RIDGEWAY, Va. — Raised from the dirt more than 65 years ago stands a landmark in sports history that still brings scores of fans to its hallowed grounds each April. No, not Augusta National or Fenway Park but another venue packed full of nostalgia that purists still treasure.
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Likened to baseball's Wrigley Field, Martinsville Speedway stands as the only track to host NASCAR Cup races every year since the division’s inception in 1949. The track borders a railroad track where a Norfolk Southern coal train still rumbles by along the foothills of the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains.