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1. Biggest Loser Ranch In Malibu Creek State Park ΓÇô 2008 Season | Virtual Bird’s Eye
2. Indianapolis Motor Speedway Virtual Seating Map Using MapCruncher and Virtual Earth | Virtual Bird’s Eye
3. Big Brother 10 House Aerial and BirdΓÇÖs Eye View | Virtual Bird’s Eye
4. New York Yankees – Yankee Stadium Aerial View | Virtual Bird’s Eye
5. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Plane Graveyard Aerial and BirdΓÇÖs Eye View | Virtual Bird’s Eye

Each Labor Day weekend, NHRA racers and fans descend on O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis for the biggest, oldest, richest, and most ­prestigious drag race in the world. The fabled quarter-mile is regarded by many as one of the smoothest on the circuit. The marathon also hosts two high-dollar bonus events, the $100,000-to-win NHRA U.S. Smokeless Showdown for Funny Cars and the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, which pays $25,000 to the winning Pro Stock Motorcycle rider.  Mac Tools U.S. Nationals: Event Preview

2008 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals: Event home page

Mac Tools U.S. Nationals: Event Schedule

Click on each image for full sized interactive map using Virtual Earth – Aerial or Bird’s Eye

(Image rotated track runs South to North)

Jerry Lewis Telethon – held at the South Point in Las Vegas – Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Auto Club 500 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California

Mackinac Bridge Walk held every year on Labor Day Weekend

One of the largest fireworks events – Boomsday in Knoxville TN

MapCruncher™ beta for Microsoft® Virtual Earth™ is a newly-released, innovative tool that allows anyone to import maps, layer them, and share them on a website using the Microsoft Virtual Earth platform. Quickly combine your drawn-to-scale map with the Microsoft Virtual Earth environment to create a unique, composite view. Supplement existing road and aerial imagery with detailed custom information by easily importing entire maps into the Virtual Earth environment.

We wanted to test out this program and decided that with the Allstate Brickyard 400 coming up in a few weeks, it would be a great time to try it out on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Now, this program isnΓÇÖt really meant to be used like we have done in this example. It doesnΓÇÖt do well with ΓÇÿnot to scaleΓÇÖ images (common issue for georeferencing, not just MapCruncher) and that is what I have used ΓÇô a not to scale seating map. ItΓÇÖs just a test though really, but it came out surprisingly good so we decided to share our test map. In the end though, we are really just getting some ideas for future posts and other locations.

View the IMS Seating Interactive Map

The map we created worked really well for what we were trying to doΓǪ show people where their seats are located around the track with an aerial photo behind the seating chart. Once you find your seats – check it out in BirdΓÇÖs Eye View too!

Remember ΓÇô ItΓÇÖs just the default sample and this version of MapCruncher is still in Beta.

Make sure and check out the more official post on Texas Motor Speedway.

Click the image below for a quick drive around Texas Motor Speedway like the big boys!!

Quick odd fact about the track:

Four lakes were created, providing more than 2.5 million cubic yards of lime rock fill to create the banking. Three of the four lakes are located on the Speedway’s property, with two lakes in the infield. The largest of the lakes is 18 acres and stocked with rare Peacock Bass. This lake is deep enough to submerge an entire six-story building.

Take a look below by click on the images below that link to a Virtual Earth map and Bird’s Eye View of the track!┬á For more track information go to the Official Track Site

Anybody know what was going on with all the Marlboro cars on the track?┬á They show up in a few of the Bird’s Eye View photos…

Technorati Tags: Race Tracks,NASCAR,IndyCar,Miami

Below are links to the Virtual Earth Maps for the Aerial View and the Bird’s Eye View – click the image for maps

Technorati Tags: NASCAR,IRL,ARCA,Race Tracks,Virtual Earth

The Glen reopened on July 7, 1984 (after going bankrupt in 1981), with Al Holbert, Derek Bell and Jim Adams winning the inaugural Camel Continental at the renovated facility. On August 9, 1986, fans witnessed Tim Richmond’s triumph at the return of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The Bud at The Glen grew to become New York State’s largest motorsports event and saw some of NASCAR’s finest take the checkered flag including, Martin, Wallace, and in 1998, Jeff Gordon, won his second consecutive Glen race before a record crowd.

Look over at the Official Site for more information or click on the two images for more aerial photos.

Technorati Tags: Watkins Glen,NASCAR,IndyCar,Formula 1,race tracks

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an American icon and the worldΓÇÖs greatest racecourse. With more than 250,000 permanent seats, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is also the worldΓÇÖs largest seating facility.

Since its opening, the Speedway has been a proving ground for automobiles and an important factor in the development of the present-day automobile. The Speedway also has been the scene of 91 Indianapolis 500-Mile Races, 14 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard NASCAR events and eight United States Grand Prix Formula One events, playing host to some of the biggest names in auto racing history.

The Official Site has more information – Click the images below for Aerial View’s and Bird’s Eye views of the track.

Technorati Tags: NASCAR,Brickyard 400,Indy 500,Race tracks,Photos

This magnificent speedway is the result of over five years of painstaking effort by Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George, International Speedway Corporation Chief Executive Officer Bill France and nine local Joliet entrepreneurs: George Barr, Jim Bingham, Dale Coyne, Jerry Papesh, Ed Rensi, Steve Spiess, Dale Steffes, Jack Steffes and Rex Steffes.

The plan to build a superspeedway in the third-largest market in the nation had been rumored for years. Auto-racing executives and major-league sanctioning bodies had long maintained that the untapped market of Chicago was perhaps the most lucrative in the country.

Check out the Official Site – or click on one of the 2 images to view the map

Technorati Tags: NASCAR,Chicagoland,Race tracks,Indy Pro,ARCA

First Facts from the Official Site

• The first superspeedway to be constructed in the United States since 1969
• Largest Sports Facility in New England in terms of seating capacity
• Site of the first single day sporting event in New England to draw over 100,000 guests (July 9, 2000, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race)
• The LENOX Industrial Tools 301 is first race in the ΓÇ£Race to the ChaseΓÇ¥
• The SYLVANIA 300 is first race in the ΓÇ£Chase for the NASCAR Sprint CupΓÇ¥
• More than 10 million viewers in over 90 countries watch events televised from NHMS
• More than 500,000 spectators attend NHMS races/events during a season
• The Speedway provides part-time employment to more than 1,500 workers

Official Site

Technorati Tags: NASCAR,Race tracks,Aerial View,Sprint Cup

Infineon Raceway will celebrate 40 years of racing during the 2008 Big O Tires Racing Season, as the Sonoma Valley facility once again hosts the most diverse racing schedule in the country.  Located just 30 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the 1,600-acre facility serves as the gateway to the beautiful Sonoma Wine Country.

Official Site for Infineon Raceway – Click images below for Virtual Earth maps

Technorati Tags: NASCAR,AMA,NHRA,IndyCar,Aerial View

The track is nestled on more than 1,400-plus acres in the Irish Hills of southeastern Michigan. Groundbreaking took place on September 28, 1967. Over 2.5 million yards of dirt were moved to form the D-shaped oval designed by Charles Moneypenny, who previously designed the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway. The original layout included infield and exterior roads, which could be combined to form a single 3.1-mile interior/exterior road course, or divided into separate 1.9-mile interior/exterior road courses. The road courses were designed by Formula One great Stirling Moss and are still used on a limited basis for passenger car testing by area law enforcement agencies. The last interior road course race was held in 1984, and the last time the exterior road course was used was in 1973.

Check out the Official Site for more information – click the map below for a Virtual Earth Map

Technorati Tags: NASCAR,IRL,Indy Cars,Michigan International Speedway

Some of you have been our fans since 1968 but a lot of you have joined us along the way these past 32 years. We would just like to take this opportunity to inform you of where we have been and to thank you for making it possible for us to survive all these past difficult years.

• First Race on the three-quarter mile track – 1968
• First 500 mile Indy race on two and one-half mile track – 1971
• First NASCAR 500 mile race – 1974

Read more about Pocono over on the Official Site – click the image below for a Virtual Earth map

Technorati Tags: NASCAR,IRL,Pocono

Affectionately known as the ΓÇ£Monster Mile,ΓÇ¥ Dover International Speedway is a one-mile, high-banked superspeedway in Dover, Del. Dover has been a fixture on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule since its inception in 1969 and will celebrate its 40th anniversary season in 2008. Coinciding with its special anniversary, Dover is also in the midst of the ΓÇ£Monster Makeover,ΓÇ¥ a multi-year capital improvement project that will bring new fan amenities and renovations to the 135,000-seat motorsports facility.

Visit the Official Site for more information – Click the image below for a larger Virtual Earth Map

Check out more Race Track aerial photos and BirdΓÇÖs Eye views

Technorati Tags: Dover International Speedway,Monster Mile,NASCAR,Sprint Cup