An Unconventional Trip to Richmond

I am a member of Virginia Tech's Design Build Fly Team, a volunteer aircraft design organization, and this week I got a chance to represent them at the Virginia State Fair. Technically speaking, I went to the fair to set up an exhibit for the team, but it still was a unique and fulfilling experience. I went with a bunch of others who work on many numerous projects in the Ware Lab, from hybrid electric vehicles to human powered submarines. The fair this year was at the Richmond Raceway Complex right outside the city. When we got there, we had a little bit of time to squander, so we decided to hit the race track. We were very disheartened though when we got to the main entrance and all the gates were locked. As we walked around the fair area that was still void of people, sulking, we happened upon a gate that was just slightly ajar. We all managed to slip through and thereby we proceeded to move from underneath the bleacher seats to right up in front of the fence. What happened next was absolutely amazing! Firestone was there testing some of their new treads, and they weren't using any regular old race cars, but indie cars. The group of us got to watch as two indie cars sped around the one mile long track going in excess of 200 mile per hour. Not only was the sound of the cars deafening as they passed by that everyone held their hands to their ears, but being so close to the retaining wall, the amount of wind that the cars pushed in front of them was enough to knock you off your feet. I did manage to take a video as I watched and I hope to get it uploaded as soon as possible.