09/01/07

THE UPTOWN MARTINSVILLE EXPERIENCE
by Dave Meredith

    The Uptown ( Old Town) Martinsville was brought to life as the sounds of the drivers along with their speed machines from the NASCAR Whelen Modified& Southern Modified Tours invaded the calmness of the hilltop region. Martinsville Speedway and Martinsville Uptown's Premier TGIF Outdoor Concert Series, Pepsi and Coors Light provided the location for the mighty modified to roar through the city streets of Uptown.
    The Clay Campbell, president of Martinsville Speedway was assigned the pole position in the #4 Mystic Missile usually piloted by current WMT point leader Donny Lia as the group of 23 modified roared their way through uptown creating a mini earthquake. However, after the redraw he started in the third. The fans, especially the young were treated to a sample of what will be on hand tonight as the Whelen Modified Tours at Martinsville Speedway. The open wheeled racers were lined up next to the TGIF concert on Church Street, as the throaty big engines quieted the harmonic sounds from the Band of Oz entertained the crowd with their variety of beach themed music all evening.
    Church Street was flooded with racing and non-racing fans all in search of autographs, souvenirs and refreshments. The youngsters on hand had great as many of the teams gave the young race car enthusiasts an experience of a lifetime. When they assisted numerous kids behind wheel into the driver's seat and let them assume the controls.
    Plenty of smiles were seen on the faces as the kids and the parents that showed how happy they were. The crowd waned on the street and flowed into to park for the music and refreshments. The drivers appeared on stage just before the cars were loaded up.
    The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour cars will be in town for the running of the Made In America Whelen 300 NASCAR Modified Tour race on Saturday, September 1.
    "This was a great evening to be in Uptown Martinsville", said Susan McCulloch, Executive Director of Martinsville Uptown Revitalization Association. Mike Smith, director of Public Relation for Martinsville Speedway, said: " I think we made a few new fans tonight, we used this as an opportunity to show the public what modified racing is".
    The practice session just ended and the track is quiet now till about 5:00 pm.

Source: Dave Meredith/Independent Reporter
Posted:  September 1, 2007