Thursday, March 10, 2016

Arena Racing


So....February 27th Bob Randall and I visited the Arena Racing event in Richmond, VA to represent Fisher House and Cruisin For Heroes at their Military Appreciation night. It was held at the Richmond Coliseum in downtown Richmond. We were invited by the owner to set up a table in the infield at the "meet & greet" before the race so we could share the Fisher House Foundation mission and give Fisher House magazines to interested folks.  After Bob enthusiastically interacted with the crowd and shared the Fisher House story while I took some pictures of the crowd & cars, we folded up our stuff and retreated to the stands to watch the races.

 

The little cars use a little Honda, sealed engine. The car build is very restrictive as far as the parts you can use and the modifications to the engine. The idea is to make the cars equal so the winning results are from the set up of the suspension and the skill of the drivers....not the $$$ of the engines and other cosmic car parts. They use a centrifugal clutch (no transmission) and chain drive on the rear mounted engine. The drivers range from 12 to 50 years old....yeah, old guys! The aluminum track is built in sections so it can be removed to reconfigure the Coliseum for ice hockey, basketball and other indoor sports.

 

I don't follow NASCAR but I’m told that Arena Racing uses a lot of NASCAR "protocols" in their racing too.....safety, tech inspections and other stuff. We had a great time enjoying the racing....hope you enjoy watching the video. It's 25 min long, with the stills followed by a movie clip of the event....  If you live near Richmond, VA and want to spend a fun family evening watching indoor racing, you might want to check it out.    http://www.arenaracingusa.com/events/