Back in June while driving up to PA from Texas I was on my middle leg of the three days between Memphis, TN and my family farm in the Virginia mountains near Lexington I drove through Bristol TN and VA. It was a 10+ hour day in the car so in the afternoon I needed to spin out the legs for a while so I decided to do it in Bristol. I pulled off the highway, parked, and then rode my bike working my way to the speedway.

When I have to ride on ny road trips I try to incorporate it with some sight seeing and while not a fan of NASCAR or motor sports the stadiums are huge and something that many people can relate to so I thought I’d check it out. Besides Bristol isn’t any track it’s one of the more famous or storied tracks with the area practically the birthplace of NASCAR and since I’d driven by talladega speedway last year and drove my car on the Indy track several years before that I figured I’d check out bristol motor speedway.

Well, the stadium was huge and what I didn’t know is that it’s one of the smallest tracks in NASCAR unlike the incredibly huge track I’ve seen at Texas motor speedway. It was nosebleed seat stadium around the entire track.

Anyways while riding around the track I rode up a ramp going up a dirt embankment to a gate on the level of the nosebleed section and to my surprise the gate was open so I went in, got off the bike and walked out into the stands to take in the scene. If you’ve never seen (as in been in) an empty 100,000 person stadium your missing out. It’s an experience that induces awe. While taking it in I noticed the gate onto the auto track was open for cars to drive onto the track and into the infield. So, long story short after some looking around I found an uninhibited way down & around ramps and through open gates until I was at the big open gate on the edge of the track. I glanced around and didn’t see anyone nor any ‘no tresspassing’ or ‘authorized personell’ signs so I took a deep breath, pushed off, and started my hot laps on the NASCAR track at Bristol motor speedway on my road bike. It was a lot of fun and for a straight edge like me quite a rush.

I stopped after my first quick lap but decided that wasn’t enough to get a feel so I took off again for another two laps. This time a looked around a bit to take in the experience and had fun with the banking. Which by the way, was much steeper than I would have previously thought for a NASCAR track although not surprising for how short and tight the Bristol track is. I’d guess it was 12-20 degrees at points.

So, after three laps on the track I headed out of there and back to my car. It was a lot of fun. I only wish I had done more laps while there but at least I got to do it and will forever smile when I see that race while channel surfing on tv.

Here are some pics I took during the experience. If, as one of my friends says, I look scared it’s probably because I was. That’s probably the most revelious thing this straight edge has ever done in my life. Ha, at least I lived a little this time.