As dawn broke on Martinsville Speedway and gave way to a beautiful sun-drenched day, a sense of urgency filled the air.
The task at hand was clear for the 130 top Late Model drivers and teams who had traveled to the Virginia track from their usual Friday- and Saturday- night stomping grounds. A little more than 24 hours away awaited the Taco Bell 300, a Late Model shootout held annually at the .526-mile track.
Drivers and teams traveled from 10 states in the Southeast during the final weekend of September to try and make their way into the 42-car field. With so many competitors, simple math told you more than a third would fail to qualify for the main event.
This weekend it's Martinsville, but the scene plays out many times each season at tracks throughout the country.
The lure of big money beckons some drivers. Others hope to pad their resume in hopes of advancing their careers. Others just can't pass up the opportunity to gain some bragging rights on their peers. Whatever the reason, these fast and furious shootouts are a fan favorite.
The Competition
The two-day event at Martinsville, which concluded September 30, featured a possible $20,000 payday for the winning driver and team. The usual veterans were on hand, in addition to young up-and-comers just trying to make the field to gain experience and respect.
It's all part of what makes the Late Model race at Martinsville so important-if they perform well, then those drivers and teams truly know they've beaten the best in the business.
Many of those drivers will be the first to admit that just making their way into the field is half the battle. The first 20 positions were determined in Saturday qualifying, and the remainder of the field was set through early Sunday heat races and provisional starting spots.
The winner's purse of at least $15,000 for the last 10-lap segment is pocket change to a Winston Cup driver, but that's far from the case for Late Model competitors. Plus, what better place to launch a career in racing than to put on a solid effort in front of the nearly 20,000 fans who turn out each year at Martinsville.
These are drivers the fans can truly relate to because they get down and work on their cars alongside their fellow crewmembers. In the Late Models, if you're looking for the driver, don't look inside their small transporters because you won't find him there. In all likelihood, he's either working on his car or pitching in to help another team.
These are grass roots drivers who Late Model fans pull for on local short tracks from Kentucky to Florida. The drivers and teams who go to Martinsville come in all shapes and sizes, young and old, rich and broke.
For the fans who take a stroll through the garage area at Martinsville, especially for those who follow Winston Cup racing, the Late Models put on quite a different show. At a Winston Cup race, crewmembers wear freshly pressed clothes adorning all the various team sponsors. At the Late Model race at Martinsville, blue jeans and an old T-shirt allow crewmen to fit right in amongst other competitors jammed into the packed garage area.
Taking Notice
Ask the drivers why they were at Martinsville and you received a myriad of answers. Most wanted to see how they stack up against their peers, with money almost an afterthought.
Others were out trying to make a good first impression.
"This is my first time ever at Martinsville, and this is definitely a wild place," said driver Steve Blackburn, who races at Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, Virginia. "This is an experience to me because I've never run with this many quality cars before. If I were to make this race, that'd be like me making the Daytona 500. It'd be unreal. Plus the money we race for here is unreal to us. I think a lot of the guys are trying to make an impression. If you can even make the field at Martinsville, that says a whole lot about somebody."