I feel that almost every photographer goes through a phase of being enamored by abandoned buildings and decaying environments, and I’m no exception. The theme of reclamation by nature is very cliche, but that didn’t stop me from taking a little sojourn from work on Saturday. This past weekend my brother and I were in Martinsville to cover the NASCAR races. The half-mile paperclip is the shortest speedway on the NASCAR circuit. Interestingly enough, just thirty minutes north, in Henry County, lay another half-mile race track. Log Cabin Raceway was once home to some of the most lucrative dirt races in the country in its time, yet had a remarkably short lifespan. After three years in operation, from 1982-1985, the complex shut its gates and has not been in use since. Thirty years of inactivity has allowed plants and weeds to grow along a once sold-out grandstand and trees to sprout up on the old racing surface that now reach taller than the light poles. The decrepit press box and ramshackle support buildings give wonder to how much longer these unkempt structures can weather the elements before collapsing for good. The stillness across the entire property that was once the home to roaring engines was quite captivating.