This video history of Bristol Motor Speedway was produced in 2004 and chronicles “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile” from its humble beginnings in 1961 through the modern day.
Produced for the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association (NETTA), this video is part of a series called “Tales & Trails.” The 11-video series highlights the heritage and cultural traditions of Northeast Tennessee.
Enjoy the video and when you get time, check out the NETTA web site and the full Tales and Trails series.
Last year the NASCAR Foundation asked Bristol Motor Speedway to participate in its first ever national blood and bone marrow drive. Naturally, we were honored to do so. For our first go-around, 157 persons donated blood and more than 50 folks signed up for the bone marrow registry.
Tuesday, Sept. 11 marked the Foundation’s Second Annual Blood and Marrow Drive and again BMS was proud to participate. The drive takes place on Sept. 11 each year. Obviously none of us will ever forget the tragic events on that day in 2001 when so many lives were lost in the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. It was one of the darkest days in our nation’s history. But there were also a lot of heroic acts that day, which makes that date a good example of how small act can help so many; like giving a pint of blood, or signing up to possibly become a bone marrow donor one day.
Our day started at 10 a.m. and by noon nearly 50 folks had already given blood. Everybody who gave blood or signed up for the bone marrow registry received a free BMS goody bag, lunch (which lasted all day) and track laps, which meant they got to drive their car around the track. When the rain came just after noon, we had to forego the track laps but few folks really cared about that. Didn’t care much about the free food or even the goodies for that matter. Nope, for the most part everybody who came out today — and it turned out we had 145 come by despite the steady rain all afternoon — didn’t care about what they were getting. Instead, it was all about giving. On this day they wanted to give back, to help and to remember.
We have a lot of great folks in this area and they proved it on Tuesday. And we also had people come by from as far away as Iowa and Pennsylvania. One gentleman from Florida was passing through on vacation and he heard about the blood drive on the radio. He went out of his way to stop by BMS and roll up his sleeve. Why? He said he made a point of donating blood on Sept. 11, no matter where he happened to be on that date each year. It’s his way of remembering a tragedy but also his way of giving back and helping someone in need.
We were able to help a lot of people today and so were the other 21 NASCAR tracks that participated in the drive. We had a lot of fun and we met a lot of great people. More importantly, we were able to come together for a great cause and to ultimately aid those in need. The hard-working folks from Marsh Regional Blood Center and the Cooperative Appalachian Marrow Program Donor Center had a smile on their faces from start to finish. They were thrilled with the turnout, knowing how many people would be helped. Yep, it rained pretty much all day. But that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. Turned out to be a pretty great day after all…
ADMIN NOTE: Mark Schlatter has been skydiving into Bristol Motor Speedway for some 10 years now — and every time he does, it’s an awe-inspiring event. Below, Mark takes us step-by-step through his jump into “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile” for the recent Sharpie 500. And not only does he tell us about it… he shows us! At the end of his story you’ll find an incredible and breathtaking video, which gives fans and viewers a behind-the-scenes and up close view of what it’s like to enter the 160,000 seat stadium from high above the half-mile oval. Make sure you turn your volume up and enjoy. And if you get a chance visit Mark’s web site.
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I think it’s the sound that I love the most, or maybe the visuals. Or it might be the challenging target or leaving the helicopter. One thing is for sure. Skydiving into a NASCAR event at Bristol Motor Speedway is an awesome experience!
It’s hard to describe the intensity one feels when jumping out of an airplane. For the beginner, making a skydive is the most exciting fun/fear of a lifetime. Like cresting the peak and starting downhill on the biggest, baddest roller coaster ever built … times ten!
For me now, 32 years and 5,300 jumps later, I can’t think of anything more intense than the moment when I step out onto the skid of Whit Baldwin’s helicopter, turn inward to face the pilot with my helmet-camera rolling, release my hands and just lay back as the weight of the big American flag packed on my chest carries my falling body through half a back flip. I’m in freefall and I’m looking down into a gigantic half-mile-bowl filled with 160,000 skyward faces some 4,500-feet below – and coming up fast! Wow!
There’s work to do right then. I check my wrist mount altimeter to see when it’s time to open my parachute. I deploy and it opens perfectly. So pull down a back riser to turn my canopy and face the center of the pits and check the wind. Then get the flag out and check altitude again to see whether to spin or float.
Flag’s out at 3,200 feet. Perfect. The freefall, parachute and flag deployment took 1,200 feet. There’s not much wind, so I should be able to spin down right over the pits without getting blown to far downwind. This might be my best Bristol jump yet!
I make three turns to the left. Then I remember the new ring-sight I’m looking through. I didn’t center the camera during those turns and I’m not over the center of the pits. So I glide until I’m directly above the big Jumbotron. “Now let’s crank ‘er down!”
During the next three spirals I move my head in the opposite direction to keep the pits centered in the ring-sight. After three-and-a-half turns I’ve drifted over Turns 1 and 2.
It’s time to set up a landing approach. I’ll make a big, slow 360 degree turn to the left and land on the back stretch toward Turn 3. The stands are twinkling with camera flashes as I get close enough to begin hearing the Lee Greenwood music.
The fans are getting louder as I realize that we have hit the music timing right on. I’m going to land on the very last note of the song. That’s perfect! The cheers get louder and louder. I can tell that I’ve made a perfect turn to final approach. I’m going to land right on the empty gear bag next to my ground crew holding my wind indicator on the center of the backstretch.
I can barely hear the music now, the crowd is cheering so loudly for the giant stars and stripes. I kick my feet to acknowledge their wild cheers and applause. I begin pulling down the steering toggles to make my landing. Everything is perfect and the sound of 160,000 fans almost drowns out the music.
But I can still make out the soundtrack that helped these giant stars and stripes inspire such enthusiasm from the grandstands:
“God …bless … the … U …S …AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Touchdown! OK. Maybe THAT’s the best moment of all!
Here’s a post offering a little insight into the “geek-in-me”…
Just prior to the Sharpie 500, I got a call from a gentleman named Bobby Standridge, the father of BobbysBrane.com, and an individual, I soon would find out, who happens to be a computer animation wizard.
ESPN contracted Bobby to do an animation that illustrates the G-forces a driver feels while circling Bristol’s .533-mile oval. Bobby called me up looking for some photos he could assimilate into the background of the animation. The animation was featured in a three-minute segment on NASCAR Countdown just prior to the race.
Now for the ”geek-in-me” stuff… While it was great helping Bobby out with the needed Bristol ingredients, I enjoyed even more so the many examples of his talent found throughout his web site. In particular, (and also because I’m a Rush fan), I loved Bobby’s animation for “MalNar,” an instrumental track from Rush’s 2007 album Snakes & Arrows, as well as his animation set to Rush’s “YYZ” featuring drummer Neil Peart.
Spend a little surfing time at Bobby’s Brane. Technology is amazing and so is Bobby’s talent.
Like me, I imagine hundreds of thousands, millions of race fans just finished watching the television premier of Dale The Movie, on CMT. I’m also quite sure that a fair share of those millions watching (including myself), either fought back tears, or they chose to freely let them flow.
Featuring archival race footage, outtakes, home videos and interviews with Dale Earnhardt’s friends, family, and competitors, the film does an incredible job of capturing the life and times of the man known to the racing world as “The Intimidator.”
Whether you were a fan of the man behind the wheel of the black No. 3 or not, you owe it to yourself to catch this movie. CMT will air “Dale” again Wednesday and Thursday night at 8 p.m. EDT. Of all the books, tributes, movies, highlight reels, etc., produced following Earnhardt’s death at Daytona in 2001, this film stands high above them all.
Dale Earnhardt transcended the sport. He was, and still is, a legend. And just like he did on many race tracks, Dale Earnhardt made his mark on Bristol Motor Speedway. From his first career Cup series win, which came at Bristol in 1979, to his final Bristol win some 20 years later in the 1999 August night race, seeing Dale run at Bristol was something special.
But then again, seeing Dale race anywhere was something special. That man could wheel a race car — but as you saw, or will see in the movie, he was so much more than just a race car driver.
If you haven’t seen this movie, see it. For more on Dale The Movie, check out Marty Smith’s editorial written following the theatre premier earlier this year for ESPN.com. Marty sums up the film well and aptly states, “This movie is worthy of the man. He would be pleased. You will be, too — race fan or not.”
