Barber Motorsports... not your average track!

Thursday, April 20…

metal sculpture
on the grounds

Yesterday’s blog title was not entirely accurate. Greg doesn’t do much actual racing anymore (we had to sell his car, trailer, and tow vehicle to buy the MH), but he does still love the track. This weekend he’s a “corner worker” (flagger) at Barber Motorsports near Birmingham, AL. Back in March, I think I commented on how big/new/professional the NOLA track was. This place is all that and 10 times more. Five groups of cars competing in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. (I can’t explain beyond that, but this is pretty high end stuff.) Yesterday we visited the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. Five floors of (mostly) motorcycles – not an item I generally care about, but these are amazing. The layout is innovative. All floors exposed at once. Take a central elevator (large enough to hold a car) up to the top and work your way down on curving walkways. 

Four columns of 15 bikes
surround the elevator shaft.

Bikes "stuck" to columns

More amazing stuff than anyone can take in in a single visit!

It is a "motor cycle"

Sleek

(That's a unicycle on the wall.)

This sculpture is in front of the museum.
Ted Gall, the sculptor, says the intent of the
piece was to "personify the motion, strength
 and integrity that I associate with the racetrack
 and motorsports competition."

BlogThoughts... Greg's days are long (and hot), but working this track is a great opportunity and I know he's really enjoying it. The design of the entire facility is outstanding. The New Orleans venue sits on 100% flat terrain (which has advantages... or would if it were above 0 elevation). Here's, however, there's lots of elevation, and the park layout makes good use of it. (The top-tier RV camping area costs $500 for 4 nights, but you have a good-sized site high up on a shaded hill where you can watch the races from your own lawn chair.) Day visitors bring chairs and find their own personal viewing spots. There's a free trolley that circulates between Fan Zone, Car Corral, ferris wheel (yup), wine pick-up (?), RV parking, etc. Tons of staff on hand to see that everything flows properly. As a volunteer worker, Greg gets free RV space (in an off-grid location) and gets paid for his time. And I get lots of free time to catch up the blog, get a pedicure, and read.

And what a course -- 2.3 miles w/ 17 turns!