Suite101 e-Book
Short Track Racing, Volume I

NASCAR Cup Series racing only has three tracks that are considered to be "Short Tracks." Technically these tracks are less then a mile in racing length. Bristol Motor Speedway outside of Bristol, Tennessee is a concrete oval just a little over ½ mile in racing length at 0.533 miles. Martinsville Speedway, at Martinsville, Virginia is 0.526 miles in racing length and is shaped like a paper clip. The tight corners and the longer straight stretches make for some really interesting racing. Richmond International Raceway, located at the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia is a 0.750 mile D-shaped oval which is the largest short track on the Cup racing circuit.

Lots of folks don't care much for short track racing, because the speeds are abbreviated when compared to the larger tracks, and it seems to them that the cars just go around in tight little circles until somebody wins. This may be true to some extent, but the strategies involved in getting a 3400 pound 750+ horsepower race car, which is capable of speeds exceeding well over 200 miles per hour, to win on a low speed short track is a science within itself. In this collection of racing articles from 1998 and 1999 you'll find stories that were racing news during that time period, as well as an account of most of the short track races on the Cup circuit during that era.

Table of Contents

• Hamilton Wins at Martinsville - 4/21/1998
• Richmond, Down to the Wire - 6/9/1998
• Thunder Valley Night Racing - 8/24/1998
• Richmond II - 9/14/1998
• Season Winding Down - 9/28/1998
• Bristol – 4/12/1999
• Martinsville - 4/19/1999
• Richmond - 5/17/1999
• Bristol II - 8/30/1999
• Richmond II - 9/13/1999
• Martinsville II - 10/4/1999

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