You may have read in previous posts that my husband is a performance engine builder. That means he builds engines for race cars and race boats. Although the boats race all over the country and in Canada, the cars usually race at our local track in Hampton, Va.
Saturday night was our first race of the season. I managed to find a safe spot between two billboards to take these pictures of cars on the back stretch.
These were taken during a practice session.
By the way, that huge structure in the background is an old NASA wind tunnel, which is in the process of being demolished. For decades, it’s been in the background of pictures taken at this race track.
Motor Man and I have a parking space right by the track. This is our little white truck.
Parking where we can watch the race from our vehicle has many advantages. If the weather is cold, like it was Saturday night, we can sit in the truck where it’s warm. And later in the season, it’s nice to have air-conditioning. We can also avoid the mosquitoes that will be here in a few weeks.
The grandstands are nearly empty in the above picture because we were at the track early. Motor Man likes to be there for his customers – just in case they have questions about their engines.
Although we usually watch the race from our truck, we always have pit passes, which allow us to be in the pits (the area in the center of the track). We like to check on our customers before the race and wish them luck. And we’re usually there after the race while the cars go through post-race inspection.
As for how the first night of racing turned out… there were six divisions racing. Our engines qualified on the pole (which means they started in the first position) in three of them and won one race and finished third in another. The third race (the main division) was rained out by a storm that came from nowhere!
It was a disappointing end to the first race. But there’s always next time.
these days of mine 