Featuring an exciting 2.38-mile, 17-turn track, the Barber Motorsports Park circuit is known as the “Augusta of Motorsports.” And come this Saturday — during the running of the Grand-Am Porsche 250 Rolex Sports series — spectators in Birmingham, Alabama, will be treated to the precision racing skills of drivers behind the wheel of exotic Daytona Prototypes (DP) chassis and engine combinations in addition to sleek GT machines and new for this year, sporty GXs.
It’s a busy couple of days for Alabama race fans, what with the Porsche 250 running on the same weekend at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. And while we’ll be supporting the Grand-Am Rolex Sports series, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that our fully stocked CV Products tractor-trailer will be in the paddock area of Barber Motorsports Park (credentials required), available to all race teams over the weekend.
In addition, we’ll be at a pair of races at the Martinsville Speedway in Virginia this weekend, including the Kroger 250, which is only the second truck event we have worked so far this year. The first event was at Daytona, and our plans call for active participation in most of the truck events partnered with the NASCAR Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup that are on the schedule for the rest of 2013.
Meanwhile, here’s what we’ve got going this weekend:
Porsche 250
This two-hour Rolex Series Race begins at 12:45 p.m. Saturday, preceded by a full day of practice and qualifying runs on Friday, as well as an autograph session from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. the day of the race. Since Rolex Series races are measured in time instead of distance, they require more than one driver. That means that in addition to tire changes, refueling and chassis adjustments, switching drivers becomes a big part of the racing strategy.
- Series: Grand-Am Rolex Sports
- When: Thursday, April 4 to Saturday, April 6
- Racetrack: Barber Motorsports Park
- Location: Birmingham, Alabama
- Note: CV’s trailer is in the pits and available for people with pit passes only
- For More Info: http://www.grand-am.com/events.aspx?eid=3472&sid=1
Kroger 250
The Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway is the second race on the 2013 Camping World Truck Series schedule. Kevin Harvick won last year’s spring race at Martinsville, starting on the pole and running in front for all but two of the 250 laps. That was good enough to win the race and set a Truck Series record for most laps led in a race. Harvick and more than three dozen of his racing colleagues will be on the .526-mile oval track for this weekend’s event.
- Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
- When: Saturday, April 6
- Racetrack: Martinsville Speedway
- Location: Martinsville, Virginia
- Note: CV’s trailer is in the pits and available for people with pit passes only
- For More Info, see the Camping World Truck Series’ News and Media webpage
STP Gas Booster 500
Also at Martinsville Speedway this weekend is the STP Gas Booster 500, the sixth race on the 2013 Spring Cup Series schedule. This popular race venue, which features an 800-foot frontstretch and an 800-foot backstretch, opened in 1947 as a dirt track. Today it has concrete corners atop asphalt with 12 degrees of banking in all four turns. Ryan Newman won last year’s 263-mile race at Martinsville, but he hasn’t won a race since. Starting time is 1 p.m. (ET).
- Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
- When: Sunday, April 7
- Racetrack: Martinsville Speedway
- Location: Martinsville, Virginia
- Note: CV’s trailer is in the pits and available for people with pit passes only
- For More Info, be sure to check out the Martinsville Speedway webpage for the STP Gas Booster 500