2018 Martinsville - STP 500 - Pre Race Thread

Ford Racing said:
Roads will be fine. Temps will be above freezing all morning.
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If it stopped at noon, that would give them just two hours to clear and dry the track, clear and salt the stands along with the under the stands. They will likely race tomorrow, but I think a cleanup of only two hours is unlikely.
 
Brentford said:
If it stopped at noon, that would give them just two hours to clear and dry the track, clear and salt the stands along with the under the stands. They will likely race tomorrow, but I think a cleanup of only two hours is unlikely.
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It's a little ambitious, but I think they can get it done. Maybe a 30 minute delay. It's now looking like the precipitation will stop well before noon anyway.
 
I think it gets pushed back to next Saturday. 6-10" of snow does not disappear in 36-48 hours when projected highs are in the low to mid 40s and overnight lows in the mid 20s(causing refreezing). Im a bit a weather nerd and know snowpacks and thermal cooling. It sucks...
 
4tires17gals said:
Atlanta 1993
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I lived in eastern pa in '93 and we got it worse than atlanta that weekend all things considered....lol. That was an epic storm in US history for entire east coast! Never would i have guessed in a million tries that i'd be sitting in a hotel in SW Virginia 25 years later(within 2 weeks of the day) with what could a 4x a century event for Nascar. It's almost surrel. When i made my "officially headed to martinsville" post 3 weeks ago snow like THIS seemed laughable. An inch, a dusting ok...not this...
 
Brentford said:
If it stopped at noon, that would give them just two hours to clear and dry the track, clear and salt the stands along with the under the stands. They will likely race tomorrow, but I think a cleanup of only two hours is unlikely.
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You have to remove the snow from the facility not just the stands. Otherwise liability out the butt. 6-12" will leave huge snow piles that arent going to melt quickly.

Are they going to plow the parking lots? You cant have honda accords or some guys wheel drive camaro pulling into unplowed lots.
 
Martinsville is now under a Winter Storm Warning. This is real deal stuff....

Not sure when it was updated to a warning. The NWS had to have done it between 11 pm and 1 am since i've been checking).

There will be no race today and like i said, likely not Monday either. This area will have far bigger issues to worry about than a Nascar race over the next 48 hours.
 
The F1 race is about to start for those of you that need some racing this weekend.
 
ReturnTrip said:
The F1 race is about to start for those of you that need some racing this weekend.
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Unfortunately my hotel in virgina doesnt have the channel (at home i do). Ironically i have no tv currently because the snow has disrupted the DirectTV dishes signal at the hotel. So no racing of any kind for this guy and currently no tv of any kind. I don't know if i want to laugh or cry. I cant sleep...lol. Going to be a long ride back to PA...
 
Based on what I’ve seen they’re fighting off snow at the track. Stenhouse and Larson were cruising in a snowblower earlier.
 
They left the trucks on the track lol.


I bet they get both races in tomorrow.
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So what stops NFL games from having 60-75,000 having to travel through snow? I'm confused how this is some sort of problem logistically yet Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo seems to have a snow game every year. Seems to me that ISC and NASCAR came unprepared with March snow in the Appalachians not being THAT unusual.
 
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AuzGrams said:
So what stops NFL games from having 60-75,000 having to travel through snow? I'm confused how this is some sort of problem logistically yet Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo seems to have a snow game every year. Seems to me that ISC and NASCAR came unprepared with March snow in the Appalachians not being THAT unusual.
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As someone who went to two bills games this year and missed a 3rd due to a blizzard. The bills-colts game that i missed had maybe 15k make it to game.

First, an NFL game can be played in any type of conditions. They dont need fans to show up to hold a game. NFL teams (except the packers) are located near large population bases. All but two stadiums iirc (Gillette and Lambeau) are accessible by public transit. Most surface lots around stadiums are paved which makes them easier to plow. Race lots are mostly grass which makes them nearly impossible to plow. Plus, the general instructure, procedure, plan is already in place to handle it due to years of experience. The fans, city, team, police etc know what to do. How prepared can a NASCAR track and the small community its located in be ready for this when you never deal with it on this level?

I think they need to remove the snow from inside the entire facility. You cant have huge mounds of snow lying around at a race truck. One drunk thinking he's tom brady who can fit a snowball into a tiny window and no good. Plus numerous other things including runoff/ seapage onto the track.

While NFL games due go on, NBA and NHL games get postponed quite a bit due to storms. Why i dont know. I dont think Martinsville/the ISC planned on a storm of this magnitude. There are 44k people currently without power in SW Vriginia.
 
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Good morning, south-central VA! Looks like about five inches of white sh- ..., uh, stuff on the ground here on the banks of I-77. Nothing on NASCAR.com about changes to the schedule.
 
DIDIT said:
Based on this from the track a little while ago, I would say they are racing. Time to head out, gonna be a long day.
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According to your weather map, It looks like 1-2 inches just north of the track and 3 inches to the south. East and west look relatively clear. They should be good to go.
 
NO RACE TODAY per Martinsville Speedway Twitter...will race tomorrow...details TBA
 
Speedbowl14 said:
NO RACE TODAY per Martinsville Speedway Twitter...will race tomorrow...details TBA
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Wow, thank you! Had just fired up the truck and waiting for the engine to get warm. I realize the impact to those who could only make it today, but I think this is the best decision. Parking would have been a nightmare and still might be tomorrow.
 
Kinda bummed, I had purchased those pit passes for the cup race. I’m assuming those will be worthless now with trucks running first. Wonder if they’ll let anybody with a cup ticket in to watch the trucks too?
 
2pm start tomorrow. Which means the race will be over by 7:00, maybe? That sucks for anyone like me that has a 7 hour drive back home.

I'll make it work, but something tells me I won't be going into work at 7:30 AM Tuesday, LOL
 
DSquad48 said:
Kinda bummed, I had purchased those pit passes for the cup race. I’m assuming those will be worthless now with trucks running first. Wonder if they’ll let anybody with a cup ticket in to watch the trucks too?
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They probably will. I am the opposite and only have a truck ticket. I doubt they will attempt to clear the stands after the truck race, so I think I get a free Cup race. :)
 
Martinsville is cursed. It usually rains for every cup race the past several years....now friggin' snow. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!
 
I'm not going to stick around. Between a 2 pm start tomorrow and the fact that everything is going to still be a mess ( not convinced on tomorrow being "good") i'm cutting my losses and bowing out. Good luck to those that stay down here!
 
So today they were gonna do Cup then trucks so why do trucks then cup tomorrow?
 
Resources needed else where.
Steve O'Donnell‏Verified account @odsteve · 2h2 hours ago

Way more snow than anticipated last night-Met with track/local authorities this morning-resources need to be dedicated to local community-roads-trees down, etc. We’ll put on a great day of @NASCAR Monday. #doubleheader Always a tough call but the right one in this case.
 
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