Throwback Thursday; The 1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 (the last Winston Cup Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway)

I stumbled across some old racing pictures from the late 1990s that my Dad and I took recently. One particular race caught my eye from 1996; the September 29th Tyson Holly Farms 400 which happened to be the last NASCAR Winston Cup Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The photo below is at the end of driver's introduction where a photo of the entire race driver's lineup was taken.

North Wilkesboro Speedway is located off of US 421 near the town of North Wilkesboro, NC. The speedway opened to racing in 1947 as a dirt track and was on NASCAR's top circuit from 1949 to 1996 when it was replaced by Texas Motor Speedway. North Wilkesboro Speedway is a 0.625 mile short track with 14 degree banking in turns with a seating capacity of 40,000.

My Dad my marketing guy for Prodigy Online who sponsored Dave Marcis and 71 car through the 1996 season. I was in middle school at the time and knew enough about the series to want to see the last Winston Cup race at the track before it was shuttered. Ted Musgrave ended up winning the pole for but the race was dominated by the eventual winner Jeff Gordon. I do have more physical photos of me at the race but only these were professionally converted into a digital format.

After 1996 racing at North Wilkesboro never really regained traction. The speedway reopened for a brief time with USAR and ASA races but really hasn't had much consistent competitive racing in the last two decades.

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The Vague Original Southern Terminus of US Route 91 in the Californian Mojave Desert

One of the more intriguing mysteries of the early US Route System in California is where the original south terminus of US Route 91 was intended to be located in the Mojave Desert. This blog is a little different than my usual behind the wheel fare and explores why US Route 91 ultimately ended at US Route 66 in Daggett instead of Bannock. What ultimately became the US Route System was first discussed during the American Association of State Highway Officials ("AASHO") during their annual 1924 meeting. Ultimately the AASHO recommended to the Department of Agriculture to work with the States to develop a system of Interstate Highways to replace the many Auto Trails in use. The Joint Board on Interstate Highways was ultimately commissioned by the Department of Agriculture and it's branch agency the Bureau of Public Roads in March of 1925. The Joint Board on Interstate Highways first met in April of 1925 and decided on the new interstate road network would be known a

Where the hell is Hill Valley? (US Route 8 south/US Route 395 east)

Recently I made a visit to Universal Studios near Los Angeles. While on the back lot tour I came across a piece of infamous movie-borne fictional highway infamy; the location of town square of Hill Valley, California on US Route 8/US Route 395. The above photo is part of the intro scene to the first Back-to-the-Future movie which was set in 1985. To anyone who follows roadways the signage error of US 8 meeting US 395 in California is an immediately notable error. For one; US 8 doesn't even exist anywhere near California with present alignment being signed as an east/west highway between Norway, Michigan and Forest Lake, Minnesota. To make matters worse US 8 is signed as a southbound route and US 395 (a north/south highway) is signed as an eastbound route. At minimum the cut-out US 8 and US 395 shields somewhat resemble what Caltrans used in the 1980s. Assuming Hill Valley is located on what would have been US 395 by 1985 what locales would be a viable real world analog?

Legend of the Ridge Route; a history of crossing the mountains between the Los Angeles Basin and San Joaquin Valley from wagon trails to Interstates

Over the past two decades I've crossed the Interstate 5 corridor from Los Angeles north over the Sierra Pelona Mountains and Tehachapi Range to San Joaquin Valley what seems to be an immeasurable number of times. While Interstate 5 from Castaic Junction to Grapevine via Tejon Pass today is known to most as "The Grapevine" it occupies a corridor which has been traversed by numerous historic highways. The most notable of these highways is known as the "Ridge Route." This article is dedicated to the Ridge Route and the various highways that preceded it. The Ridge Route is a 44 mile section of highway which was completed in 1915. The Ridge Route originally stretched from Castaic Junction north over Liebre Summit and Tejon Pass to the tiny community of Grapevine. In spite of a roadway that once utilized nearly 700 curves the Ridge Route is generally considered far ahead of it's time and one of the first modern highways constructed for automotive use.

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