Sure, Atlanta Can Be Cold In February, But Remember Richmond?
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02/25/2016 Frank Buhrman |
The question of which race should be last on the Sprint Cup Series schedule remains a hot topic, but at times the second most discussed schedule date is who races right after Daytona. Down in Florida there’s a good chance that February temperatures will be pleasant, but at most Sprint Cup track locations, that’s WINTER!
These days Atlanta has been sentenced to run Race #2 on the schedule, and that might bode ill (see the history of N.C. Motor Speedway in Rockingham), but for years the victim of NASCAR’s schedule fiends was in Richmond, Va. Thanks to a great promoter and some diehard fans, that track survived the indignity and thrives.
Richmond, of course, hasn’t always been the same track. The beautiful Richmond International Raceway only came about in 1988, when it replaced the .542-mile Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway (also known by other names), which was paved from 1968-88 but was dirt before that. For much of the paved “fairgrounds” track’s existence and a few years of dirt tracking, Richmond was the first stop on the Grand National/Winston Cup tour after Daytona. For a lot of those years, it was cold.
The race ran as early as February 21, and that in fact was the date of the last race on the old paved track in 1988, when 40,000 fans braved upper 40s temperatures to see Neil Bonnett win a race that he and Dale Earnhardt had taken turns dominating.
Richmond promoter Paul Sawyer long had seen the handwriting on the wall for his little track, and by 1988 he finally had put things in place to replace it. When the tour returned in September it was to the new ¾-mile raceway, where an estimated 60,000 watched Davey Allison hold the first victory lap celebration.
Richmond still got some early dates after that, before Sawyer finally convinced NASCAR to move his spring race to . . . well, spring, but the lure of a state-of-the-art facility made filling the place during cold weather a little easier, at least.
Not necessarily so in those years on the old track, although the fans poured through the gates in surprising numbers despite the odds of freezing. In 1982, when Dave Marcis won a rain-shortened event (not snow, at least; the temperature was in the mid-50s) on February 21, 28,000 fans were on hand – the next week, Bristol drew 1,000 fewer spectators.
For more than 15 years, Richmond followed Daytona on the schedule, and for many others, it was run before the first official day of spring. In some years that brought racers who had come from other parts of the country to run at Daytona and decided to stick around for another event before heading home. Thus, Californian Joe Clark was a 1964 entrant and Canadian Les Covey paid a visit in 1972. (Covey might have felt at home with the temperatures that day peaking at 47, but his engine still failed after 19 laps, and he finished 27th.)
In those days, Richmond was one of the northernmost tracks on the circuit (save for the mid-summer “Northern Tour”), so drivers from outside the south would visit regardless of the race date if it was one of the closest tracks to them: in 1962 (when the race was held on April Fool’s Day), Canadian Jim Bray was in the field, as were New England modified standouts Ernie Gahan and Dick Dixon.
Incidentally, for those not familiar with schedules of old, Richmond’s placement after Daytona on early schedules didn’t mean it was the season’s Race #2. For years, Daytona was run AFTER the Riverside, California, road course race in January, and for years, the two qualifying races at Daytona counted as points-paying events.
Go even farther back, and NASCAR had the habit of ending its season in October or early November, then running a handful of races in November and December that counted toward the next season. In 1964, races were run in November 1963 at Concord, N.C., and Augusta, Ga. (a road course), and at Jacksonville, Fla., and Savannah, Ga., in December. The Jacksonville race was immortalized as Wendell Scott’s only career victory, when the promoter declared another driver the winner to avoid a possible riot over having a black man accept the trophy and kiss the beauty queen.
The early weather outlook for the Atlanta area this weekend is quite nice – sunny with highs in the upper 60s on Sunday. A lot of long-time race fans from Richmond hope the weather man gets it right, because we know what else might happen.
These days Atlanta has been sentenced to run Race #2 on the schedule, and that might bode ill (see the history of N.C. Motor Speedway in Rockingham), but for years the victim of NASCAR’s schedule fiends was in Richmond, Va. Thanks to a great promoter and some diehard fans, that track survived the indignity and thrives.
Richmond, of course, hasn’t always been the same track. The beautiful Richmond International Raceway only came about in 1988, when it replaced the .542-mile Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway (also known by other names), which was paved from 1968-88 but was dirt before that. For much of the paved “fairgrounds” track’s existence and a few years of dirt tracking, Richmond was the first stop on the Grand National/Winston Cup tour after Daytona. For a lot of those years, it was cold.
The race ran as early as February 21, and that in fact was the date of the last race on the old paved track in 1988, when 40,000 fans braved upper 40s temperatures to see Neil Bonnett win a race that he and Dale Earnhardt had taken turns dominating.
Richmond promoter Paul Sawyer long had seen the handwriting on the wall for his little track, and by 1988 he finally had put things in place to replace it. When the tour returned in September it was to the new ¾-mile raceway, where an estimated 60,000 watched Davey Allison hold the first victory lap celebration.
Richmond still got some early dates after that, before Sawyer finally convinced NASCAR to move his spring race to . . . well, spring, but the lure of a state-of-the-art facility made filling the place during cold weather a little easier, at least.
Not necessarily so in those years on the old track, although the fans poured through the gates in surprising numbers despite the odds of freezing. In 1982, when Dave Marcis won a rain-shortened event (not snow, at least; the temperature was in the mid-50s) on February 21, 28,000 fans were on hand – the next week, Bristol drew 1,000 fewer spectators.
For more than 15 years, Richmond followed Daytona on the schedule, and for many others, it was run before the first official day of spring. In some years that brought racers who had come from other parts of the country to run at Daytona and decided to stick around for another event before heading home. Thus, Californian Joe Clark was a 1964 entrant and Canadian Les Covey paid a visit in 1972. (Covey might have felt at home with the temperatures that day peaking at 47, but his engine still failed after 19 laps, and he finished 27th.)
In those days, Richmond was one of the northernmost tracks on the circuit (save for the mid-summer “Northern Tour”), so drivers from outside the south would visit regardless of the race date if it was one of the closest tracks to them: in 1962 (when the race was held on April Fool’s Day), Canadian Jim Bray was in the field, as were New England modified standouts Ernie Gahan and Dick Dixon.
Incidentally, for those not familiar with schedules of old, Richmond’s placement after Daytona on early schedules didn’t mean it was the season’s Race #2. For years, Daytona was run AFTER the Riverside, California, road course race in January, and for years, the two qualifying races at Daytona counted as points-paying events.
Go even farther back, and NASCAR had the habit of ending its season in October or early November, then running a handful of races in November and December that counted toward the next season. In 1964, races were run in November 1963 at Concord, N.C., and Augusta, Ga. (a road course), and at Jacksonville, Fla., and Savannah, Ga., in December. The Jacksonville race was immortalized as Wendell Scott’s only career victory, when the promoter declared another driver the winner to avoid a possible riot over having a black man accept the trophy and kiss the beauty queen.
The early weather outlook for the Atlanta area this weekend is quite nice – sunny with highs in the upper 60s on Sunday. A lot of long-time race fans from Richmond hope the weather man gets it right, because we know what else might happen.