iNSIDE SCOOP: Glorious Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. – I’ve stayed away from Richmond far too long.

Used to be, back in the day, if they held a race here, I was going to be there. And it was true, for a while. Of course, I was coming south from New Jersey at that time, and any excuse to get out of the Northeast corridor was not to be missed.

Now, I’m coming up from Charlotte, and for some reason, I haven’t been able to get here as much as I wanted to.

But I’m back, and that’s happy-making.

Richmond is, for my purposes, the best medium-sized track in the world. It’s wide, fast and conducive to racing. Is there any other criteria that matters when you’re making a judgment? Don’t think so.

I’ve seen races here that were just a long blur of passing, dicing, bumping and grinding. Rusty Wallace was stupid fast here. Kenny Wallace too. Dale Earnhardt knew a thing or two about getting around this place, and Bill Elliott won one short-track race in his long, Hall of Fame career. It was right here.

Just getting to come down here in the old days was a ball. It was warm, or at least warmer, and they knew what sweet tea was. Captain George’s Seafood Bufett was just down the road, and if I was feeling particularly sporty, the Tobacco Company was nearby. It was a glorious time in a young man’s life.

Of course, there was that six-hour drive back to Jersey, but at that point, I didn’t care. I’d have driven 12.

Richmond was the release point from a long and boring winter. It was in the South, which is in my blood anyway, and if I had spare time (rare, but it happened occasionally) there was plenty of Civil War stuff to go look at.

Ever take the driving tour at Gettysburg? It lasts three hours, but I did it in 45 minutes. Still got the shivers, still got a lump in my throat.

Petersburg and Richmond are rife with monuments and battlefields and other really cool stuff to a history buff like me.

All in all, it’s a great place to watch a race, and if NASCAR is smart, they’ll pencil RIR in twice a year until the cows come home.

It’s a great market, too. Charlotte, for all its infrastructure and tradition, is not a great race market. Richmond is.

There’s my two cents, and I’m sticking to them.