short Track, Richmond Raceway hosts two NASCAR
Doubleheader weekends each year, featuring the NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. Just be sure to
arrive several hours before the main event with plenty of
grilling supplies for one of NASCAR’s most famous tailgating
scenes. No wonder the motto of Richmond Raceway is
“Racing Perfection.” Everything is a “monster” at this massive stadium that holds
nearly 100,000 NASCAR fans, starting with its 46-foot tall
fiberglass mascot, “Miles the Monster,” who seemingly erupts
from the ground in the Victory Plaza while clutching a race
car King-Kong style in one hand. Inside the stadium itself, the
Monster Bridge, aka “The Most Exciting Seat in Sports,” sits 29
feet above to the track itself, but the centerpiece remains the
“Monster Mile” itself: a concrete oval track, with 24-degree
banking in the turns and 9 on the straights. Burning up the track
each year are two NASCAR tripleheader weekends, and you can
even get behind the wheel of a racecar yourself in the Rusty
Wallace Racing Experience.
WHILE IN TOWN: You may not automatically think of the beach when it comes
to Delaware, but an hour south of Dover is six miles of sand
and shoreline at Delaware Seashore State Park. The area is
ideal for swimming, sunning, wind-surfing, and sailboarding,
not to mention miles of hiking and biking trails perfumed by
the ocean air.
With one of the great art collections of North America, the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts forms the linchpin of Richmond’s
Museum District. Inside are more than 22,000 works drawn
from nearly all eras, mediums, and locations, particularly Asia.
At the heart of it all is the largest public collection of Fabergé
outside of Russia.
FLYWASHINGTON.COM 64 WINTER 2017/18
WHILE IN TOWN: