RRC Spends a Weekend at the Track(s) in Birmingham, AL

The ROUSH Road Crew spent the weekend “at the track”, literally. Saturday’s event was at Barber Motorsports Park, and Sunday we visited Talladega. Now you need the details…read on!

The Club met Saturday morning and headed to the Grand-Am races, held at Barber Motorsports Park. We started in the paddock area, met the ROUSH Performance team drivers (Billy, Jack, Shelby and Jade) and checked out the cars. Then we spent the day watching the Rolex and Continental races and taking in the scenery. This road course is surrounding by hillsides where spectators set up their tents and chairs, or put down a blanket, to enjoy the race. I even saw a hammock tied between trees – what a way to enjoy a race!

Both ROUSH Performance teams were hit during various accidents, but they both were repaired and out on the track to finish. Our nice day turned stormy just as the Continental race was ending, so we heading out and had our dinner. The Grill offered karaoke, which one member participated in to serenade us – to “Word Up”. You just had to be there to fully appreciate it, he was that good!

Sunday was an early start in order to get on the road and start our cruise. We had to go through some fog and boring highway driving for a bit in order to get to the ‘scenic’ part, where all the fun curves were. It was hilly and curvy and twisty and fun! We also stopped at Noccalula Falls and enjoyed the park setting to stretch our legs, and had a group lunch before then heading to Talladega Superspeedway. Once there, we took a van-ride tour of the track. Those 33-degree banked curves are amazing. They said they used to let people try to walk up the track, but too many people fell or slid down and were getting hurt. We also learned that the cars have to be going about 90 mph in order to ‘stick’ and make the curves. After the track tour, we walked through the 3 buildings that make up the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. A collection of race cars, history, memorabilia and facts about the drivers, owners, engineers, and others that make motorsports what it is today. A stop for ice cream completed our day and ended the event.

This 2-day event was the fourth on the ROUSH Road Crew’s 2012 event calendar. We had a great time and enjoyed the company of RRC members from AL, TX, NC, IA and FL. The next Club event will be in Utah in April.

Click here to view the photo gallery: http://smu.gs/Hlcgi2