TRIAL RUN

 Well, The weather was really nice this past weekend and on the spur of the moment, I decided hit the road and take a little road trip. Here in the New River Valley of Virginia it was  forecast to be sunny with temps in the low to mid-70's. So last Friday (March 12) I packed up and left home about 9.a.m., and headed south. 

I was running a little low on material for my YouTube Channel, so this little trip will allow me to shoot some new material. When I left I had a couple of Ideas but by and large I just played it by ear. 

Another thing that I wanted to accomplish on this trip is to see how many places were open and just how much traveling has changed over the last year due to COVID. This little mini-adventure also served as a trial run, for some longer trips this summer. 

My first stop was at the Petty Racing Museum in Level Cross, North Carolina.  The museum occupies a couple of building in what was one the shops where the cars for Lee and Richard Petty were build back in the early days of NASCAR. It was also the home to Petty Enterprises before it moved to the Charlotte Area. 

The Museum has some of the cars that were driven by the four generation of the Petty Family, Starting with the family patriarch Lee Petty, along with Richard, Kyle and Lee's great grandson Adam. 

For over 40-years I was a huge NASCAR Fan, attending my first race with my Dad and his friend Tommy Cline in 1964 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Daddy and Tommy slept on a mattress in the back of a Ford Country Squire Station Wagon out side of turn 4.  I slept in the back seat and it was the thrill of a life time. The 1964 World 600 was the race that claimed the life of my favorite driver "Fireball" Roberts.  

The 1964 World 600 was my first race and for the 40-years I never missed a race at Charlotte. Traveling as a young lad with daddy and Tommy Cline and then with Daddy and Mr. Jim Deskins and some other friends in Tazewell.  Then I got old enough to drive, and I continued attending on my own.  I did this until 2003 when NASCAR got greedy and became more scripted both on the track and with the driver interaction with the fans.

When I was growing up I can remember Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison and other drivers standing for hours signing autographs and visiting with fans.  Then the R. J. Reyonld's Tobacco Company and it's Winston Brand were legislated out of NASCAR along with the deaths Dale Earnhardt, and Bill France, NASCAR Became more scripted.  

I lost interest and attended my last race at Charlotte in October 2003. I haven't been to a race or watch a complete one on TV Since. But I enjoyed re-living the glory days of NASCAR by walking through the Petty Museum.  I spent about two hours at the Petty Museum reliving and remembering those class battle between "The King" Richard Petty and the "Silverfox" David Person. 

Leaving the Museum I had to make a quick stop at the Level Cross Methodist Church. Here I paid my
respects to Lee Petty who is resting with his wife in the church cemetery. 

The Petty Museum was COVID Compliant, and required face covering when inside any of the building.  They were a few other visitors here and we all wore face coverings and kept our distance from each other.  Safety really wasn't a concern and I enjoyed the visit.

I was allowed to shoot video inside the museum to hopefully there will be a YouTube Video coming soon. If you haven't already, Please check out my YouTube Channel (Click Here) and if you like what you see, be sure to subscribe. I try and post a new Video every two week. Hopefully as I get more material I can begin posting every week. 

For now the adventure Continues, More to come from my little Trial Run Adventure.