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Written by Andrew McClellan
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Thursday, 01 May 2008 19:00 |
 What is now known as the Richmond International Raceway has not only gained popularity among racing fans, drivers and the media; it has also gone through many changes since the first NASCAR race in Richmond in 1953. Lee Petty won the Grand National Division race at the Atlantic Exposition Fairgrounds with an average speed of 45.535 miles per hour and earned a thousand dollars for his victory.
Since then, the track\'s name has changed three times. In 1955, when Paul Sawyer and Joe Weatherly purchased the property, the track was called Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds. In 1967, the track named changed to Virginia State Fairgrounds. Two years later, in 1969, the track\'s name became Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway and in 1988, the track was finally named Richmond International Raceway. The track has kept it name since 1988, but various notable changes occurred over the past two decades or so. The overall maintenance improved as well as other changes that made the facility more fan friendly. Once the Internation Speedway Corporation bought the track and the surrounding area from Paul Sawyer on Dec 1st, 1999, the track kept its name, but made various improvements. Improvements included a fifty five acre parking lot, a new driver/owner RV lot, a new drainage system, another spectator care center, TORQUE, a centrally located spotters\' stand, a new perimeter race track fence, safer wall barriers, a new infield care center and a seat expansion that increased the facility\'s maximum capacity to 112,029 seats. In addition to the various names, configurations and seat expansions, Richmond International Raceway has captured the interests of racing enthusiasts, drivers as well as the media. Each season, RIR hosts two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The Sprint Cup Series started at RIR in 1959 and continues to flourish. The event has thirty two consecutive sellouts. RIR also hosts Nationwide Series races twice each season, an IndyCar Series race, USAC Silver Crown Series race and the USAC National Sprint Car Series. Richmond International Raceway has held some exciting races over the years. Lee Petty, Richard Petty and Kyle Petty have all won races at RIR. Dale Earnhardt made his debut in Richmond at RIR on March 11th, 1979. Darrell Waltrip, well known for his Gatorade Chevrolet, has six career wins at RIR, one of which was February 24th, 1980. He earned $17,800 and the ticket sales exceeded $100,000 for the first time. On September 7th, 1991, Harry Gant won the first NASCAR Winston Cup Series race \"under the lights\". Many drivers have received various accolades for their achievements and NASCAR as well as racing in general has come a long way. It was not that long ago when Ted Horn sported an open wheel car, winning the first race at the Atlantic Rural Exposition Fairgrounds on a half mile dirt track on October 12th, 1946. 
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