Martinsville Night Racing - Martinsville Speedway LED Lights
Martinsville Speedway Lighting Project Complete – LED Night Racing
Racing News
Martinsville Speedway LED Lighting Project Complete – Martinsville Night Racing Video
And it looks striking!
No NASCAR night races are schedule for Martinsville Speedway… Yet.
The Martinsville Lighting project came to mind after a recent NASCAR event ran late into the evening. As the sun went down, the track got darker and darker. Jeff Gordon ended up standing in victory lane, basically at night.
It was a close situation. If the race had another red flag toward the end of the event it might have caused a mess. That likely would have forced the ending of the race to either be called, or run on the previous day.
Since, Martinsville Speedway went to work to fix that pending problem. The LED lights prevent any issues with sunset. It will also give the TV viewers a better viewing experience. Martinsville Speedway now also has better control over what parts of the racetrack are illuminated.
The project was managed and installed by Graybar. They are a leading lighting company, offering energy saving lighting systems.
“Today is truly a historic day in the history of Martinsville Speedway,” said Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell. “This is a venue which has a long and storied past, but with these lights now in place, we’re looking forward to a bigger and better future – and certainly a brighter one.”
While there’s no NASCAR night race schedule for Martinsville Speedway at this time. The Virginia racetrack does have their first night race on the schedule, for another event. The ValleyStar Credit Union 300 on September 23 will be the first race held under the lights at Martinsville Speedway. This year is the 70th year of racing at Martinsville.
3 cars have already driven at Martinsville Speedway, under the lights. It took place last night. One of the cars included; this incredibly awesome former Wood Brothers machine.
Leonard Wood is the co-founder of Wood Brothers Racing. He drove his brothers (Glen Wood) Legend car. Stealing the show, at 82 years old.”That was awesome”, Wood said as he climbed from the legends car. He continued, “Glen and I were standing on the backstretch watching Red Byron win the first race (in 1947).”
Matt Bowling, the 2016 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion was another car on track. Peyton Sellers, 2005 Whelen All-American Series National Champion, also joined the two on track.
“It’s super exciting,” Lori Cauley said. “We were so excited to hear that our race was going to be the first race under the lights. I’m really excited for the drivers too, but having our name on it is just the icing on the cake.”
“It was just a high honor that he (Campbell) would call me and ask me to come over here and run it. When I was driving it around the track it brought back a lot of memories.”