Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
Motorsports tours scheduled
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
By MIKE SMITH -
Fans arriving early for the TUMS QuikPak 500 at Martinsville Speedway can explore some of the many racing facilities in the Martinsville and Henry County area.
On Oct. 16, students in the Patrick Henry Community College Motorsports Program will offer 90-minute race tours, beginning at Martinsville Speedway, moving to Arrington Engines, manufacturer of Dodge race engines; the shops of BHR-VA, which field NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series trucks for Dennis Setzer; HT Motorsports, which will be fielding a truck for rookie Joey Logano in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville; and concluding at the PHCC Virginia Motorsports Technology Center.
Traveling in PHCC vans, the tours will begin in front of the Martinsville Speedway ticket office every 30 minutes, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and running until 4:30 p.m.
The tour of Martinsville Speedway will include a stop in the Speedway Suite, a drive around the track, with a photo opportunity at the start-finish line and a ride through the infield and garage area. Each tour guide will offer historical and topical information on the track and will field questions.
The tour will leave the speedway and travel to Arrington Engines, a large, state-of-the-art engine manufacturing center founded by Joey Arrington. Fans will get to tour the facility and watch racing engines being constructed. The tours will then move on to the race shops of BHR-VA and HT Motorsports.
The tour will wind down at the Patrick Henry Community College Virginia Motorsports Technology Center where tour members will watch PHCC students work on race cars under construction. The tour will conclude back at the Martinsville Speedway ticket office.
The tour cost is $10 per person or an entire van can be reserved for a group (10 or less) for $100. Those who don’t want to take the entire tour may visit just one site for $7.50.
The tour is a fundraiser for the Patrick Henry Community College Motorsports Program.
For more information about the tours, contact Jeff Fields, Dean of Applied Science and Engineering Technology at PHCC, at 656-0356 or jfields@ph.vccs.edu.
(Mike Smith is the director of public relations at Martinsville Speedway.)
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