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An eventful trip to the Lexington car show

This Saturday night will close out the 2018 racing season at Elkins Raceway.

The Festival 40 will feature racing in all five classes, with $2,000 to win in the Jenkins Ford Super late models, The Budweiser FasTrack Crate late models will run for $1,200 to win and there will be increased purses in all the divisions.

Load up a car load and come on out to see the best in short track dirt racing before the engines go quiet for the winter.

Gates will open at 5 p.m., which is an hour earlier than normal. Hot laps should be underway by 6:30 p.m. Admission will be $15 in the stands and Pit passes will be $35. Children under 12 are free with a paid adult. Don’t forget to come hungry and visit the concession stands for great food.

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This past weekend I traveled to Lexington, Virginia, for the car show. There were several hundred of the finest muscle cars, street rods, trucks and race vehicles on display. There was a special unveiling of a new 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona NASCAR stock car. This car was built just as they were back in the day and assembly was guided by Bobby Allison. The car was painted like his number 22 Coke Machine that he campaigned in the 1969 and 1970 seasons. Tim Walker did a great job recreating one of the sports iconic racers. Bobby and his brother Donnie Allison, along with Harry Gant, Dave Marcis, ARCA star Bobby Watson, Chocolate Myers (gas man for Dale Earnhardt Sr.) and Miss Hurst Shifter, Linda Vaughan, were all present and spent the whole day signing autographs! It was so wonderful for me to catch up with my friends from the Cup garage area when I was a crew member myself. I was able to get some of my scale model race cars autographed by those drivers and crew members. Miss Hurst is still a very beautiful lady and continues to be one of the best ambassadors for Motorsports! Over $80,000 was raised for the local Hospice Care group over there from this event. Special shoot goes out to the Goads Body Shop and the Roanoke Valley Mopar Club for all the hard work that goes into putting together such a class event. Mark your calendars for next year and make plans to attend. It was just a beautiful 2 1/2- hour drive through the mountains from our area.

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NASCAR racing this past weekend was held at the 3/4-mile Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway. The truck series is off for a few weeks but the Xfinity teams raced Friday night under the lights. Daniel Hemric took the early lead and won the first stage. Dale Earnhardt Jr. put down his microphone and slipped back behind the wheel of his Xfinity car to the delight of his fans. After starting deep in the field he was able to work is way to the front and capture the second stage win. Christopher Bell was able to bring his JGR Toyota to the front and grab his fifth victory of the year. Ross Chastain, who has been turning heads in the Ganassi number 42, finished a close second. Hemric finished third and Dale Jr. was able to finish fourth. Matt Tifft rounded out the top five.

Saturday night the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series took to the Richmond track for 400 laps. Martin Truex Jr. won the first and second stages. It was Kyle Busch who was able to take the victory over a hard-charging Kevin Harvick. Harvick just ran out of laps but was certainly running down Busch. Truex Jr. held on to third position at the finish. Chase Elliott had another strong consistent run finishing fourth. Aric Almorola rounded out the top five and helped his standings in the Chase. This week the action for both of these series moves to the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s ROVAL. For the first time drivers will face the combination of the high banks of the tri-oval and the twists and turns of the infield road course! If practice has been any indication of what to expect, Dale Jr.’s graveyard for wrecked race cars may get a few more additions! This is certainly a wild card race and with it being part of the Chase it could really shake up the point’s situation. I’ll certainly be tuned in or recording the action and will bring you all the details next week. So, whether it’s the ROVAL at Charlotte or the tight high banked dirt turns at Elkins remember at the end of the straightaway there’s Another Left Turn!

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