Do you love the roar of powerful racing engines? Do you like the aroma of burning racing fuel? Do you believe that pavement is for traveling to the races and dirt is for racing? If you answered yes to these questions then you should pack your picnic coolers and head out to Big Diamond Raceway in Pennsylvania on a Friday night very soon. This 3/8 mile red clay track plays host to the 358 small block modifieds, the sportsman modifieds and the always exciting roadrunners.

The 358 small block modifieds are the top class at Big Diamond. I’m not an expert on cars so I won’t try and tell you what makes these cars click but I will say that they’re very fast and they race very close together. The races have lots of passing and the winner often comes from deep in the pack. On any given Friday there are over 10 cars and drivers that can visit victory lane. Big Diamond has one of the best collections of drivers of any track I’ve been to. Names such as Craig Von Dohren, Duane Howard, Earl Paules, Jeff Strunk and many more race at Big Diamond every week. Just qualifying for the feature is difficult at Big Diamond because on most weeks, there are well over 30 modifieds competing for the 26 starting positions.

Driving a sportsman modified is a stepping stone to the 358 modifieds. The cars look just like the modifieds but the engines aren’t as strong. The races they run are a bit shorter than the modifieds but they are every bit as exciting. Many of the drivers are sons and grandsons of the modified drivers and retired modified drivers that we grew up watching. The roadrunners are an entry level division made up of older Camaros, Monte Carlos, Chevelles and Novas. While they’re not as powerful as the modifieds or sportsman, the racing is just as exciting. Unless you’re a track regular you’ve never heard of any of the drivers but maybe some of them may make it big someday.

The biggest, and most well known race held at Big Diamond each year is the Coalcracker 100 for the 358 modifieds. This race has been won by such racing stars as Fred Rahmer, Doug Hoffman, Richie Tobias, Kenny Brightbill, Billy Shinkel and many of the drivers named above. We all knew that the track was in trouble back in 2005 when the second half of the racing season, including the Coalcracker 100 was cancelled due to finanical considerations for the owner. It was the first time in over 20 years that there was no Coalcracker 100. Many of us thought that our days of packing our picnic basket and tailgaiting at Big Diamond were over forever.

Rescued by a group of three new owners in 2006, today Big Diamond Raceway is a thriving like never before. Every week finds the pit area full of race cars and the grandstand full of screaming race fans. Special events are held for touring racing groups like the World of Outlaws Late Models, the USAC wingless sprint cars and the Super Dirt Series Big Block Modifieds. The grounds have been improved with new restrooms and concession stands. The track food is good but I always choose to pack my grilling tools and cook out in the parking lot before the races. I’m not the only one as people gather hours before the track opens to enjoy tailgaiting parties and just stand around and talk racing. Big Diamond Raceway has become a great place for families and friends to gather for a Friday evening of community and great auto racing. Check it out!

A good organization supports charity and NASCAR does just that through its NASCAR foundation. The foundation has a program where for a 30 dollar donation you can join in on the NASCAR track walk. The Home Depot, one of the nations largest retail home improvement centers, is a major sponsor of the promotions and holds charitable events with proceeds going to the Foundation. But who does the Foundation support and what kinds of events do they hold to raise funds?

One thing they do is sponsor auctions where the proceeds go to one of the foundations supported by the foundation. For example, on September 17, 2007, they announced bidding on Jeff Gordon full-sized and autographed fiberglass auto body. The proceeds from this auction go to the Jeff Gordon Foundation which supports pediatric medical care of children with serious and life-threatening disease.

The NASCAR foundation holds the Blood and Marrow Drives at different tracks each year. The donations help out the Jimmie Johnson Foundation and the Hendrick Marrow Program. Other charities of the Foundation are:

The Dale Earnhardt Foundation,This is a foundation run by the wife of the racing great who died in a race car crash in 2001. Dale Earnhardt was concerned about education, children, and wildlife and his commitment lives on through this foundation.

The Kyle Petty Charity Ride,Kyle Petty is the son of the King of NASCAR Richard Petty and he sponsors a motorcycle ride across the USA for the Victory Junction Gang Camp as well as other childrens charities.

Victory Junction Gang Camp,This is an organization with the mission of helping to enrich the lives of children with serious illnesses by providing them a camping experience in a medically-safe environment. It was founded by Kyle Petty and his wife Pattie in June 2004. The couple also donated the land that the camp stands on today. The camp is interesting because it was built with a racing theme and all the look of a race track. The camp takes cash donations and there are volunteer opportunities. It is also gives a quilt and a teddy bear to each child who stays there so they are always looking for donations of these two items to replenish their supply.

There are many ways to donate to the foundation. One way is through the NASCARs Auto Donation program. Here, you can donate a vehicle and then any of the proceeds that the Auto Donation program gets from the proceeds in an auction are given to charity. All donations are fully tax deductible.

The Day Telethon,This was a telethon held on May 18, 2007 across from Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Speed Channel, NASCAR, and Sirius radio broadcasted this telethon event through the end of the Craftsman Truck Series Race.

There are many other charitable organizations supported by the Foundation but it is obvious that they care about contributing to the community which is probably one of the reasons why this sport is becoming increasingly popular.

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The NASCAR Hall of Fame was designated to be built in Charlotte, North Carolina on March 6, 2006 and groundbreaking began in 2007. It is projected to be opened for visitors in 2010. The Hall of Fame will be a welcome asset for tourism in Charlotte plus create jobs for the locals. It will have an office building that will house the business operations of marketing the NASCAR image and licensing. The NASCAR Hall of Fame has also adopted the words Racing was built here Racing belongs here as its slogan.

Besides being a very modern building that captures the spirit of racing, the NASCAR Hall of Fame has as its first mission to pick the first inductees. There are some unofficial Hall of Fame sites where people are taking polls and we will take a look at some of the popular drivers getting voted for.

Lee Petty had 54 victories and is the father of Richard Petty. He raced during the 1950s an 1960s when NASCAR really began to take off. His home state is also that of the NASCAR Hall of Fame: North Carolina. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, and elected to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

Richard Petty is getting a lot of votes at unofficial NASCAR Hall of Fame sites and it is to no surprise. Richard Petty has 200 wins and 7 championship titles. He and Dale Earnhardt are the only two drivers in NASCAR history to have 7 championship titles. Richard Petty was dubbed the title of the King of Racing. He is the son of Lee Petty who was also a championship NASCAR driver.

Bobby Allison is another well-known name is racing. He has 84 victories with 3 Daytona 500 championships.

Cale Yarborough has 83 victories plus he is famous as being the only driver to win 3 straight championships. He is ranked 5th in the All-time NASCAR winners list. He has also been the winner of the Daytona 500 four times.

Bobby Isaac had to leave a race in 1977 because of heat exhaustion. During the time they were treating him he had a heart attack and died. In his short life of 45 years, he would achieve 37 victories. He would also set 28 world land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah (outside of the NASCAR competition). He would eventually be named as one of 50 of the all-time great NASCAR drivers. He is also a 1979 inductee of the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame.

There are other NASCAR driver greats being considered including Buck Backer, Clay Earls, Tim Flock, and Junior Johnson.

Charlotte, North Carolina is a perfect location for the NASCAR Hall of Fame because there are over 50 teams of the Busch, Craftsman Truck, and Nextel Cup Series Championship competition all in close proximity to Charlotte. And Charlotte was the home of the first premier NASCAR race in 1949. Thats why they say racing started in Charlotte and should remain in Charlotte.

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The Atlanta Motor Speedway is in Hampton, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) and has a 1.54-mile oval track with turns banking at 24 degrees. Because these banks and their smooth surface, car speeds have been known to reach 190 mph on occasion. However these sustained high-throttle speeds make it hard on engines at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. You will see a variety of action here as cars will race closely side-by-side along with a lot of pushing and cutting off. All this action at the Atlanta Motor Speedway is made even more exciting by the high speeds.

The Atlanta Speedway offers a variety of options to see the races from premier seating to facilities for camping. The raceways premier seating is the Club One option. Fans purchasing this seating option sit in a location with a great view on top of the Winners Grandstand. It has 65 video screens along with a first-class bar and menu. Probably one of the most exciting features of Club One is the fans get a pre-race pit stop pass.

The Speedway can be rented for all sorts of group occasions too. They have custom packages for weddings, wedding receptions, theme parties, birthday parties, group meetings, and other special gatherings.

You can bring your recreational vehicle or popup tent and camp at the Atlanta Motor Speedway too. Shower facilities are available.

The Speedways website is excellent and has all the information you need. It even has a frequently-asked questions link where you can see the answers on subjects such as getting drivers autographs to bringing your cooler inside the track.

If you ever wanted to get into racing marketing, NASCARs Atlanta Motor Speedway gives you the opportunity through its internship program. This is an unpaid internship program but it gives you the experience needed to get into the career of NASCAR marketing by allowing you to gain working experience at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Plus, with this experience, one can be competitive in the market for the paid NASCAR marketing positions. The qualifications are that the person must be a college-level student (B.A. or B.S.) and a marketing communications major. You will help with the public relations, advertising, and event duties at the track.

The Atlanta Speedway is also the venue for numerous NASCAR driver schools where one can purchase a fantasy racing package and experience the thrill of being a driver for a short time. Now these are not schools to train you to be a professional driver. There is no career path like that. These are schools for the amateurs who just want to do something different and experience the thrill of the drive. There are different levels and of course price ranges. It is patterned a somewhat after the Major League Baseball fantasy camps where you get to play games and train alongside Major League Baseball players.

Richard Petty, the King of NASCAR, runs a driving experience school along with others who have their schools and use the Atlanta Motor Speedway track.

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The original concept of a NASCAR race car was that is was supposed to be composed of stock parts you would buy in an auto parts store. In some respects that is true but not totally. The race car is a high performance racing machine designed to withstand high G-forces when banking on turns. Lets look at what makes up this vehicle.

The first component most are interested in is the engine of a NASCAR racing vehicle. This engine actually is very close to that which you have in your car (provided you have a big engine) but it is customized so that it can withstand high temperature and torque. All parts in the engine of a are machined to within very tight specifications so that there is a minimum of friction. The carburetor is designed to let in the volume of air and fuel mixture required to sustain high speeds for lengthy spans of time. There are no fuel injectors in the race cars engine.

The first modification to the NASCAR vehicle was to smooth out the ride. Early races were run on tracks that were very bumpy and this causes a lot of damage. Today, the NASCAR vehicle is basically a body molded from sheet metal on a frame supported on the inside by bars made of sheet tubing. The vehicle is not a stock vehicle any longer as each component is hand-crafted and assembled. The car is built with safety in mind while giving it the ability to maintain speeds approaching 200 mph. Driver comfort is not the focus.

The NASCAR vehicle at one time was able to reach speeds in excess of 200 mph and that all changed in 1987 when Bobby Allisons race car flew into a section of fence at the Talladega Speedway in Talledega, Alabama. Fans were injured in the stands and NASCAR took action to restrict the speed of the vehicle through what is known as a restrictor plate. This also gave birth to the term restrictor-plate racing.

The physics of the restrictor plate have to do with reducing air intake into the intake manifold of the engine. Less air will result in lower combustion thus reducing horsepower. The restrictor plate is a sheet of metal with four holes bored in it at precise tolerances. The plate is then mounted between the intake manifold and the carburetor. After that, the NASCAR vehicle should not be able to exceed speeds of 200 mph.

It would seem like the restrictor plate would resolve the safety problem but many professional drivers have been asserting that it creates more potentially unsafe situations in a race. If you think about the difference between a motor scooter and a motorcycle you can see where a restrictor plate could create problems. Many times a motor scooter has an accident where a motorcycle could have avoided it because of its increased ability to accelerate (a motorcycle can accelerate quicker to avoid an oncoming threat). It is the same complaint among almost all of the racers with restrictor plates. They have identified situations where the cars bunch up and the driver only has one choice and that is to slow down. Speeding up to avoid the congestion is not an option because the other cars may be at the restrictor plate limit too.

But as for now, the restrictor plate is a requirement in the race car vehicle on the majority of tracks.

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