6 Dec 2018 - Motorsports Day! Talladega, CMP and Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum

6 Dec 2018
Was a three dog night but we survived the below freezing night in the 'condo on wheels'.  26F when we got up this morning.  Our tactics worked:
- Disconnect the sewer hose and shut valves
- Disconnect the water hose
- Ceramic tower heaters (2), one in bedroom and one in kitchen
- Electric fireplace on in living room
- Blow small box fan down into the furnace duct (send warm air into the water compartment)
Nothing frozen, nothing broken, no propane used.

Heavy rains predicted for Friday-Sunday, so we figured we better do outside touring today and save the inside stuff for rainy days.  After breakfast we headed for Talladega Super Speedway.  We passed a scale model of the Statue of Liberty on a 124 ft pedestal in the distance. 

After an hour drive, we arrived at the Talladega Super Speedway Hall of Fame/Visitor Center. 

Lonely RAM 3500 in the parking lot!

As you can see, we owned the place!  There was no one else there excluding the workers.  So we headed in and toured the Hall of Fame which includes building after building with race cars and other memorabilia, including some located outside under awning.  Here are a few pictures:

Sammy Packard's 1940 Mercury Sedan

Richard Childree 2007 Chevrolet

Butch Hartman's 1974 Dodge Charger

They had one cut in half you could sit in - photo op!

Cockpit of Neil Bonnett's 1986 Chevy Monte Carlo

Tiny Lund's 1964 Ford

Simple cockpit - lots of changes over the years

Richard Petty's 1974 Dodge.  This car was so dominant that Petty decided to run the same car in 1975

This baby is for sale!  $18,000 and it could be yours

Hall of Fame area

Dale Earnhart Gallery

Michael Waltrip's Pontiac Grand Prix wrecked at Bristol 7 Apr 1990.  Sustained no serious injuries

After touring the museum and Hall of Fame we were taken on a van tour of the Talladega Race Track.  We were the only one's in the van, except our tour guide!

 

Tunnel takes you under the track to the infield

 

Entrance to pit road and stands off to the right.  Multi-colored to make the stands look full!

The pits.  Where the rubber meets the road

Huge displays here when season is going.

VIP seating $$$$$

The finish line

30 degree banked turns.  Wow!!

Another shot of the turns

Everyone burs the same gas.  90 octane Sunoco ethanol

Back out the tunnel at turn 4

Our visit to Talladega was great, especially our driving tour.

One the drive up here today we noticed a sign for "CMP" or Civilian Marksmanship Program.  There are two of there:  One at Camp Perry IN and one here.  We stopped at Camp Perry in 2016 so I wanted to see this one.  With appropriate credentials you can purchase an M1 Garrand, semi-automatic military rifle.  These are beautiful weapons, but very heavy.  I would love to own one as a twin sister to my M1 Carbine, but I cannot justify the $$ investment.  They had a shooting competition going on there, so we did not take any pictures and did not spend much time.  

We started to head back towards Birmingham and stopped at the Barber's Vintage Motorsports Museum.  This place is AWESOME!!  They have over 1659 motorcycles and display over 900 at any one time, plus they display some vintage outboard motors, sports cars, and paraphernalia.  There are five floors and they recommend you start at the top and work your way down.  Any and every brand and style of motorcycle - all different, all unique, and precisely restored or detailed.

It is difficult to capture the size and scope of this round-shaped building 

Panoramic

Orange County Choppers.  We visited them in 2016

The Orange County Choppers Cat Bike

 

California Highway Patrol (CHiPs)

An old Indian with a carbon tetra chloride pump fire extinguisher mounted to it

1925 Bohmerland (Czechoslovakia) three seater

One of several stacks of bikes on display, floor to ceiling

Wooden motorcycle

 

My high school motorcycle.  1972 Kawasaki 350 three cylinder, 45bhp.  According to the display it was "the most powerful production 350cc machine ever built".   

Here is mine!

   

Jawa Ice Bike.  Notice the spikes

Turbo-charger hanging out the side of this beautifully painted Captain America bike

They had a large selection of World War II vintage motorcycles.  This one is a 1943 Indian 741 Scout

1943 B.M.W R753x2 German bike with sidecar and machine gun

 Barber's also offer a "Porsche Track Experience USA", where you learn to drive a Porsche race car and then DO IT around their 800 acre, 16 turn race track.  They offer one-day, two-day, three-day and four-day experiences varying in price up to $9600 for the grand daddy.  After touring inside we went outside to watch. 

Well, that's it for today.  Here is one final shot from inside the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum.

Merry Christmas from the Nomad's!!