RIDGEWAY, Va. – Martinsville became the center of the NASCAR universe Sunday.
The First Data 500 exhilarated tens of thousands of fans at the Martinsville Speedway in one of the last races of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup season.
While some fans came to see their favorite drivers, others came because of their admiration for the historic speedway.
"It's door to door, bumper to bumper. You can't go anywhere," said race fan Mack Wallace. "There's action everywhere."
"Old-school, short-track racing. That's NASCAR's roots," added Brian Shenk, who traveled from Charlotte to watch the race in person. "You can feel all the history here. It's just NASCAR at its best."
Shenk, a Virginia Tech graduate, showed off his Virginia roots at the race by wearing a vintage shirt depicting former driver Elliott Sadler in his No. 21 Virginia Tech car.
"I wear Tech gear everywhere I go," Shenk said. "This shirt was probably several down in the stack, but that's because I have about 20 or 30 Tech shirts. It took a little bit of digging."
This was Martinsville's second and final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race of the season, following the STP 500 in March.